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Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for October 27, 2026. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.
Tuesday night is usually the marquee slate in the NHL, yet tonight we're missing teams like Colorado, Toronto, Edmonton, and Tampa Bay. On one hand, what’s the deal with that? On the other hand, it’s refreshing not having to jam Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon into your lineups.
With those high-value teams off the slate, we are looking to build more well-balanced lineups rather than having to punt at multiple positions. This should spread ownership around, making it easier to build a lineup you like and see where it goes. I love this slate and can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I aim to help you narrow your plays to get the most bang for your DFS buck. NHL Premium members can find the RotoBaller NHL family on Discord, where the chat is always active. I'll bring my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for DraftKings NHL DFS contests on Tuesday, October 27, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Also 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 10/27/26
Anaheim Ducks (ANH1 - Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Judd Caulfield; $17300 DK)
Defensive Addition: Jackson LaCombe ($5400 DK)
I rarely recommend a team that has scored 0.67 even-strength goals per 60 minutes, but the Ducks are ready to pop. Advanced data suggests the Ducks should have scored about three goals per 60 minutes, and that kind of discrepancy doesn’t last long. This is especially true for a young team like the Ducks.
Cutter Gauthier is one of the sport's more aggressive players, taking four or more shots in 60% of his games and hitting the DraftKings shot bonus in half of them. That is a great way to lock in points even if the player doesn’t put one in the back of the net. Judd Caulfield looks to have been bumped up to this line, and he scored on three shots in his last game. Those 13 DraftKings points were a great return for his $3000 price point.
🚨 Leo 🚨
Cutter steals it and finds him!
#FlyTogether https://t.co/4C8c9GnNqf
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 24, 2026
Defender Jackson LaCombe man’s the blue line on the power play, and he’s one of the league's better young defenders. He has a goal or assist in all but two games this season, and the Canucks are one of the NHL's most generous teams to opposing defenders. This line will face one of the league's worst defensive pairings, Luke Schenn and Zeev Buium.
They have surrendered 6.36 expected goals, 25.35 high-danger chances, and nearly 60 scoring chances per 60 minutes on the road. Goalie Kevin Lankinen has done little well this year, allowing nearly five goals per game and saving under 70% of the high-danger shots he’s faced. I don’t care how unlucky the Ducks have been; this matchup is worth attacking.
Carolina Hurricanes (CAR1 - Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, William Carrier; $17500 DK)
Defensive Addition: Shayne Gostisbehere ($4400 DK)
Is Jeremy Swayman good, or have the Bruins just been lucky? Boston has allowed almost a full goal fewer than expected on the road this year, and much of that is down to how well Swayman has played in net. He’s got a couple of good lines in front of him defensively, but the Mason Lohrei-Frederic Brunet pairing is due to get smacked.
They have given up 17.92 high-danger chances and 34.57 scoring chances per 60 minutes on the road this year, yet the Bruins have allowed just 1.86 even-strength goals per 60 minutes. Either Carolina will pop, or Swayman will have a monster game in net (more on that in a bit).
The Hurricanes are historically a wagon at home, but this year their 2.06 even-strength goals per 60 minutes is nearly a full goal fewer than expected. This feels like a classic case of one team playing over their heads and another playing below expectations; if those two flip in the same game, Carolina will take this slate for everyone. Over his last 11 games, Sebastian Aho has combined for 17 points and has at least two points in five games.
Andrei Svechnikov has four multi-point games this season but hasn't truly broken out. William Carrier and defender Shayne Gostisbehere have been underwhelming, but they’re priced cheaply enough to include in this stack and lower the line's average ownership.
Vegas Golden Knights (VGK1 - Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone; $18000 DK)
Defensive Addition: Shea Theodore ($4500)
After a few days away from the article, the Golden Knights are back home at The Fortress. Vegas averages over 2.5 even-strength goals per 60 minutes when playing in the desert. Overall, the team ranks eighth in the league, averaging 3.54 goals per game.
Jack Eichel is a beast at home, averaging 16.6 DraftKings points per game, while Ivan Barbashev has nearly tripled his output in home games. He’s priced at just $3500, making him an easy addition to a Golden Knights stack. Mark Stone’s home performance is even more pronounced: he scored 16.9 fantasy points per game, more than double his road production.
Mark Stone short-handed goal to tie the game!
#vegasborn https://t.co/mvGUC7ngP0— The Sporting Tribune (@SportingTrib) October 21, 2026
Despite three straight losses, Shea Theodore is playing his best hockey of the season, with 17 SABS (shots and blocked shots). If he gets going offensively, he could crush his meager $ 4,500 price tag. The Knights have a great matchup against the Senators, who are without their superstar goalie Linus Ullmark.
Instead, Samuel Ersson will be in net, and he’s given up 15 goals in three starts, including at least four in each game. With the Knights such a binary team (play them at home, fade them on the road) and Ersson struggling, they are one of the best plays on the slate.
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— 🇺🇦Shockmain (@Shockmain) January 6, 2023
NHL DFS Value Stack of the Night
Philadelphia Flyers (PHI3 - Sean Couturier, Tyson Foerster, Alex Bump; $9700 DK)
The Flyers have struggled offensively this season, scoring just 1.44 even-strength goals per 60 minutes at home, but advanced data suggests they should have scored half a goal more per game, so regression is likely. Two goals per 60 minutes isn't great, but the City of Brotherly Love has shown signs of life recently, scoring 10 goals over their past three games.
Tyson Foerster and Alex Bump are showing aggression, averaging five shots on goal combined in those games. Columbus has played decently on the road, giving up just 2.38 even-strength goals per 60 minutes, but advanced data suggests they should have given up more.
Goalie Jet Greaves has played poorly this year, allowing three or more goals in all but one start, and surrendering four or more goals three times. He’s saved more than 90% of the shots he’s faced in just one start, and has stopped just 60% of the high-danger shots he’s faced on the road this year. I probably won’t run a full stack with Philly’s third line, but Foerster and Bump make solid one-offs if you need to punt a forward position.
NHL DFS Goalie to Target
Jeremy Swayman (BOS - $7600 DK)
I get it, you’re asking, “Doug, you wrote about the Hurricanes as one of the top stacks on the slate, so how in the world can you recommend the goalie facing them?” That’s a great question, dear reader, and it’s totally fair. While plenty of data supports the Canes as a great play, much of it also makes Jeremy Swayman an equally good play for tournaments.
The most important data point is that Carolina takes the second-most shots in the NHL. For a goalie, shot volume faced is the metric most strongly correlated with success. Shots, and thus saves, are what score points for goalies in fantasy. If a goalie faces more shots, he’s more likely to rack up big points even if he gives up a ton of goals. To wit, Swayman has scored 16 or more DraftKings points twice this year in games where he’s allowed three goals.
He can have a “bad” game tonight and still deliver a strong fantasy performance, especially for a $7600 price tag, if the Hurricanes keep pumping shots on net. I don’t think the matchup is strong enough to use Swayman in cash games, but he’ll carry no ownership and could break the slate if he keeps saving high-danger shots at a 91% clip. He’s far from a certainty for a big game, but we want to take big swings in tournaments, and Swayman could be the biggest swing on the slate.
Others in consideration: Jesper Wallstedt (MIN), Jacob Fowler (MTL), Semyon Varlamov (NYI), Stuart Skinner (WPG)
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