NHL DFS Playbook April 28: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks
Published: Apr 28, 2023
Friday's 4-game NHL slate is loaded with top-tier scorers. We should expect lots of tight games with some great matchups out there, but expect some of the top scorers to shine through still. So, be sure to check in with our NHL DFS Tools, with the daily NHL projections, and our NHL lineup generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!
NHL DFS Playbook April 28
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Welcome back to the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs! We have likely the final 4 game slate of the opening round of these playoffs so let's try to take advantage of that. Every series has a team now facing elimination so expect desperation and unpredictability in spots throughout this slate. That being said I expect Carolina and Boston to close out their series this evening with the Wild and Avalanche forcing a Game 7 in their series. Those teams mentioned will be the ones I target tonight as more goals leads to wins and I will follow the winners to try to make some cash!
Recommended DFS Starting Goalies
Top Options for Saves
Philipp Grubauer vs Colorado Avalanche
Linus Ullmark vs Florida Panthers
Ilya Sorokin vs Carolina Panthers
Best Odds for a Win
Linus Ullmark vs Florida Panthers
Alexandar Georgiev vs Seattle Kraken
Filip Gustavsson vs Dallas Stars
Favorite Goalies to Use for DFS Lineups
Linus Ullmark, G, Boston Bruins
Ullmark has been the best goalie in pretty much every slate he has been in this season and tonight is no different. He has gotten peppered in most games this series and been up to challenge as the Panthers have posted 30+ shots in 3 of the 5 games so far. It's close out night for the Bruins tonight and Ullmark is going to shine.
Alexandar Georgiev, G, Colorado Avalanche
There will be no sugar coating it, the Avalanche goaltender has not been good enough through 5 games in this series and because of it the defending champions face elimination tonight. I believe that Colorado evens the series tonight though and it may be on the back of their goaltender who was so good during the regular season.
Filip Gustavsson, G, Minnesota Wild
He is 2-2 in this series so far and despite the losses Gustavsson has been pretty damn good in this series so far. He holds better numbers than Jake Oettinger on the Dallas side with a GAA of 2.01 a SV% of .928! If the Wild can somehow grab a win tonight and extend the series then the DFS numbers will be big time.
Recommended DFS Skaters
Highest Expected Goal Totals
Boston Bruins vs Sergei Bobrovsky
Colorado Avalanche vs Philipp Grubauer
Seattle Kraken vs Alexandar Georgiev
Favorite Skaters to Use for DFS Lineups
Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche
Big time players step up in moments like this as the Avalanche face getting bounced in embarrassing fashion tonight in Game 6. Despite the woes for Colorado MacKinnon has had a great series from a DFS standpoint with 3 goals and 3 assists while posting 24 total shots on goal. He is prime for a big night again and he will be the centerpiece of my lineups.
Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston Bruins
He had a really nice playoff debut in Game 5 even though the Bruins lost in OT to the Panthers. He scored a goal and added 6 shots on goal in the game and against the Panthers the chances will always be there. I think the Bruins win tonight and Bergeron is going to be a big reason why.
Jaden Schwartz, W, Seattle Kraken
Schwartz has had an excellent series for the Kraken to this point producing value in every game since Jared McCann went down. He is still just 4.4k on DraftKings and has posted 4 points over the last 3 games to go along with 19 shots on goal during that span. Too cheap in a slate like this to ignore him tonight.
Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche
Revenge tour starts tonight for Makar after he was suspended in Game 5 and now his team has their backs against the wall! He only has 3 points in the series which is surprising but tonight could see in raining goals for Colorado and Makar is one of the backbones of this elite team.
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Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Nathan MacKinnon  $10,100 |  David Pastrnak $9,600 | Cale Makar $7,200 |
 Mikko Rantanen $7,600 | |||
| Medium |  Sebastian Aho $6,300 |  Brad Marchand $6,500 | Charlie McAvoy $5,300 |
| Patrice Bergeron $5,900 |  Matt Boldy $6,300 | ||
| Low | Pavel Zacha $5,000 |  Jaden Schwartz $4,400 | Jared Spurgeon $4,800 |
| Taylor Hall $4,700 |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Panthers released TE Jordan Matthews.
Matthews converted to tight end a few years ago and hasn’t made much noise at the position. The change has, however, likely kept him in the league for a few more seasons. He appeared in four games with the Panthers last year but didn’t record any stats on offense. The Panthers also released or waived WR Dax Milne, C Andrew Raym, and TE Colin Granger.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.