RADIO
Welcome, RotoBallers. Hockey is one of my favorite sports to watch and play from a DFS perspective 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 for Tuesday, August 4th, 2020 at 2:30 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 8/3
- Arizona Coyotes(+110) vs. Nashville Predators (-130)
- Columbus Blue Jackets (+125) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-145)
- Calgary Flames (-110) vs. Winnipeg Jets (+125)
- Carolina Hurricanes (-145) vs. NY Rangers (+125)
- Minnesota Wild (-115) vs. Vancouver Canucks (-105)
NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix
| Team | Rank GA | Rank SA | Rank GF | Rank SF | total |
| Calgary | 27 | 11 | 30 | 11 | 17 |
| NY Rangers | 13 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 14.75 |
| Carolina | 29 | 17 | 27 | 9 | 20.25 |
| Minnesota | 12 | 22 | 26 | 15 | 21 |
| Vancouver | 26 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 17 |
| Winnipeg | 2 | 13 | 24 | 6 | 14 |
| Toronto | 17 | 21 | 17 | 19 | 10.5 |
| Nashville | 13 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 6.75 |
| Arizona | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 8.75 |
| Columbus | 16 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 19.75 |
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 so for example, the Islanders GA and SA will get matched with the Panthers GF and SF.
NHL DFS Power Play Rank Matrix
| Matchups | PP % Rank | Opp PK % |
| Florida | 29 | 9 |
| NYI | 28 | 20 |
| Arizona | 23 | 12 |
| Nashville | 20 | 7 |
| Columbus | 30 | 13 |
| Toronto | 16 | 16 |
| Calgary | 1 | 5 |
| Winnipeg | 12 | 14 |
| Carolina | 5 | 26 |
| NYR | 4 | 8 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 19 |
| Vancouver | 6 | 10 |
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.
Core 4 Plays
The Core 4 picks are to help you construct your cash game lineups while also giving you plays that you can use and build around in GPPs. Stacking is critical in NHL DFS so you might want to pair these suggestions with a linemate or two, especially when building your tournament lineups.
1) Center: Auston Matthews ($8,500 DK/ $8,500 FD)
Auston Matthews has the most upside on this slate and while he didn’t record a point during Sunday’s game, he did take six shots on goal which shows that he was as active as can be. Another thing to like is that he saw 24 minutes of ice-time and if he continually sees that amount, he is going to find the back of the net sooner than later. Matthews carries a high price tag but should be considered in both cash games and tournament lineups.
Other Top Center Plays:
- John Tavares ($8,100/ $7,400 FD)
- Sebastian Aho ($8,100/ $7,900FD)
- Sean Monahan ($7,600 DK/ $6,600 FD)
- Mika Zibanejad ($7,900 DK/ $8,000 FD)
2) Winger: Andrei Svechnikov ($5,400 DK/ $6,900 FD)
Svechnikov has been on fire to start the postseason as he has recorded four points in two games against the Rangers. He is coming off of a hat-trick performance where he racked up three goals on three shots. The Canes are looking for the sweep on Tuesday night and in order to do so, Svech and the Canes top line will need to produce like they have been doing so far in this series.
Other Top Winger Plays:
- Johnny Gaudreau ($8,2000 DK/ $7,800 FD)
- Mitch Marner ($7,000/ $7,500 FD)
- Kevin Fiala ($6,600/ $6,700 FD)
- Filip Forsberg ($6,800/ $1,000 FD)
3) Defenseman: Roman Josi ($7,000 DK/ $7,300 FD)
Josi is back on the slate and checks in again as a top DFS option. He notched two assists on three of the Predators' goals and continues to be involved whether it is on the powerplay or in a full-strength matchup. It was very impressive to see him total over 28 minutes of ice-time and with seeing that much action, he was bound to collect a point or two. If he sees a similar amount of ice-time on Tuesday, we should expect a similar outcome from a fantasy perspective.
Other Defenseman Plays:
- Zach Werenski ($6,700 DK/ $6,200 FD)
- Ryan Ellis ($6,000/ $5,600 FD)
- Alexander Edler ($5,900/ $4,300 FD)
- Jared Spurgeon ($5,200/ $5,300)
4) Goalie: Frederik Andersen ($8,400 DK/ $ FD)
Welp, it seems like we should go back to the Freddie Andersen well on this slate in hopes that the Maple Leafs offense decides to show up and play like the playoff-contending team that they are. Even in a losing effort, Andersen made 34 saves and racked up 19.6 DK points which is fantastic considering he was on the losing side of this game on Sunday night. The matchup for him is great since Columbus has a large shot per game volume but fails to convert those chances into goals so consider Andersen in all formats on this slate.
Other Goalie Options: Petr Mrazek ($8,100 DK/ $8,200 FD)
Value Plays: Center
- Vincent Trocheck ($4,500 DK/ $5,100 FD)
- Christian Dvorak ($4,400 DK/$ 4,400 FD)-
Value Plays: Wing
- Cam Atkinson ($4,900 DK/ $7,200 FD)
- Victor Arviddson ($2,900 DK/ $ 4,600 FD)
Value Plays: Defensemen
- Sami Vantanen ($4,100 DK/ $4,300 FD)
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($4,600 DK/ $5,400 FD)
- Mattias Ekholm ($4,200 DK/ $5,700 FD)
Value Plays: Goalie
- Alex Stalock ($7,100 DK/ $7,600 FD)
- Darcy Kuemper (GPP Salary Saver)($7,200 DK/ $7,600 FD)
Top Team and Line Stacks
Carolina Hurricanes (L1, PP1, L2)
The Canes have looked very dominant so far in their series against the Rangers. Their top line had themselves a day as Svechnikov netted three goals while Aho recorded three assists during Monday’s game. In the two games so far against New York, Carolina has generated 32 scoring chances per 60 minutes of ice time which is very strong. In addition, they are averaging over 13 high danger scoring chances as well which tells us they are getting good shots and opportunities against this Rangers defense. This Canes team looks to be rolling and going back to their top line is very viable on this slate.
Nashville Predators (L1, L2, PP1, L3, PP2)
Even though the Preds lost Sunday afternoon to the Coyotes by a score of 4-3, they actually produced solid numbers which make you think that they should be able to replicate this on Tuesday afternoon. They carried a 60.98 cf (corsi for) percentage which is very good and shows how they dominated the puck possession category. In addition, they were able to take advantage of several special teams opportunities and score two goals on the power play. It should be another competitive game with both sides being able to generate chances.
Toronto Maple Leafs (L1, PP1, L2)
The Leafs struggled to generate any offense on Sunday against the Blue Jackets so this seems to be a great bounce-back spot to target their top lines. They were able to generate only one more scoring chance than Columbus but had a relatively low number of high danger opportunities throughout the game (10 total). They should see decent ownership in tournaments but they will be once again tough to squeeze in due to their high price tags.
Other Stacks that could be lower owned: Zona (L1, PP1), NYR (L2, PP1, L1)
