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Get today's top DraftKings daily fantasy hockey lineup picks for October 8, 2025. Doug's expert NHL DFS goalies picks, value plays, stacks, and power play picks.
Tonight's slate features four games showcasing some of the league's best offenses. The night starts with Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs defending their home ice against a young and talented Montreal Canadiens team. The second game in the early window features Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, looking to duplicate their regular-season success from last year, facing off against a Boston Bruins team seeking to rebound from a disappointing 2024-25 season.
Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers start their quest for a third straight NHL Stanley Cup Finals appearance with a home opener against a plucky Calgary Flames team in one of the two late-night games. The final game of the slate is highlighted by Mitch Marner’s debut in Las Vegas after leaving the Maple Leafs this offseason, as the Golden Knights look to vanquish their biggest rival, the Los Angeles Kings.
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NHL DFS Analysis And Picks For 10/8/25
Toronto Maple Leafs (TOR1 - Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, Matias Maccelli; $16,600 DK)
Defensive Addition: Morgan Rielly ($4400 DK)
Auston Matthews has been dominant since his NHL debut, but he’s always had Mitch Marner skating by his side. Marner signed with Vegas this offseason, leaving the Maple Leafs to find a new linemate for Matthews and Matthew Knies. Matias Maccelli came over from Utah and, if the preseason is any indication, he looks like he will fill Marner’s role quite nicely.
Maccelli led the team with four assists, showing his ability to get his snipers in position to bury one in the back of the net. The upside from a DFS perspective is that Maccelli is priced over $3000 cheaper than Marner, allowing you to stack Toronto’s top line with another high-impact team comfortably. The Leafs will have the best matchup on the slate, skating against Montreal’s defensive pairing of Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle.
Auston Matthews had high praise for Maccelli and what he can bring to the team’s first line
Read More Here 📰 | https://t.co/Yy4X0rvqWA pic.twitter.com/XGgtuRHeXZ
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) October 7, 2025
Last season, the duo allowed 3.5 expected goals and a slate-high 15.95 high-danger chances per 60 minutes on the road. As a team, the Canadiens struggled this preseason, allowing nearly 18 high-danger chances and 3.5 expected goals per 60 minutes. That’s trouble for goalie Sam Montembeault, who saved just 79% of the high-danger shots he faced on the road last season.
Edmonton Oilers (EDM1 - Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Trent Frederic; $20,000 DK)
Defensive Addition: Evan Bouchard ($5,800 DK)
The Edmonton Oilers enter this season having lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers for the second consecutive year. This is a team that will be on a mission to get Connor McDavid a well-deserved ring. Speaking of McDavid, he enters tonight’s game fresh off signing a new contract that should keep him in Edmonton through the 2028 season. That should put to bed all the questions that have followed him for the past two seasons about leaving the team in pursuit of a championship.
The reigning Maurice Richard Trophy winner is ready to defend his title!
Leon Draisaitl hopes to reach the 50-goal plateau when he hits the ice with the @EdmontonOilers for the 2025-26 NHL Season. @PARaidersHockey | @Kelowna_Rockets pic.twitter.com/gCBiycSiZu
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) October 6, 2025
As if you need another reason to use McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and new linemate Trent Frederic, they get a prime matchup against Calgary’s weakest defensive pairing of Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. The duo allowed 12.37 high-danger chances and 2.5 expected goals per 60 minutes on the road last year.
McDavid only played one game against the Flames last season, but Leon Draisaitl played three, and he was dominant with three goals, three assists, and 12 shots on goal. Trent Frederic isn’t known for his offensive prowess, but he is so inexpensive that he won’t need to do much to be a worthy addition to your Oilers stack.
Washington Capitals (WSH2 - Connor McMichael, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson; $14,100 DK)
Defensive Addition: Jacob Chychrun ($5,500 DK)
The Washington Capitals had the best record in the Eastern Conference last season before flaming out in the playoffs. This year, they bring back virtually the same roster and will look to continue what they started in 2024-25. While it’s tempting to use their top line because of Alexander Ovechkin’s upside, it’s their second line that has the better matchup tonight.
They’ll spend most of their ice time against Boston’s defensive duo of Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei. That pairing got smoked this preseason, allowing 3.3 expected goals and 14.65 high-danger chances per 60 minutes. This is a bad sign for a Bruins team that wildly underachieved last year.
One of the main culprits was goalie Jeremy Swayman, who showed massive regression from previous seasons. He allowed 3.54 goals per game and saved just 88% of the shots he faced on the road, giving up three or more goals in 20 of his final 30 starts of the season. Things didn’t look much better this preseason, as the Bruins allowed 2.96 expected goals and just shy of 15 high-danger chances per 60 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Capitals played well, scoring 3.1 goals per 60 minutes. Connor McMichael, Pierre-Luc DuBois, and Tom Wilson aren’t as sexy an option as Ovechkin, but they’ll carry a fraction of the roster percentage and are priced cheaply enough to pair with most other high-end stacks tonight.
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NHL DFS Value Stack of the Night
Vegas Golden Knights (VGK3 - Tomas Hertl, Brandon Saad, Pavel Dorofeyev; $13,700 DK)
What, you thought I wouldn’t feature my Golden Knights in their first game of the season? They have an advantageous matchup against a Los Angeles Kings squad playing their second game in as many nights. While it’s early in the season, it’s asking a lot to have a team play one night at home and then go on the road the very next night with their backup goalie in net.
Anton Forsberg isn't a terrible goalie, but Vegas goes three lines deep, and they are one of the more aggressive offensive teams in the league. Tomas Hertl, Brandon Saad, and Pavel Dorofeyev are not your typical third line, with all three having been featured on top lines throughout their careers. They’ll line up against a pair of new Kings defenders in Brian Dumoulin and Codi Ceci. They are still learning each other’s tendencies, and the early part of the season is the ideal time to take advantage of that.
NHL DFS Goalie to Target
Anthony Stolarz (TOR - $8,000 DK)
Anthony Stolarz had one of the quietest great seasons in the NHL last year. He was Darcy Kuemper-like at home, allowing just 1.88 goals per game and saving 93% of the shots he faced. More importantly, he saved 87% of the high-danger shots that came his way. The Canadiens shouldn’t figure to pressure him too much if preseason is any indication, as the team scored only 1.53 goals and had just 7.65 high-danger chances per 60 minutes.
Stolarz is a bit pricey at $8,000, but he averaged a solid 14.7 DraftKings points per game last season, which is enough to justify his price point. He finished last season allowing more than two goals in just one of his final seven games, including three shutouts. One of those shutouts was a 15-save, 20.5 DraftKings point game against the Canadiens. He’s the best cash game option on the slate, and if you can fit him, he has the upside to help you take down a tournament.
Others in consideration: Adin Hill (VGK), Logan Thompson (WSH)
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