NHL DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Thursday Playbook
Published: Oct 17, 2024
NHL DFS is back in a big way tonight as we have a massive 11-game slate on the docket for tonight and with that we have so many options and avenues to explore!
I have scanned this slate far and wide and below is my take on how things will shake out as I look to cash in my GPPs just like I did on the playbook last week on Thursday! Follow along and let's cash again!
NHL DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, October 17th
We have a 11-game slate on tap with some good teams in favorable matchups. Picking the right goalie is always key for NHL DFS picks, but on this slate, it will be critical.
There are also some discount players that we need to keep an eye on. We have a lot to discuss, so let’s keep it moving and dive into today's NHL DFS projections.
Sleeper NHL Picks, Tuesday, October 17th:
- Cole Caufield MORE 3.5 SOG
- Vincent Trocheck MORE 2.5 SOG
- Connor McDavid MORE 1.5 Points
Cole Caufield and the Habs are taking on the Kings tonight and Los Angeles is allowing so many shots on net right now, over 31 per game. Caufield is not shy and often has huge games with shooting the rubber so take him more than 3.5 shots on goal tonight.
Similar situation to Caufield but the Red Wings are just letting everyone in on the net right now allowing 32.7 shots per game. Trocheck is leading the Rangers right now with 11 shots over 3 games, he should cruise to hit this prop tonight.
McDavid is starting the season slow but the Oilers finally got a win the other night and now they play a Predators team that is off to a shaky start on defense. They are allowing 4.67 goals per game through the opening week of the season, time for the best player in the NHL to feast.
NHL DFS Lineup Picks, 10/17
Goalie Of The Day: Ilya Sorokin, NYI
His first start of the season couldn't have gone any better as he got the win over the Avalanche and stopped 32 shots in the process! Sorokin and the Islanders will be underdogs to the Blues tonight but I think they have the edge on this team that is playing over their heads right now on offense. He should see 30 shots and will have a great shot at returning his value in a big way!
Play Of The Day: Jack Hughes - NJD
This one is a play against the Senators more than anything especially when Linus Ullmark is taking a rest day. Anton Forsberg will mind the cage for the Sens and he's average at best in terms of NHL goaltending. This New Jersey offense led by Hughes should post 4+ goals tonight and will be one of the best stacks in DFS.
Value Play Of The Day: Anton Lundell, FLA
With Barkov out of the lineup that makes Lundell the center on the Panthers top line tonight and with already 3 goals on the season he's a steal at 4.8k on DraftKings tonight. He will also be getting powerplay time which is a bonus and the Canucks just aren't very good right now, steal of the day for me.
Stack Of The Day - NJD 2 (Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt & Paul Cotter)
I already spoke about Hughes being my play for the day but I like the potential for his entire line tonight as they shouldn't see the top forward group of the Sens often tonight. That really opens things up for this group and its a bonus that Bratt and Hughes are on the top powerplay unit as well!
Today's NHL DFS Cheat Sheet & Stacks
Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D | F | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Connor McDavid  $9,200 |  Artemi Panarin $8,800 |  Roman Josi $7,400 |  Sergei Bobrovsky $7,600 | |
 Jack Hughes $8,400 | Sam Reinhart $9,000 | Adam Fox $7,100 | Jacob Markstrom $7,600 | ||
| Carter Verhaeghe $7,500 | |||||
| Medium |  Connor Bedard $8,600 |  Adrian Kempe $7,800 | Evan Bouchard $6,800 |  Ilya Sorokin $7,700 | |
| Vincent Trocheck $8,000 |  Tage Thompson $7,200 | Rasmus Dahlin $6,700 | Jonathan Quick $7,900 | ||
| Jesper Bratt $7,500 | Noah Dobson $6,500 | ||||
 Jared McCann $5,800 | |||||
 Cole Caufield $7,300 | |||||
| Low | Nick Suzuki $6,800 |  Adam Fantilli $5,800 | Alec Martinez $5,000 | Kirill Marchenko $5,300 |  Cam Talbot $7,200 |
| Anton Lundell $5,800 | Timo Meier $6,700 | K'Andre Miller $5,300 | Luke Evangelista $4,800 | ||
 Tyler Toffoli $6,500 | |||||
| Alex Tuch $6,800 |
Stacks
| Devils | Jack Hughes | Dougie Hamilton | Jesper Bratt |
 DraftKings | 8800 | 6100 | 6200 |
| Fanduel | 8400 | 6400 | 7500 |
| Panthers | Carter Verhaeghe | Anton Lundell | Sam Reinhart |
| DraftKings | 7400 | 4800 | 8200 |
| Fanduel | 7500 | 5800 | 9000 |
| Rangers | Artemi Panarin | Vincent Trocheck | Adam Fox |
| DraftKings | 8500 | 6500 | 7200 |
| Fanduel | 8800 | 8000 | 7100 |
Player News
JP Sears was brilliant in Thursday afternoon’s victory over the White Sox, scattering three hits over six innings of shutout baseball.
The 29-year-old southpaw struck out two and issued a pair of walks in the ballgame. All three of the hits that he allowed in the contest were singles. Only once did the White Sox have a player reach third base against him — on a two-out single by Lenyn Sosa in the sixth inning — but Sears got Michael A. Taylor to pop out to the catcher to end the threat. He generated just one swing and miss on 100 pitches in the ballgame, posting an underwhelming CSW of only 20 percent. He’ll see if he can keep the good times rolling as he carries a 3.13 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and an 18/5 K/BB ratio (23 innings) into Wednesday’s showdown against the Rangers.
Edgar Quero went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his big league debut against the Athletics on Thursday.
The 22-year-old rookie backstop started behind the dish and batted seventh for the White Sox on Thursday afternoon against the Athletics. As a whole, the White Sox couldn’t muster a single run and scratched out just four total hits in the game, so Quero wasn’t the only one at fault. Ultimately, his fantasy utility in deeper leagues will depend on how much playing time he sees for the White Sox.
Davis Martin struggled in a losing effort against the Athletics on Thursday afternoon, surrendering four runs on eight hits over his 5 1/3 innings of work.
The 28-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out three batters in the ballgame. Nearly all of the damage done against him came via the long ball as Lawrence Butler swatted a solo shot in the fifth inning and JJ Bleday added a two-run blast in the sixth inning. Martin got seven swings and misses on 90 pitches on the day while posting a CSW of 27 percent. Now 1-2 on the season, he’ll carry a 4.84 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and a 13/6 K/BB ratio (22 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Twins in Minneapolis.
Masyn Winn (back) is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis on Friday.
He’ll play there through the weekend and assuming everything goes well he would then be cleared to rejoin the Cardinals on Tuesday when he’s first eligible. Prior to landing on the injured list, the 23-year-old shortstop had been hitting .222/.314/.289 with one homer and three RBI through his first 13 ballgames.
Pelle Larsson (ankle) and Nikola Jovic (hand) are questionable for Friday’s game against the Hawks.
No big surprises on the Heat injury report heading into Friday’s game. While Larsson and Jovic are questionable, Duncan Robinson (back), Alec Burks (back) and Haywood Highsmith (Achilles) are all available. Larsson was questionable, but ultimately available against the Bulls Wednesday, though he didn’t play due to coach’s decision. Jovic was out Wednesday as he hasn’t played since February with a broken right hand.
Titans waived OT Nicholas Petit-Frere.
The team signed C Sam Mustipher and OT Oli Udoh in corresponding moves. Petit-Frere failed to meet expectations after the Titans spent a third-round pick on him in 2022, allowing 35-plus quarterback pressures in 2-of-3 NFL seasons.