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 and Fanduel for Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 at 8:00 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 9/9
- New York Islanders (+148) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (-175)
NHL DFS Goalie Analysis Matrix
| Team | Rank GA | Rank SA | Rank GF | Rank SF | Total |
| NY Islanders | 4 | 23 | 22 | 13 | 8.5 |
| Tampa Bay | 11 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 12.25 |
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.
Power Play Matrix
| Matchup | PP% | Opp PK % |
| New York Islanders | 14 | 13 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 8 | 17 |
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. 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 to ensure we get the correct data for each slate! 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 Core Plays- Showdown
Captain Picks
- Brayden Point ($13,500 DK/ $15,500 FD) - Point looks to be one of the better overall plays on this slate when looking at his recent form and pricepoint. He has had double-digit scores in six of his last seven games played and has generated 16 total points over that seven-game span! In four games played against the Islanders this season, Point has recorded seven total points (three goals and four assists) and has taken 10 shots on goal. With how well he has been playing it is hard to look past Point in all formats on this showdown slate.
- Nikita Kucherov ($13,500 DK/ $15,000 FD) - Kuch is the most expensive player on the slate but also carries the highest ceiling of all skaters in this game. He is coming off of a five-point performance in game 1 of this series and has recorded 11 total points in his last four games played. Kucherov is averaging three shots per game against the Islanders and has generated seven total points against them in four games played. He is certainly viable in tournament formats since his salary in the captain spot is so high but he also brings multi-point scoring upside which could help takedown tournaments.
- Jordan Eberle ($13,500 DK/ $10,500 FD) - If you are wanting to take a stab at an Islanders player to be different in tournaments, Jordan Eberle should be considered. Eberle has been playing some great hockey as of late as he has scored a point in four straight games and is averaging 14.5 DK points over that four-game time-span. His shot volume has increased and has taken 14 shots over the last four games played and has three points in three games against Tampa this season.
Value Picks
- Ondrej Palat ($7,600 DK/ $9,500 FD) - Palat has been skating with the top Lightning line all postseason long and has filled in nicely for Steven Stamkos. Palat is cheaper than his other linemates but allows you to get exposure to the top line and the top powerplay line as well. He has scored double-digit DK points in five straight games and has had one point scored in six straight games played. If needing salary relief, Palat can be viable in tournaments for the captain role due to his recent form and salary savings that he provides.
- Kevin Shattenkirk ($5,400 DK/ $8,000 FD) - Shattenkirk has been moved up to the top defenseman line and is skating alongside Victor Hedman. The veteran defender has scored five points over his last two games played and has notched five points in just four games against the Islanders this season. He had a fantastic game 1 as he posted an individual corsi of 70.59 while generating seven scoring chances.
- Derick Brassard ($4,000 DK/ $7,500 FD) - Brassard is priced all the way down at $4,000 which seems too good of a value to pass up. Against Tampa this season, he has had three points scored in four games and has been pretty active offensively in his most recent games. He has scored two goals in his last four games played and has taken close to 10 shots during that span so he has shown some spark in his offensive game that is intriguing enough to include him in your lineups.
Stacks
- TB1- Palat, Point, Kucherov
- NYI2- Beauvillier, Nelson, Bailey
- TBPP1- Kucherov, Point, Sergachev, Palat, Killorn
Player Pool
C- Point, Barzal, Nelson, JGP, Gourde
W- Kucherov, Eberle, Lee, Palat, Brassard
D- Hedman, Sergachev, Toews, Pulock
G- Vasilevskiy
