NHL Best Bets & DFS Cheat Sheet, 4/23: Picks, Predictions & Player Props

Published: Apr 23, 2025
Welcome to the NHL Playoffs! Like we did throughout the regular season, the Fantasy Alarm will have you covered in the playoffs. You’ll find our daily NHL Best Bets along with which players you should be targeting in DFS.
We’ve conveniently put it all in one article, just to make life simple. If you have more questions, make sure to hit up the Fantasy Alarm NHL Discord. Let’s dive into the action and build a winning lineup!
NHL Picks, Predictions & Best Bets Today, 4/23
I’ll give you one Puck Line, one Total and one Player Prop to target for this slate.
The postseason is a completely different animal, so let’s start off slow and work our way up. No need to go nuts right out of the gate.
Oilers vs. Kings Prediction: Wednesday, April 23rd
The Los Angeles Kings almost blew a 4-1 lead, but thanks to Philipp Danault, that didn’t happen. The Oilers are a good offensive team because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but after that, it’s #NotGood. Stuart Skinner was pretty bad, and the defense did him no favors.
Not only are we going to back the Kings again on home ice tonight, but we are taking the Puck Line. Evander Kane is back in the lineup, and he hasn’t played hockey in almost a year, while John Klingberg makes his return to the blue line. Neither player will make this team better. They probably make them worse. We may need an empty net goal to cover, but we are still going to take our chances.
- Kings Puck Line (+195 on DraftKings)
Stars vs. Avalanche Prediction: Wednesday, April 23rd
With the series tied 1-1 and shifting to Colorado, we should be in for a real scoring explosion. The Avalanche are dominant on home ice and there’s a good chance Gabriel Landeskog makes his return to the lineup. We were teased last game, but he took warmup and has been at practice, so all signs point to him being back and that would be a massive boost.
Dallas was able to score four goals last game, and they should be able to generate scoring chances tonight. The problem is going to be keeping the puck out of their net. Jake Oettinger is a very good goalie, but his numbers in the regular season were below-average. The number seems pretty high at 6.5, but it would shock me to see it hit before the third period even starts.
- Over 6.5 (-102 on DraftKings)
Canadiens vs. Capitals Prediction: Wednesday, April 23rd
The Montreal Canadiens may have lost Game 1, but they reminded the Capitals that they won’t go down without a fight. They scored two in the third period, forcing the game to overtime, only to have Alex Ovechkin score his first career OT goal. This game will be another tight-checking affair, but we need to take the Canadiens seriously.
The Habs averaged just over 25 shots on goal per game on the road during the regular season, but in Game 1, they had 35, and before anyone says anything, they had ZERO in overtime. Montreal isn’t a team that will generate a ton of scoring chances, but there seems to be a willingness to shoot the puck more against a Capitals defense that is decent.
Logan Thompson’s save total is sitting at 22.5, and that is too low. That number should be higher after what we saw in Game 1, so we’ll take the over and move on to better things.
- Logan Thompson O/22.5 SVs (-105 on DraftKings)
Today's NHL DFS Cheat Sheet & Stacks
Goalie Of The Day: Darcy Kuemper - LAK
I refuse to not play Darcy Kuemper when he is playing on home ice. I know he gave up five goals last game, but that doesn’t scare me off. The Oilers are a two-player team with a below-average goalie and a terrible defense. Kuemper’s price tag is still at $7,800, so maybe that scares others off, but not us. We are going right back to him with confidence.
Player Of The Day: Cole Caufield - MTL
Some of you are going to call this a ‘’homer’’ pick and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Cole Caufield scored 38 goals this season, 25 of which came on the road. He scored in Game 1 and racked up five shots on goal. For the Canadiens to have any hope of winning this game, their top line will need to do damage, and they will. Caufield’s price tag actually dropped by $300 on DK, so plug him in and move on.
Value Play Of The Day: Gabriel Landeskog - COL
Like I said earlier, we were teased with Landeskog’s return last game, but tonight, he’s going to be in the lineup. It’s too early to tell what kind of impact he will have, but at $3,000, I’ll take my chances with the Colorado captain, and so should you.
Player Pool
$ Tier | C | W | D | G |
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High | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
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Low | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
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Stacks
Canadiens | Lane Hutson | Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki |
![]() | 4600 | 6500 | 6600 |
![]() | 5800 | 7200 | 7700 |
Avalanche | Cale Makar | Martin Necas | Nathan MacKinnon |
![]() | 7800 | 6100 | 9300 |
![]() | 7000 | 6300 | 9000 |
Kings | Quinton Byfield | Adrian Kempe | Kevin Fiala |
![]() | 5300 | 6200 | 6000 |
![]() | 6000 | 7300 | 6700 |
Capitals | Alex Ovechkin | Dylan Strome | Tom Wilson |
![]() | 8000 | 5900 | 5600 |
![]() | 8300 | 7200 | 6900 |
Canadiens | Lane Hutson | Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki |
![]() | 4600 | 6500 | 6600 |
![]() | 5800 | 7200 | 7700 |
Avalanche | Cale Makar | Martin Necas | Nathan MacKinnon |
![]() | 7800 | 6100 | 9300 |
![]() | 7000 | 6300 | 9000 |
Kings | Quinton Byfield | Adrian Kempe | Kevin Fiala |
![]() | 5300 | 6200 | 6000 |
![]() | 6000 | 7300 | 6700 |
Capitals | Alex Ovechkin | Dylan Strome | Tom Wilson |
![]() | 8000 | 5900 | 5600 |
![]() | 8300 | 7200 | 6900 |
Player News
Julio Rodriguez homered twice in a 3-2 loss to the Angels on Friday in extra innings.
It’s impressive to have a two-homer game against anyone. Hitting two homers against someone like José Soriano — a pitcher that had allowed all of five homers in 120 innings this year coming into Friday evening — is another. The pair of homers bring his total to 17 on the season, and he’s now plated 54 runs. Second-half Julio appears to be here, and fantasy managers should be thrilled.
José Soriano allowed two runs over six innings in a no-decision versus the Mariners on Friday.
Bryan Woo struck out six over six-plus inning of two-run baseball in a no-decision versus the Angels on Friday.
Nick Kurtz had an unbelievable night at the dish in Friday’s 15-3 victory over the Astros, going 6-for-6 with four home runs, a double, six runs scored and eight RBI.
Kurtz blasted a two-run homer in the second inning, an RBI double in the fourth, a solo shot in the sixth, a solo shot in the eighth and to put an exclamation point on the night he clobbered a three-run homer off of Cooper Hummel in the ninth inning. In perhaps the greatest single game performance in MLB history, Kurtz etched his name in the record books. He became just the 20th player in history to have a four-homer game and the first rookie to accomplish that feat. He also tied the MLB record for total bases in a game with 19. The front-runner for the American League Rookie of the Year award is now slashing an absurd .305/.374/.686 with 23 homers and 59 RBI on the season.
Kyle Schwarber went 3-for-5 with two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored, and a walk in a 12-5 win over the Yankees on Friday.
While this game was mostly tight throughout, the Phillies blew it wide open late with 10 runs over the final three innings against the Yankees’ beleaguered bullpen. Schwarber was right in the middle of that onslaught with a two-run, eighth inning homer that was scorched at 115.2 mph. He also accounted for the only damage done against opposing starter Will Warren with another two-run, 113.8 mph shot in the fifth inning. He added a 108.9 mph lineout between those and is in the middle of a special power surge with 10 home runs in his last 15 games.
Taijuan Walker allowed six hits and three runs with three strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision on Friday against the Yankees.
The Yankees jumped all over Walker for two quick homers in the first two innings. They had another solo shot later, but could never string enough hits together otherwise to put together a real rally. That was surprising though, because Walker allowed 10 hard-hit balls in total and didn’t seem to fool many hitters either with a steady dose of cutters in the strike zone. His next start is scheduled to come on Wednesday against the White Sox.