NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (2/12): 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 Friday, February 12th, 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 2/12

- Boston Bruins (-170) vs. New York Rangers- 5.5O
- St. Louis Blues (-135) vs. Arizona Coyotes- 5.5U

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

Team	Rank GA	Rank SA	Rank GF	Rank SF	Total
Boston	3	31	19	2	11.5
New York Rangers	9	24	7	5	13.5
St. Louis	18	7	16	18	16.25
Arizona	12	8	11	29	13.5

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

Matchup	PP%	Opp PK%
Boston	4	6
New York Rangers	26	28
St. Louis	27	23
Arizona	8	5

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

Patrice Bergeron, BOS ($8,300 DK / $7,900 FD) - The center position has a lot of solid plays for this slate and Bergeron is the top option if choosing to spend up. Bergeron is tied for the team-lead with 16 points on the season and also leads the Bruins with eight goals on the year. He centers one of the best forward lines in the entire league and is an option in all formats on this slate.
Ryan Strome, NYR ($3,600 DK / $5,000 FD) - Strome is definitely a value play over on DK with him being under the 4k mark. He has recorded three double-digit DK performances over his last six games played and is coming off of a season-high six-shot performance against Boston on Wednesday night.

Other centers to consider: Schenn, Zibanejad, Dvorak, Krejci

NHL DFS Forward Picks

David Pastrnak, BOS ($7,500 DK / $8,500 FD) - Pastrnak is coming off of his worst game of the season as he was held pointless against the Rangers on Wednesday night and only recorded three shots on goal. Pastrnak still carries the highest ceiling on the slate and should be considered in all formats.
Phil Kessel, ZONA ($4,200 DK / $6,000 FD) - Phil "the Thrill" is very cheap over on DK and while the matchups against the Blues is a challenging one, he has found a way to score three points over their last four games against St. Louis. The goal-scoring upside is there for Kessel and with him being on the third forward line for Arizona, he might see some matchups against the bottom six forwards for the Blues which is a benefit to him.

Other wings to consider: Marchand, Garland, Perron, Hoffman, Schwartz, Keller, Smith, Kakko

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

Adam Fox, NYR ($5,200 DK / $4,700 FD) - Adam Fox has been a very nice surprise for the Rangers this season as he has moved up to the top defensive pairing line while also being placed on the top power-play unit as well. He is averaging over four peripheral stats per game over his last seven games played and is averaging over 25 minutes of ice time per game as well.
Vince Dunn, STL ($3,800 DK / $3,900 FD) - Dunn is a high-upside defender for St. Louis and is one that is often featured on the power play for the Blues. Dunn has seen 20= minutes of ice time in three of his last five games played and offers a solid floor for his price point as he has recorded both a shot on goal and a blocked shot in each of his last three games played.

Other defensemen to consider: OEL, Krug, Parayko, Chychrun, Trouba, Miller, Lindgren

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

~~Tuukka Rask~~, BOS ($8,400 DK / $8,500 FD) - The Bruins are always tough to score on which is why Rask and Halak are always in consideration for your lineups. Boston is only allowing opposing teams to score 2.2 goals and holds opponents to 24.4 shots per game. Rask could be in line to start tonight's game against the Rangers and he is riding a three-game win streak with one of those wins coming against the Rangers on Wednesday night. Rask is 6-1-1 on the year with a 2.31 goals allowed average and a .906 save percentage and looks very solid to start the season. Halak will draw the start against the Rangers tonight and with Panarin possibly being out, this sets up really nice for the Bruins backup goalie.
Darcy Kuemper, ZONA ($7,600 DK / $8,100 FD) - Kuemper could be in line for the start against the Blues tonight and he is 2-1 against them so far this season. Kuemper is riding a two-game win streak against St. Louis and while his win/loss numbers aren't the best, he is only allowing 2.5 goals per game and is carrying a .913 save percentage through 10 starts this season. This game features the lowest total on the slate and with the Coyotes playing at home, they will be able to dictate the line matches which benefits Kuemper in the net.

Other goalies to consider: Binnington

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

BOS 1
- Marchand/ Bergeron/ Pastrnak (McAvoy, D-men add on)
  - With it being a two-game slate, the Boston top line carries the highest ceiling when it comes to full line stacks. They are really high-priced so it might be best to consider using at least two of them when it comes to your tournament builds. In their first game against the Rangers, the Bergeron line saw a good amount of the Zibanejad line which kept them in check for most of the night. The Boston top line was only able to generate three scoring chances and one high-danger opportunity the entire night but as we all know, this line can flip the switch and generate two to three goals at any moment.
ZONA 1
- Keller/ Schmaltz/ Garland (Chychrun, D-men add on)
  - The top line for the Coyotes has played pretty well against the Blues so far this season. In 37 minutes of ice time, this line is sporting a 58 corsi for percentage and has a 3.98 expected goals for rate during four games played. In addition, this line is creating 37.96 scoring chances for and 22.14 high danger opportunities per 60 minutes against the Blues. This line for Zona has seen a mixture of the Blues top line and third line and has been able to dominate the puck possession battle while also generate scoring chances.