NHL DFS Playbook February 10: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks
Published: Feb 10, 2024
Welcome to Saturday’s 7-game NHL Slate. This is a very competitive slate with five teams being projected to score less than three goals. The biggest favorites on the board are the Tampa Bay Lightning, who take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Thursday, December 21st, but before you build those NHL daily fantasy lineups, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS projections, the NHL Value Finder, and the NHL DFS lineup generator. Let's look closer at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.
NHL DFS Playbook January 27th
Recommended DFS Starting Goalies
Top Options for Saves
Stuart Skinner Vs. Los Angeles Kings
Elvis Merzlikins Vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Connor Hellebuyck Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Best Odds for a Win
Andrei Vasilevskiy Vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Pyotr Kochetkov Vs. New Jersey Devils
Connor Hellebuyck Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Favorite Goalies to Use for DFS Lineups
Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets
Pittsburgh may have gotten the best of Hellebuyck in this exact matchup four days ago, but I have no issues going back to him on home ice. He’s the current favorite to win the Vezina and with Pittsburgh on a back-to-back, it should be all systems go for Connor. He’s lost his last three starts but I think he turns that around against an aging Penguins team. Over his last 10 games, he holds a 1.90 GAA and .935 SV% and I think he gets it done in Winnipeg.
Stuart Skinner, G, Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton’s streak may have been snapped by the Golden Knights, but they are still playing like one of the best teams in the league. Stuart Skinner is 9-1 in his last 10 starts, over which he holds a 1.40 GAA and .950 SV%. The Kings looked like a wagon of a team earlier in the year but things have gone off the rails in LA. Over their last 10 games, they have a 3-5-2 record and will need to figure things out fast if they hope to beat the red-hot Oilers and Stuart Skinner.
Connor Ingram, G, Arizona Coyotes
Connor Ingram is a risky, but interesting play on this slate. He is 2-0 against Nashville this season and the Predators have dropped five of their last six games. He may be coming off his worst start, but he’s been a solid netminder this year, holding a 2.69 GAA and .914 SV%. He would not be my first pick in a single-entry contest, but in multi-entry and larger field tournaments, the salary savings could pay off if he finds another solid game against a team he has beaten twice.
Recommended DFS Skaters
Highest Expected Goal Totals
Tampa Bay Lightning Vs Elvis Merzlikins (3.8)
Carolina Hurricanes Vs. Vitek Vanecek (3.7)
Toronto Maple Leafs Vs. Joonas Korpisalo (3.5)
Favorite Skaters to Use for DFS Lineups
Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes
While you can always pay up for Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid, Sebastian Aho is my favorite center on this board. Carolina has the 2nd highest implied total today at 3.7 games and New Jersey’s Vitek Vanecek has looked like one of the worst goalies in the league all season. He holds a 3.26 GAA and .887 SV% and could be in some serious trouble with a Carolina team with a 7-3 record in their last 10. Aho has two goals in his last four games and has fantastic upside here at a fair price.
John Tavares, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
John Tavares may not be as exciting as Auston Matthews, but he’s fairly priced and is riding a three-game goal streak. He’s in a great matchup here against the Ottawa Senators who allow the 3rd most goals in the league at 3.62 per game. Tavares skates the second line with William Nylander and is on the top power-play unit with Matthews. Toronto has the 4th best power play in the league while the Senators have the 5th worst penalty kill.
Steven Stamkos, W, Tampa Bay Lightning
Steven Stamkos is in a great spot here against the Columbus Blue Jackets. You can obviously spend up for Nikita Kucherov, but Stamkos is much cheaper and skates the top line and power play beside Kucherov. Columbus is thought to be a defensive-minded team, but they have a bottom 10 penalty kill and will be up against it hosting Tampa Bay’s league-best 30% power play unit. Columbus allows the 2nd most goals at 3.66 per game and getting Tampa in your lineups is going to be important.
Andrei Svechnikov, W, Carolina Hurricanes
Andrei Svechnikov cannot seem to catch a break when it comes to injuries, but he is an excellent player when in the lineup. He will skate the top line and power play with Sebastian Aho and is an elite player for his price tag. He’s a game-time decision and if he cannot go, Teuvo Teravainen can easily be slotted in his place. Svechnikov has 30 points in 29 games and though he rarely threatens to provide the shot bonus, he is very dangerous with the puck and New Jersey has serious goaltending issues.
Roman Josi, D, Nashville Predators
Roman Josi is the most expensive defenseman on the board, but he is worth every penny. He has 10 goals and 35 assists through 51 games and has a very consistent fantasy floor. He threatens to pick up both the shot and blocked shot bonus in every game, allowing him to pay off his price tag without scoring points. Pair this with the fact he is nearly a point-per-game player and it’s easy to see his upside far outweighs his downside.
Darren Raddysh, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
With Mikhail Sergachev injured, Darren Raddysh presents as a solid value play. He slates the top pair with Victor Hedman which means he will have a ton of ice correlation with Tampa’s top line. He finds himself on the second power-play unit which is a bonus, but the real draw comes from his shared time on ice with Nikita Kucherov. Raddysh has recorded a point in four of his last five games and with his low price tag, he opens things up for roster construction.
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Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | G | D | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Brayden Point  $8,000 | Andrei Vasilevskiy $8,000 | Victor Hedman $7,100 | Nikita Kucherov $10,000 |
 Auston Matthews $10,100 | William Nylander $9,500 | |||
 Connor McDavid $10,000 |  Kyle Connor $8,300 | |||
| Medium | Mark Scheifele $7,600 | Connor Hellebuyck $8,600 |  Brent Burns $5,800 | Mitch Marner $0 |
| Sebastian Aho $8,500 |  Thomas Chabot $6,500 |  Steven Stamkos $8,400 | ||
| John Tavares $7,000 | Andrei Svechnikov $7,000 | |||
 Clayton Keller $7,500 | ||||
| Low |  Sean Monahan $5,200 | Connor Ingram $7,200 | Darren Raddysh $4,000 |  Teuvo Teravainen $5,000 |
 Josh Norris $6,400 | Ryan McDonagh $3,600 |  Vladimir Tarasenko $4,900 |
Stacks
| Lightning | Brayden Point | Steven Stamkos | Victor Hedman | Nikita Kucherov |
 DraftKings | 7200 | 7000 | 6200 | 9700 |
| Fanduel | 8000 | 8400 | 7100 | 10000 |
| Maple Leafs | John Tavares | Morgan Rielly | William Nylander |
| DraftKings | 6600 | 6100 | 8300 |
| Fanduel | 7000 | 6900 | 9500 |
| Hurricanes | Brent Burns | Sebastian Aho | Andrei Svechnikov | Teuvo Teravainen |
| DraftKings | 5300 | 7300 | 6000 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 5800 | 8500 | 7000 | 5000 |
| Jets | Mark Scheifele | Kyle Connor | Josh Morrissey |
| DraftKings | 5900 | 7500 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 7600 | 8300 | 6600 |
| Coyotes | Clayton Keller | Nick Schmaltz | Sean Durzi |
| DraftKings | 5500 | 4400 | 5200 |
| Fanduel | 7500 | 5400 | 6800 |
| Senators | Thomas Chabot | Brady Tkachuk | Josh Norris |
| DraftKings | 5700 | 7400 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 6500 | 8600 | 6400 |
| Lightning | Brayden Point | Steven Stamkos | Victor Hedman | Nikita Kucherov |
| DraftKings | 7200 | 7000 | 6200 | 9700 |
| Fanduel | 8000 | 8400 | 7100 | 10000 |
| Maple Leafs | John Tavares | Morgan Rielly | William Nylander |
| DraftKings | 6600 | 6100 | 8300 |
| Fanduel | 7000 | 6900 | 9500 |
| Hurricanes | Brent Burns | Sebastian Aho | Andrei Svechnikov | Teuvo Teravainen |
| DraftKings | 5300 | 7300 | 6000 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 5800 | 8500 | 7000 | 5000 |
| Jets | Mark Scheifele | Kyle Connor | Josh Morrissey |
| DraftKings | 5900 | 7500 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 7600 | 8300 | 6600 |
| Coyotes | Clayton Keller | Nick Schmaltz | Sean Durzi |
| DraftKings | 5500 | 4400 | 5200 |
| Fanduel | 7500 | 5400 | 6800 |
| Senators | Thomas Chabot | Brady Tkachuk | Josh Norris |
| DraftKings | 5700 | 7400 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 6500 | 8600 | 6400 |
Player News
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Masataka Yoshida (shoulder) is not making progress with a throwing program.
Cora added that Yoshida, who is working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery, might head back to Boston to undergo further evaluation since his throwing program is “not going well. He was expected to start playing in extended spring training games earlier this month, but hasn’t made enough progress with his throwing program for that to happen. The 31-year-old doesn’t have a path to at-bats in Boston unless he can get back into the club’s left field mix with Rafael Devers occupying the DH role. He’s in a bit of a holding pattern right now and it doesn’t seem like he’s close to making his season debut.
Padres activated 1B/2B Luis Arraez from the 7-day concussion injured list.
Arraez is back at first base and batting second on Tuesday night, as expected, after missing just over one week recovering from a concussion that he suffered during an on-field collision back on April 20.
Padres activated OF Jason Heyward from the 10-day injured list.
Heyward returns to San Diego’s lineup following a two-week absence recovering from left knee inflammation. The 35-year-old veteran outfielder’s days as a fantasy-relevant contributor are long gone, but he remains a strong fourth outfielder on a playoff contending roster.
Padres placed INF Mason McCoy on the 10-day injured list with a left pinky finger dislocation.
McCoy managed to avoid the injured list for a couple days after dislocating his left pinky finger on Saturday night. It’s unclear whether he’ll have a spot on San Diego’s active roster once he’s ready to return, which means he’s likely ticketed for Triple-A El Paso.
Padres designated 1B Yuli Gurriel for assignment.
Gurriel has been booted from San Diego’s roster after batting .111 (4-for-36) with one extra-base hit and three RBI in 16 contests. The 40-year-old veteran figures to pass through waivers unclaimed and could wind up back at Triple-A El Paso as emergency depth.
Luke Raley has been scratched from Tuesday’s lineup after tweaking something in his side or back during batting practice.
The Seattle Times’ Adam Judge reports Raley is undergoing precautionary imaging after tweaking something in his side or back during pregame batting practice. He adds that the Mariners aren’t expected to make a roster move prior to first pitch. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now. There should be an update on his status following Tuesday’s game.