NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (2/6): Value Plays, Goalies, Stacks

3 years ago by Jorge Pucks

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, FanDuel, and SuperDraft.

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, Fanduel, and SuperDraft for Saturday, February 6th, 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 2/6

- Pittsburgh Penguins (-110) vs. New York Islanders (-110) - 5.5U
- Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-190) - 6.50
- San Jose Sharks (-105) vs. Anaheim Ducks (-111) - 5.5U
- Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames (-120) - 6.5U

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

Team	Rank GA	Rank SA	Rank GF	Rank SF	Total
Pittsburgh	11	26	22	12	18.75
NYI	9	17	10	28	15
Vancouver	19	4	24	18	14.5
Toronto	26	13	29	6	20.25
San Jose	27	22	4	26	19.75
Anaheim	25	11	3	27	16.5
Edmonton	15	12	17	28	13.5
Calgary	16	8	12	15	17.25

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 last column indicates that it is a more dangerous matchup for that team's goalie while it might be beneficial to stack against him. 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

Team	PP%	OPP PK %
Pittsburgh	22	21
NYI	19	24
Vancouver	21	23
Toronto	1	13
San Jose	18	6
Anaheim	30	8
Edmonton	8	19
Calgary	11	25

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. When looking at this matrix, you will want to look for teams that succeed in the power play rank while their opponent has a poor penalty kill rank.

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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.

NHL DFS Center Picks

Auston Matthews, TOR ($8,300 DK / $8,600 FD) - Matthews had himself a very good day at the office on Thursday as he recorded two goals on seven total shots against the Canucks. AM34 has now scored a goal in six straight games and with Vancouver allowing 3.9 goals per game, it is hard to imagine his goal-scoring streak ending tonight.
Logan Couture, SJS ($5,000 DK / $7,300 FD) - Couture is coming off of a solid performance against the Ducks on Friday night as he recorded a goal on three total shots. Couture has now notched a goal in two of his last three games and benefits greatly with Evander Kane joining him on the top forward line for the Sharks.
Jean Gabriel Pageau, NYI ($3,600 DK / $4,200 FD) - JGP plays a vital role on this Islanders hockey team and while he isn't in a top-six role, he plays on the third forward line that matches up with opposing teams top two lines which means he could see solid amounts of ice time. Pageau has recorded an assist in two of his last three games and should see some time against the Malkin line which has struggled defensively for the Penguins.

Other centers to consider: McDavid, Draisaitl, Tavares, Malkin, Monahan, Hertl, Nelson, Backlund, Grant

NHL DFS Forward Picks

Mitch Marner, TOR ($7,600 DK / $7,900 FD) - Outside of Matthews, the other Maple Leaf player that carries a very high ceiling is Mitch Marner. Marner recorded one goal and two assists against Vancouver on Thursday night which also extended his point-scoring streak to six games. Marner has recorded a point in 9 out of 11 games played this season and has recordes six multi-point outings this year.
Evander Kane, SJS ($5,100 DK / $6,100 FD) - The Sharks are a pretty volatile team but so rostering them could be a roller coaster. With that being said, the pricing on Kane on DK is just too low to pass up. Kane has recorded seven points in nine games this season and is coming off a good performance against Anaheim where he recorded both a goal and an assist.
Wayne Simmonds, TOR ($2,700 DK / $3,400 FD) - I never thought the day would come where I would be writing up Wayne Simmonds but here we are.....Simmonds has been elevated to the Toronto 2 line where he joins John Tavares and William Nylander while also skating on the top power-play line as well. While Simmonds isn't what he once was earlier in his career, he gets you exposure to a very good line and a dominant power play line that is in a great spot and still has goal-scoring upside as he was riding a three-game goal streak earlier this season.

Other wings to consider: Tkachuk, Lee, Rust, Gaudreau, Nylander, Silfverberg, Pearson, Labanc, Spezza, Donato, Timashov

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

Brent Burns, SJS ($6,500 DK / $6,500 FD) - With the lack of other true dominant offensive defenseman on this slate, Burns easily comes in as the top option. He notched a goal and an assist against the Ducks last night while also taking four shots on goal and good things happen when Burns is active on the offensive end.
Quinn Hughes, VAN ($5,400 DK / $5,800 FD) - While Toronto will be a popular option, you might want to consider rostering Quinn Hughes in this matchup as well. Hughes is one of the best young defensemen in the league and has notched 14 assists in 14 games so far this season. The matchup between Vancouver and Toronto could be fast-paced which means opportunities could come at both ends for both sides which means Hughes can find himself notching a few assists.
Jake Muzzin, TOR ($4,800 DK / $4,200 FD) - If you're looking for a solid floor player at a reasonable price, look no further than Jake Muzzin. The Maple Leafs defenseman is averaging 22 minutes of ice time per game and does a great job racking up peripherals. He has point-scoring upside as he has recorded a point in three out of his last four games played and he gets you exposure to an explosive goal-scoring team like Toronto.

Other defensemen to consider: Nurse, Rielly, Larsson, Dobson, Karlsson, Lindholm, Edler, Joseph, Matheson

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

Frederick Andersen, TOR ($8,400 DK / $8,100 FD) - The Maple Leafs are the largest favorites on the slate so rostering Andersen should be in consideration when filling out your roster. Andersen is 6-2-1 on the season with a 3.01 goals allowed average and a .888 save percentage. Andersen has won three of his last four games but be aware, he has also allowed at least three goals in all four of those games as well. Andersen should get the win but he does carry risk as he can get scored on.
Devan Dubnyk, SJS ($7,400 DK / $6,900 FD) - The Sharks and Ducks easily hit the over last night, and with both teams on the end of a back-to-back, it might be less of a scoring affair particularly on the Ducks side. Devan Dubnyk should get the nod for Saturday's clash with the Ducks and while he is still searching for his first win with the Sharks, he has actually been solid between the pipes when given the opportunity. Dubnyk is 0- with a 3.23 goals allowed average with a .902 save percentage on the season and while that doesn't seem great, he has limited opposing teams to three goals or less in three out of his four starts and gets a Ducks team that is scoring less than two goals per game.

Other goalies to consider: Varlamov, Jarry

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 incase he gives up a few goals while that opposing team carries lower ownership.

Favorite NHL DFS Line Stacks

TOR 1
- Hyman/ Matthews/ Marner (Rielly, D-men add on/ Simmonds PP add on)
  - Toronto is in such a great spot and this line should be the highest-owned lines on the entire slate. On Thursday night, this line produced two goals while generating six scoring chances and two high danger opportunities. Toronto is also sporting the best power-play unit in the league so one way to get different on this slate is by stacking the power-play unit as well which allows you to get exposure to both the top line as well as the second line by including Simmonds.
SJS 1
- Kane/ Couture/ Labanc (Burns, D-men add on)
  - The top line of Couture, Kane, and Labanc looked really solid against the Ducks last night and with the reduced prices on Couture and Kane, there's no reason to not go back to them in the same matchup. This line produced one goal while generating 10 scoring chances and three high-danger opportunities in 12 minutes of ice time against Anaheim. This line plays with a good pace and they're generating 39.3 scoring chances and 11.79 high danger opportunities per 60 minutes this season so look to them to be a good secondary stack to roster in your tournament builds.