Premium NHL Playoffs DFS Series Previews - Stanley Cup Finals

The grueling nine-month NHL season is approaching its end as we are now down to two teams who will face off in a seven-game series for the opportunity to hoist the Stanley Cup. Daily fantasy gets a bit tougher at this point but both sites are still offering one-game contests so let's keep chasing those wins right until the bitter end. Let's now jump in and take a look at the final series breakdown.

Washington Capitals vs. Vegas Golden Knights

Regular Season Offensive Ranks - Washington(9) Vegas(5)
Regular Season Defensive Ranks - Washington(16) Vegas(8)

The dream season continues for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights and while some believe the draft was rigged to help the team, I don't recall anyone predicting they were going to make the playoffs let alone the Stanley Cup final. After not being protected by their former teams, each and every player came into this season with something to prove and showed a ton of synergy. They finished the regular season ranked Top 10 in both offense and defense and while they rank ninth in offense coming into the finals they rank second in defense allowing just 1.8 goals per game. A ton of that success can be placed on their experienced goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, who sits with a 1.68 GAA and ridiculous .947 save %. My feeling is that for the Knights to win this series they will have to keep the games low scoring and need Fleury to steal a few more games. On offense, I favor the top line as Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, and William Karlsson are the only Knights players to enter the finals with double-digit points. For value, I like Alex Tuch who is skating on the third line and comes in with six goals and nine points. You don't need to roster a player on defense in the one game contests but the Knights have three who can provide some cheap value. Brayden McNabb has recorded just five points but has added 10 shots and 38 blocks. Nate Schmidt has provided six points, 30 shots, and 23 blocks and Shea Theodore has provided seven points, 29 shots, and 22 blocks.

For the Capitals, they not only made it by the Penguins finally but they also got back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1998. They will now try to cross one more off the list and bring home Washington's frist ever Stanley Cup. It was a true battle in the Eastern Conference Finals as they picked up wins in the first two games in Tampa Bay but then things went downhill fast as they lost the next three games. They showed amazing resilience, however, as they fought back to shutout the Bolts in game six and seven to move on. One of the best stories for the team comes in goal as Braden Holtby really struggled in the regular season and after starting the playoffs as the backup, took his job back and has helped lead the team to this point with a 2.04 GAA and .924 save %. Unlike the Gold Knights who had just three players with double-digit points, the Caps have seven led by their top line of Alex Ovechkin(24) and Evgeny Kuznetsov(22). Joining them on the second best powerplay(28.8%) in the playoffs are Nicklas Backstrom(16), T.J. Oshie(15), and John Carlson(16). This will be the key to the Capitals success as it has been all season.

My Pick: Vegas in six games

For any specific questions, please reach out to me via Twitter(@Jager_Bombs9). Good luck out there!