Welcome to the NHL DFS core plays for the first full daily fantasy hockey slate of the season! You will see three tiered options for Yahoo! DFS, DraftKings, and FanDuel every night that there are three or more games. Otherwise, you are still getting the same great top plays and the Discord chat is still open for all of your questions. Don't forget to check out our NHL daily projections, the NHL DFS lineup generator, today's NHL betting odds, and NHL starting lines. Have fun and let's make some money together tonight!

 

Carolina Hurricanes vs Florida Panthers

There will be many different angles to attack on tonight’s slate and a meeting between two Eastern conference juggernauts is a good place to start! On the Carolina side of things not much has changed on the lines and the top 2 forward groups remain extremely productive. Top center Sebastian Aho comes in much cheaper than the other stars on the slate and I could see his ownership down on the slate, he is a good option but given the recent struggles I think there are better options on his team. On the wings Andrei Svechnikov remains a top play on the wing at 7.1k on DK right now. He leads the Hurricanes with 8 goals through 12 games and has double digit DFS points in 4 of his last 5 games. A cheaper version will also be Martin Necas on the same line as Svechnikov. He is also on the power play one unit and has collected 20 shots on goal over the past 5 games, super productive player! I continue to pay attention to Stefan Noesen as his is part of the power play equation on a skilled unit. He is just 4k on DK tonight and is coming off a game where he scored and put up 4 SOG. Lastly in Carolina I am looking to get Brent Burns in there tonight in some capacity. In cash games he is one of the safest plays there is as he is above double-digit points in 10 of 12 games this season.

Now we head over to the Florida side of things! There will be no Matthew Tkachuk as he is serving a suspension so Colin White has taken his place on the top line with Aleksander Barkov. Barkov is the highest priced center on the slate and given the Hurricanes defensive prowess I may pass on him today. Colin White and Carter Verhaeghe will be in play given their prices though, I don’t expect the goals but each should have a good floor pumping in shots. A way to get different from the pack in this game is to play Anton Lundell on the second line at center. He should avoid facing off against Jordan Staal and is getting power play minutes tonight. 

Vancouver Canucks vs Montreal Canadiens

Now this is one of the matchups I am excited about tonight! The Canucks drive up game totals night in and night out and in a small slate you must have some pieces. At center Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson are both great options, of the two I do prefer Pettersson as he has been better on the road at he’s cheaper on DK. J.T. Miller is also someone I am finding room for in a couple lineups as he anchors the top line and power play for a team that will score at least 3 or 4 goals tonight. I also want some exposure to Andrei Kuzmenko who is playing next to Pettersson on the 2nd line and the powerplay tonight, the kid has been very good in GPPs at 4.7k. Another dart throw can be on Ilya Mikheyev tonight, has 8 points on the season and has over 10 DFS points in his last two games. Quinn Hughes continues to be a good cash option as well with 11 assists on the season. 

Over on the Montreal side I will need a few pieces tonight as the Canucks defense is almost non-existent through the early going. Nick Suzuki is a nice option but is pricey at 6.8k on DraftKings, could be a good way to be different though with his 8 goals on the season. The Canucks allow the 3rd most points per game to centers so Christian Dvorak could be in play as well. On the wings Cole Caufield is the top play for Montreal of course with his 8 goals and 14 points on the season. I am also looking into playing fellow linemate Kirby Dach at 3.9k who has been racking up the assists.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Washington Capitals 

For the Penguins tonight I don’t have a ton of interest in playing anyone past the top names as there has been next to nothing in production from the bottom six so far. Sidney Crosby remains in play as he has 14 points through 12 games and is logging major minutes for a struggling team. He has 3 points in his last 3 games but has scored 84 career points against the Capitals over 64 games. As Crosby goes so does Jake Guentzel and the top line winger is rolling along. He missed a handful of games in October but since his return he has 4 points in 3 games and is consistent as they come, great cash option. Bryan Rust is also back on the top line for the Penguins and posted 6 SOG in his last matchup, worth a look tonight. On defense look for Kris Letang at 5.8k on DraftKings. Much like Brent Burns, Letang is a safe play most nights as he is averaging 9.5 DFS points on the season and is seeing massive minutes. 

On the home side for the Capitals is a juicy matchup against a struggling Penguins team. I don’t love the centers for Washington for Dylan Strome looks like the best option as he will avoid the Crosby line and still get powerplay minutes, plus he is just 3.8k so needed salary relief. On the wings Alex Ovechkin is always in play and will be tonight as he has a goal in 3 straight games and has 37 goals in 69 games in his career against the Penguins. Other options could be Conor Sheary or Marcus Johansson, both will see increased usage with TJ Oshie out of the lineup right now. I am also interested in Darcy Kuemper in goal tonight for the Capitals as he has come off a bad two game stretch but should bounce back against the Penguins who are struggling to score but still putting on a lot of shots. 

Minnesota Wild vs Anaheim Ducks

Lastly we have the late night hammer and it may indeed be a mighty hammer as the Wild get ready for a big matchup with the Ducks. I say big from the potential of DFS, not general hockey as the Ducks allow the most goals per game in the league at 4.62! Time to lick your chops and stack up some Wild players starting at center with Joel Ericksson Ek. His price has steadily risen out of the 5k range which is a bummer but he has just been too productive. If you want to save money at center Frederick Gaudreau is always a plug and play at 3.7k on DraftKings, just don’t expect the world from him. The wings are where I will be stacking though tonight as both teams have really solid options. Starting with Kirill Kaprizov who has 8 goals and 13 points through 12 games. He is coming off two dud games so things may pop off for him tonight just given the trends. Other cheaper options include Mats Zuccarello, Troy Terry and Matthew Boldy who have all been consistently over double digit points this daily fantasy season. On the blue line look into Jared Spurgeon and Calen Addison tonight to grab some assists in a game the Wild could easily score 5 or more goals. Filip Gustavsson will also be one of my top owned goaltenders on the slate tonight too. 

 

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