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Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for October 18, 2025. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.
Saturday’s slate is well-rounded, featuring six games in the early window and four games starting after nine o’clock. The Dallas Stars head to St. Louis in one of the better early-start games, while the night finishes with a potentially sneaky shootout between the Penguins and the plucky San Jose Sharks. Between those games, we will have the opportunity to add stars such as Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, and Kyle Connor to our lineups.
DraftKings feels like a Tuesday night, with the number of tournaments offering a top prize of $1,000 or more. The best of these is the $5-entry Poke Check, with a $5,000 top prize for the winner, and the $15-entry Kick Save, which offers a $10,000 top prize. For those who prefer a smaller field and a bigger entry, there are $33-entry and $40-entry tournaments that each have fewer than 600 entries and offer big money to the first-place finisher.
I aim to help you narrow your plays to get the most bang for your DFS buck. NHL Premium members can find members of the RotoBaller NHL family on Discord, where our chat is always active. I'll bring my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings for Saturday, October 18, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Be sure also to check out RotoBaller's awesome NHL tools, including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, and Heat Map.
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NHL DFS Analysis And Picks For 10/18/25
Winnipeg Jets (WPG1 - Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi; $20600 DK)
Defensive Addition: Josh Morrissey ($6300 DK)
Is there a more reliable team in the NHL than the Winnipeg Jets? Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor have at least one goal or assist in every game this year, while Gabriel Vilardi has failed to produce in just one game (although he did take three shots to salvage that night). Overall, the top line for the Jets has combined for 19 goals and assists in just four games, averaging a combined 48.2 DraftKings points. Seeing as that’s just an average, that means that there’s upside well past that score in the right matchup.
Tonight presents the right matchup, with Winnipeg taking on the Predators. Nashville has 3.34 even-strength goals and 13.64 high-danger chances per 60 minutes over their past 10 road games dating back to last year. This year, their defensive pairing of Brady Skjei and Nick Perbix has given up a slate-high 3.39 expected goals and 13.72 high-danger chances per 60 minutes.
They are one of the more vulnerable defensive pairings in the NHL, and goalie Juuse Saros won’t be much help. Dating back to last year, he’s saved just 78% of the high-danger shots he’s faced on the road over the team’s previous 15 games. He will struggle against the Jets, making them the top spend-up stack on tonight’s slate.
What makes it so tough to coach against Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele and how can Winnipeg’s coaching staff keep the team focused for what looks to be an 82-game fight for positioning in the Western Conference?
Bruce Boudreau provides some insight.https://t.co/lx135GY5T0
— Illegal Curve Hockey (@IllegalCurve) October 17, 2025
Toronto Maple Leafs (TOR1 - Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan; $17500 DK)
Defensive Addition: Morgan Rielly ($5000 DK)
If Winnipeg doesn’t strike your fancy, then the Toronto Maple Leafs are the next best option. They are priced over $3,000 less than Winnipeg, despite Auston Matthews being the second-most expensive skater on the slate. Rookie Easton Cowan helps offset that cost, coming in at just $3,200. He’s yet to do much of note, but he was highly productive in the minors last season and gets the benefit of setting up Matthews.
Linemate Matthew Knies has stepped up his game since the departure of Mitch Marner, recording at least one goal or assist in four of five games this year. Overall, he’s combined for seven goals and assists while averaging three shots on goal and 14.5 DraftKings points per game. That’s a high level of production for a player priced at just $5,500.
Their opponent, the Seattle Kraken, is on its third game of a six-game road trip, the first of two that have seen it allow a total of eight goals. Goalie Joey Daccord has given up 3.12 goals per game over the team’s last 15 road games dating back to last season, including five in Montreal against the Canadiens earlier this week. Seattle’s defensive pairing of Brandon Montour and Ryan Lindgren has not helped Daccord this year, allowing 33.05 scoring chances and 15.55 high-danger chances per 60 minutes.
Pittsburgh Penguins (PIT1 - Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust; $18400 DK)
Defensive Addition: Erik Karlsson ($4900 DK)
Although they aren’t as explosive as they once were, the top line for the Penguins is still producing at a high level and is very dangerous in the right spots. Sidney Crosby has a pair of multi-point games, while Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are averaging a combined 24.8 DraftKings points on the season. Rust has yet to score fewer than 11 DraftKings points in any game, while Rakell has at least 9.8 fantasy points in three of his previous four games.
Tonight’s game against the Sharks could be an under-the-radar shootout, as neither team plays much defense and both offenses are playing well. The Sharks played last night in Utah, while the Penguins rested comfortably in San Jose, awaiting the team's return home.
This is a spot where the road team actually has a slight advantage, as the home team is the one that had to travel to this game. It also won’t hurt Pittsburgh that their former goalie Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to be in the starter’s net for San Jose, as he’s given up 3.14 goals per game at home over the team’s previous 15 games.
The Penguins are in more of a rush under rookie coach Dan Muse, with an uptick in goals and scoring chances generated in transition.
This early-season trend is a departure from the final days of the Mike Sullivan era.
Diving into the philosophy change ⬇️ https://t.co/W8O7dtFVUt
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) October 17, 2025
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NHL DFS Value Stack of the Night
Carolina Hurricanes (CAR3 - Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, William Carrier; $8,400 DK)
Los Angeles Kings (LAK3 - Phillip Danault, Warren Foegele, Trevor Moore; $12200 DK)
There’s a lot of value to be found on tonight’s slate, from San Jose’s third and fourth lines to the third line for Columbus to this line, the third line for the Kings. LA’s line may not have the best matchup, but they have arguably the most accomplished third line on the slate. All three of Phillip Danault, Warren Foegele, and Trevor Moore have played top-six minutes over the previous handful of seasons, and in the right spot, they can be very dangerous.
Tonight they’ll face off against a Hurricane’s team that is in the midst of a west coast swing that has taken out many an east coast foe. Dating back to last season, Carolina has allowed 3.67 even-strength goals per 60 minutes over their previous ten road games. Goalie Frederik Andersen has saved fewer than 90% of the shots he’s faced on the road over this time.
This line is yet to break out this season, truly, but Moore has multiple games with three or more shots on goal, while Foegele is coming off a game where he took five shots and put one in the back of the net. This is an aggressive line, and they are priced in a way that they’ll pay off huge if they play up to their potential.
NHL DFS Goalie to Target
Jet Greaves (CBJ - $7500 DK)
Jet Greaves is not your best option for cash games tonight; that would be Connor Hellebuyck or Anthony Stolarz, but he’s a great tournament option who should carry next to no ownership. The Blue Jackets will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose reputation alone will likely deter people from rostering Greaves. This isn’t a regular Lightning roster, with Nikita Kucherov potentially out with an illness, and that will significantly reduce Tampa Bay’s offensive potency.
For his part, Greaves has played great over the team’s prior 15 home games dating back to last year, saving a slate-high 91.7% of the high-danger shots he’s faced while allowing just 1.14 goals per game. Columbus has allowed an average of 37 shots on goal per game this season, giving their goalies tremendous upside with the potential to hit the 35-save bonus on DraftKings.
In his two starts this season, Greaves has been respectable, averaging over 12 DraftKings points per game while allowing just two goals in each game and saving over 93% of the shots he’s faced. With sufficient volume, that kind of production would yield a substantial return on his value pricing of just $7,500.
Others in consideration: Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), Darcy Kuemper (LAK), Anthony Stolarz (TOR), Scott Wedgewood (COL)
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