NHL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, SuperDraft (2/9): 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 Tuesday, February 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 2/9

- Philadelphia Flyers (-120) vs Washington Capitals - 6O
- Detroit Red Wings vs. Florida Panthers (-220) - 5.5O
- Edmonton Oilers vs. Ottawa Senators -
- Tampa Bay Lightning (-162) vs. Nashville Predators - 5.5O
- Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars (-160) - 5.5O
- Anaheim Ducks vs. Vegas Golden Knights (-240) - 5.5U
- San Jose Sharks (-115) vs. Los Angeles Kings (-105) - 5.5O
- Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames (-140) - 6U
- ~~St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild-~~ PPD
- ~~Arizona Coyotes vs. Colorado Avalanche-~~ PPD

NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix

Team	Rank GA	Rank SA	Rank GF	Rank SF	Total
Philadelphia	24	3	27	31	17.5
Washington	26	4	22	21	22
Detroit	25	16	2	29	16
Florida	14	20	17	6	16.25
Edmonton	28	10	25	12	14
Ottawa	31	11	4	14	19.75
Tampa Bay	1	25	27	7	8.5
Nashville	21	14	3	5	17.25
Chicago	10	1	9	11	16.5
Dallas	6	18	26	29	11
Anaheim	3	19	1	26	13
Vegas	8	30	29	1	16.25
San Jose	18	12	5	12	16.75
Los Angeles	27	6	13	24	12.5
Winnipeg	16	14	26	17	17.25
Calgary	16	21	16	23	20

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%
Philadelphia	10	18
Washington	5	27
Detroit	29	22
Florida	4	28
Edmonton	8	26
Ottawa	21	24
Tampa Bay	17	31
Nashville	21	8
Chicago	3	15
Dallas	1	13
Anaheim	30	11
Vegas	25	5
San Jose	19	3
Los Angeles	11	6
Winnipeg	15	15
Calgary	12	12

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.

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.

NHL DFS Center Picks

Aleksander Barkov, FLA ($7,700 DK / $7,400 FD) - Barkov is coming off of a lackluster performance against the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon where he took four shots on goal but was unable to record a point. Barkov has registered a point in seven of nine games and should get back on track Tuesday night as the Red Wings have allowed the fourth-most goals to opposing centers.
Anze Kopitar, LAK ($6,200 DK / $7,200 FD) - Kopitar is having a very strong start to the season as he has produced 14 total points in just 11 games played. He has generated four points over his last four games played and faces a Sharks team that is allowing 3.6 goals per game to opposing teams.
Philipp Kurashev, CHI ($3,700 DK/ $3,900 FD) - Kurashev definitely gets a bump in production by skating alongside Patrick Kane on the top Blackhawks forward line. He has registered two assists and two goals over his last four games played and while he doesn't take a large volume of shots, the upside is certainly there with the guys that he skates with.

Other centers to consider: McDavid, Draisaitl, Pavelski, Lindholm, Scheifele, Larkin, Strome, Duchene, DuBois, Lowry, Fabbri, Faksa

NHL DFS Forward Picks

Max Pacioretty, VGK ($8,100 DK / $8,100 FD) - Pacioretty continues to produce against any team he plays and he gets a strong matchup against a Ducks team who he faced earlier this season. In the opening two games of the season against Anaheim, Pacioretty took 10 combined shots on goal and found the back of the net twice.
Evander Kane, SJS ($5,200 DK / $6,300 FD) - Kane is still priced down on DK and it is really hard to not press the lock button when he is in the low 5k range. Kane has eight points in 10 total games played and has recorded three points in his last two games played. The Kings struggle against Left Wingers as they have allowed the third-most goals to this position on the season.
Anthony Mantha, DET ($4,200 DK / $6,200 FD) - Mantha provides an offensive spark to this Red Wings second line and while he missed the game on Sunday against Florida, he should be back for their Tuesday night game. Mantha has scored a goal three out of his last four games played and is averaging three shots per game over that stretch.

Other wings to consider: Kane, RNH, Stone, DeBrincat, Connor, Hornqvist, Huberdeau, Copp, Iafallo, Granlund, Brown, Kempe, Coleman, Dadonov, Donato

NHL DFS Defenseman Picks

Brent Burns, SJS ($6,500 DK / $6,400 FD) - While rostering Burns can be scary, he does have the type of upside that can win you a tournament. Burns is seeing over 27 minutes of ice time per game and faces a Kings team that is tied for the lead with eight goals allowed to opposing defenseman.
Ryan Ellis, NSH ($5,200 DK / $4,900 FD) - Ellis continues to provide such a solid floor that he is never truly overpriced on any site. The floor for Ellis is a high one since he sees 24 minutes of ice time and with them facing the Lightning yet again, he should be a viable cash game option due to the pace of the game and a good physical matchup.
Ryan McDonagh, TBL ($3,900 DK / $4,200 FD) - McDonagh is certainly underrated from a DFS perspective as he is averaging over four peripheral stats per game over his last four games played. McDonagh skates on the second defenseman line and sees 22 minutes per game at even strength so he certainly sees a heavy dose of opposing teams' top forwards which creates blocked shot opportunities.

Other defensemen to consider: Theodore, Klingberg, Nurse, Barrie, Giordano, Larsson, Lindell, Sergachev, Weegar, Pionk, Forbort, Bouchard

NHL DFS Goalie Picks

Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK ($8,400 DK / $8,800 FD) - Robin Lehner got the nod on Sunday afternoon against the Kings so there is a chance that the Golden Knights flip back to Fleury for the first game against Anaheim. Fleury is having a very strong start to the season as he is 4-0 on the year with a 1.25 goals allowed average and a .944 save percentage. The Ducks really lack offensive firepower as they are averaging 1.8 goals per game which is the lowest goal scoring rate in the league.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL ($8,000 DK / $8,700 FD) - Andrei Vasilevskiy should get the start on Tuesday against the Predators as backup goalie, Curtis McElhinney, got the nod Monday night against Nashville. Vasilevskiy is putting together another strong campaign as he is 7-1-1 with a 1.88 goals allowed average and a .931 save percentage. He is 2-0 against the Preds as he is allowing 2.52 goals per game against them and is seeing close to 30 save attempts per game.
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG ($7,700 DK / $7,900 FD) - Hellebuyck has been one of the steadier goaltenders throughout this 2021 season and while the Flames have a good offense, Hellebuyck and the Jets have been very sound defensively. He is 5-2-1 with a 2.48 goals allowed average and a .913 save percentage and is 2-0-1 against Calgary on the year while limiting them to just 2.26 goals scored per game.

Other goalies to consider: Quick, Bobrovsky

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

VGK 1
- Pacioretty/ Stephenson/ Stone (Theodore, D-men add on)
  - With a lot of high profile forward lines on this slate, it might be best to deviate from some of the chalkier options. Vegas is on home ice against a Ducks team that is sound defensively but struggles to score as they have the worst goals per game rate in the league. The top line for Vegas has been great all year as they have an expected goal for rate of 2.99, generate 34.85 scoring chances, and create 11.41 high danger opportunities per 60. In the two games against Anaheim earlier this season, this line created 27 scoring chances and 13.74 high-danger opportunities against the Ducks and with them having the last line change, the top line could find themselves in some great matchups all night long.
FLA 1
- Verhaeghe/ Barkov/ Duclair (Ekblad, D-men add on)
  - The Panthers top line looked really solid against the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon despite them falling short and losing to Detroit by the score of 4-1. They posted a 73.08 corsi for while creating 10 scoring chances and four high-danger opportunities throughout the game. On the season, this Florida line has a 3.52 expected goals for rate while averaging 37.41 scoring chances and 17.87 high-danger opportunities per 60 minutes of ice time. They spent a lot of time skating with the Larkin line and dominated the matchup but just couldn't find the back of the net.
LAK 1
- Iafallo/ Kopitar/ Brown (Doughty, D-men add on)
  - While the Los Angeles top line doesn't carry quite the ceiling that other top lines around the league do, they certainly can get it done in this matchup against the Sharks. They will be on home ice so the line matching will be in their favor and the Sharks do struggle on the defensive end as they're allowing opposing teams to average 3.6 goals per game on them. This specific Kings line carries a 2.13 expected goals for while creating 20.43 scoring chances and 10.22 high-danger chances per 60 and while it isn't as high as other lines around the league, they could see a bump against the Sharks who allow 29.18 scoring chances and over 12 high-danger opportunities per 60 minutes of ice time.