NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings (4/9): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

Welcome, RotoBallers. Hockey season is back and I am thrilled to be covering this sport over at RotoBaller! As always, I will do my best to give you the stats and info you need to build the best lineups possible for your GPP and cash game NHL contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.

If you are new to playing NHL DFS, there are several things to know that will help you get caught up to speed. The first thing to know is that stacking lines is important and correlating your plays can pay off. In hockey, if someone scores a goal, there's a good chance that some on his team will receive an assist on that goal, so you want to build lineups around players skating together. The second thing is to make sure you look at the two sites and see the different ways to obtain points. On DraftKings, you get bonus points for 5+ shots or 3+ blocked shots so someone like Alex Ovechkin who is a volume shooter tends to be a better play there just because he can rack up additional points based on his style of play.

Today I'll be bringing you my NHL lineup picks, analysis, and advice for NHL DFS contests on DraftKings and FanDuel for Friday, April 9th, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Be sure to also check out our awesome NHL tools including our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, Projections, and DFS Cheat Sheets! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @jorgepucks as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions. Good luck RotoBallers!

NHL DFS Analysis and Picks for 4/9

• • New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders (-130) - 5.5U
  • Washington Capitals (-245) vs. Buffalo Sabres - 6U
  • Pittsburgh Penguins (-180) vs. New Jersey Devils - 6U
  • Minnesota Wild (-110) vs. St. Louis Blues (-110) - 5.5U
  • Arizona Coyotes vs. Vegas Golden Knights (-240) - 5.5U
  • Colorado Avalanche (-350) vs. Anaheim Ducks - 6U
  • Los Angeles Kings vs. San Jose Sharks (-125) - 5.5O

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

The matrix above takes the averages of four categories and creates a rating scale to help you decide which goalies to use, which goalies to target against, and conversely which teams could be viable from a stacking standpoint. It looks at four categories: Goals Allowed (GA), Shots Allowed (SA), Goals For (GF), Shots For (SF). The higher the overall rating in the total column indicates that it is a more dangerous matchup for that team's goalie while it might be beneficial to stack against him. If the total is low, that means he is in a good matchup from a fantasy perspective and should be considered for your goalie selection. I match and sync this every day to the actual opponents that they are facing every slate so this is always slate specific.

NHL DFS Power Play Matrix

The Power Play matrix is to help locate matchups that can be exploited should there be an odd-man advantage during the game. Just like the goalie matrix above, the teams are matched up based on their own power play percentage rank and their opponent's penalty kill percentage rank. When looking at this matrix, you will want to look for teams that succeed in the power play rank (lower the rank the better they are) while their opponent has a poor penalty kill rank (the higher the rank, the worse their penalty kill is).

Did you know RotoBaller has a Premium NHL DFS subscription? Like what you read today? You can show your support for Jorge by using promo code JORGEPUCKS when purchasing an NHL DFS Premium Pass. You get 10% off, and exclusive access to all of our Premium NHL cheat sheets, DFS research tools, Premium Slack Chatrooms, Stack Builder, Correlation Matrix and Lineup Optimizer!

NHL DFS Core Plays

The Core plays below are the players that you should focus on incorporating into your cash game builds and tournament builds. When it comes to cash games, you want guys that offer high floors that rack up peripheral stats (shots, blocks, etc).

When it comes to tournaments, it is best to take a core play and see who their linemates are and build line stacks based on that. I will give 2-3 plays (varies on slate size) at each position at different pricing ranges so that you can have a variety of plays to choose from when building your cash builds or needing cornerstones for your tournament builds.

NHL DFS Center Picks

• Nathan MacKinnon, COL ($8,900 DK / $9,100 FD) - There are some great pay-up options at the center position on this slate but MacKinnon remains the top option. He has recorded multi-point in four of his last five games and has one goal and three assists in four games against the Ducks this year while also having 20 shots on goal in those four games.
• Adrian Kempe, LAK ($4,600 DK/ $4,600) - Kempe has been moved all around the Kings lineup and while he is now centering the fourth line, he is still active offensively and is on the Kings top power-play unit as well. Kempe has recorded a point in back-to-back games and is averaging over three peripheral stats per game over his last five games played.

Other centers to consider: 

• High Priced- MacKinnon, Crosby, Barzal, Kopitar
• Mid-Tier- Hertl, Kadri, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, McCann, Hughes
• Value- Eriksson Ek, Pageau, Stephenson, Carrick

NHL DFS Forward Picks

• Alex Ovechkin, WSH ($9,100 DK / $8,100 FD) - Ovechkin continues to produce in any matchup given and despite a slow start to the season, he is really turning it on in the middle of the season. Ovechkin gets a very good matchup against the Sabres who are the worst team in the league and have a poor penalty kill which is where Ovechkin does his damage. Ovi has one goal and three assists in four games against Buffalo this season and has taken15 shots on goal in those four games.
• Andre Burakovsky, COL ($4,200 DK / $4,300 FD) - If spending up for an Avalanche player is too much for you on this slate, you can always turn to their second line and look to rostering someone like Burakovsky. Burakovsky has been in good form as he has scored a point in four of his last five games and has recorded a goal in back-to-back games.

Other wings to consider: 

• High Priced- Draisaitl, Panarin, Pacioretty, Rantanen, Kane, Guentzel, Rust, Stone
• Mid-Tier- Tarasenko, Fiala, Meier, Brown, Eberle, Palmieri, Labanc, Zuccarello
• Value- Tuch, Kyrou, Bunting, Balcers, Smith, Schwartz, Saad, Zucker, Carter, Parise, Donato

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

• Adam Fox, NYR ($7,000 DK / $6,200 FD) - The pricing on Fox continues to rise but he has been as solid as it can get from a fantasy aspect. He has now scored a point in his last 10 games played and has recorded 20 total points in that 10-game span. While the matchup against the Islanders is a tough one, Fox has been extremely involved on both ends of the ice and offers a solid floor for your cash game builds.
• Brandon Montour, BUF ($3,500 DK / $4,100 FD) - If looking for a value play on this slate, Brandon Montour really stands out. He has eclipsed over 20 minutes of ice time in four of his last five games and has a very solid floor as he has recorded 19 peripheral stats over that five-game stretch.

Other defensemen to consider: 

• High Priced- Carlson, Pietrangelo, Letang, Burns
• Mid-Tier- Theodore, Makar, Doughty, Pulock, Parayko
• Value- Faulk, Trouba, Brodin, Suter, Schultz, Orlov, Mayfield, Dahlin 

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

• Philipp Grubauer, COL ($8,500 DK / $8,500 FD) - The Avs are the largest favorites on the slate, and with the way Grubauer has been playing this season, it is hard to not consider him in all formats especially in cash game lineups. Grubauer is 24-8-1 on the season and has won four of his last five games. He is coming off of his worst performance of the season where he allowed seven goals on 18 total shots against the Wild but this was an outlier type of performance for him. While his price point is high on both sites, he has been one of the best goaltenders in the league and he shouldn't be ignored in this matchup against Anaheim.
• Vitek Vanecek, WSH ($8,100 DK / $8,400 FD) - With Samsonov getting the start on Thursday night, it is safe to assume that Vanecek would be drawing the start Friday night against Buffalo. Vanecek has been one of the better backup goaltenders in the league as he is 15-7-3 with a 2.64 goals allowed average and a .911 save percentage. Vanecek has faced Buffalo five times this season and in those five games, he has gone 4-0-1 with a 1.55 goals allowed average while also recording one shutout. If you want to get one of the safer goalie options while not paying a full premium on Grubauer, Vanecek would be one to consider.

Other goalies to consider: 

• High Priced- Lehner
• Mid-Tier- DeSmith, Jones
• Value- Kahkonen

Note: If you do roster a goalie listed above, it is sometimes best to make a hedge lineup in tournaments and take the opposing offense against them in case he gives up a few goals while that opposing team carries lower ownership. Also, make sure that the goalie listed above is starting and if not, make sure to pivot!

Favorite NHL DFS Line Stacks 

• COL 1 
  • Rantanen/ MacKinnon/ Landeskog (Makar, d-men add on)
    • The top line for Colorado is a top-three line in the NHL and looks to be the clear-cut top option on this slate. They have produced four goals in 54 minutes of ice time against Anaheim and have generated 41 scoring chances for and 13 high danger opportunities in this matchup. On the season, the Avs top line is sporting a 3.12 expected goals for rate which is one of the highest rates in the league while also generating 38.02 scoring chances for and 13.4 high danger chances for per 60 minutes of ice time.
• SJS 2  
  • Balcers/ Hertl/ Meier 
    • The second line for San Jose has really been productive and could be a viable value line to use when constructing your tournament builds. On the season, they are sporting a 3.3 expected goals for rate per 60 while generating 37.92 scoring chances for and 17.99 high danger chances per 60 minutes of ice time as well. This line has also done well against the Kings this year as they have scored two goals in just 26 minutes of ice time and have generated 21 scoring chances for and 12 high danger opportunities.

Other Stacks to consider: VGK 1, NYI 1, WSH 1, LAK 1, VGK 2, NYI 3, STL 3

Key Abbreviations:

xGF/60= expected goal for per 60 minutes of ice time

GF/60= goals for per 60 minutes of ice time

SC/60= Scoring Chances per 60 minutes of ice time

If you have any additional questions, make sure to reach out to me on Twitter or in our NHL room at the RotoBaller slack chat!

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