NHL DFS Playbook November 2: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks
Published: Nov 02, 2023
Welcome to Thursday’s 12-game NHL Slate. There are a handful of elite options to choose from, like Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nikita Kucherov, but we will need to dig deep to find value plays. There are some good options, but which ones should you be targeting? You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Sunday, November 2nd, 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 now take a closer look at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.
NHL DFS Playbook November 2nd
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
It’s a massive 12-game slate with a ton of superstars to choose from. Picking the right one is always a challenge, but we need to still find value plays. There are some matchups with high team totals, so that’s always a good start. We also need to make sure that we are targeting the right goalies. As always, remember that goalies are voodoo.
Recommended DFS Starting Goalies
Top Options for Saves
Igor Shesterkin Vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Linus Ullmark Vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
James Reimer Vs. Florida Panthers
Best Odds for a Win
Thatcher Demko Vs. San Jose Sharks
Matt Tomkins Vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Logan Thompson Vs. Winnipeg Jets
Favorite Goalies to Use for DFS Lineups
Thatcher Demko, G, Vancouver Canucks
Don’t really need to dig too deep into why playing a goalie against the San Jose Sharks is a good idea. San Jose is bad and they may not score a single goal tonight, let alone win a hockey game.
Jake Allen, G, Montreal Canadiens
The Arizona Coyotes are playing their second game in as many nights and their third in the last four. Jake Allen is 3-0-1 on the season with a .930 SV%. Those are some pretty good numbers for any goalie, let alone one who gets outshot on most nights. Allen is $7300 on DK and is a goalie I wouldn’t hesitate to play in cash games.
James Reimer, G, Detroit Red Wings
The Florida Panthers are 4th in shots per game, but 24th in goal for. That is a great combination if you’re looking to stack the opposing goalie. James Reimer has a 1.68 GAA and a .939 SV%. He’s not going to be this good all season long, but his upside tonight is tremendous. He can be an option in any format just based on the shot volume.
Frederik Andersen, G, Carolina Hurricanes
As much as I like Igor Shesterkin tonight, I think Frederik Andersen has more value. When healthy, he is a top goalie in the NHL on a really good team. The Rangers are 27th in shots per game and 19th in goals. Carolina is a team that loves to shoot the puck, so they will spend more time in the offensive zone than in their zone. Andersen also has a very soft price tag-- $7500 on DK-- so maybe we can steal some value by playing him?
Recommended DFS Skaters
Highest Expected Goal Totals
Vancouver Canucks Vs Kaapo Kahkonen (3.6)
Arizona Coyotes Vs. Jake Allen (3.5)
Edmonton Oilers Vs. Scott Wedgewood (3.5)
Favorite Skaters to Use for DFS Lineups
Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils
Jack Hughes has only one goal and three shots on goal in the last two games, but I still don’t trust the Minnesota Wild to be good. If you’re going to pay up for a superstar, it has to be him.
Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers
McDavid has eight points in the last five games but has exceeded value just once. It’s hard when you’re always being priced at $9500+, but the reality is, he needs to shoot the puck more and continue to rack up points. Two assists on most nights just isn’t going to cut it. That being said, are we going to bet against the best player in the world when Dallas is on the tail end of a back-to-back? Exactly.
Clayton Keller, W, Arizona Coyotes
I don’t know if I’m buying into Arizona scoring over 3.5 goals tonight, but I am buying into Clayton Keller. Montreal was good against Vegas, but they are still a team that is allowing over 36 shots per game and Keller loves to fire the puck. He had six on goal last night and could put up similar numbers in this matchup.
David Pastrnak, W, Boston Bruins
The Maple Leafs are a good hockey team but Ilya Samsonov is a trash can. The man can’t stop anything at this point and his 3.99 GAA is only going to get worse tonight. David Pastrnak is elite and he’s going to have a field day exposing Toronto’s mediocre defense and Samsonov’s .841 SV%.
Kevin Shattenkirk, D, Boston Bruins
With Charlie McAvoy out of the lineup for doing something stupid, Kevin Shattenkirk is getting a huge bump. He’s expected to be on the top power play unit and kill penalties. We know that Toronto can fire the puck, so the veteran is in a great spot to hit value without having to register a point. I can’t think of a better value play than him.
Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks
The disrespect right now with Quinn Hughes is too much for me. The kid is shooting the puck more than ever and is coming off a three point game, so why is he $5800 against San Jose? He has been nothing short of great this season and that will only continue tonight. For the love of hockey, please play him tonight.
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Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Jack Hughes  $9,500 |  David Pastrnak $9,600 |  Roman Josi $7,500 |
 Connor McDavid $9,800 |  Nikita Kucherov $8,500 | ||
| Medium | Brayden Point $7,300 |  Cole Caufield $6,600 |  Quinn Hughes $5,800 |
 J.T. Miller $6,500 |  Kevin Fiala $6,200 |  Sean Durzi $5,500 | |
| Low | Matthew Poitras $4,300 | Alex Barre-Boulet $3,900 |  TJ Brodie $3,600 |
 Sean Monahan $5,000 | Ilya Mikheyev $4,000 |  Mario Ferraro $3,900 | |
| Alex Laferriere $3,100 | Kevin Shattenkirk $3,300 |
Stacks
| Bruins | Matthew Poitras | Kevin Shattenkirk | David Pastrnak |
| DraftKings | 4300 | 3300 | 9600 |
 Fanduel | 4400 | 3800 | 9900 |
| Canucks | Elias Pettersson | J.T. Miller | Quinn Hughes |
| DraftKings | 7700 | 6500 | 5800 |
| Fanduel | 9000 | 8200 | 6700 |
| Lightning | Brayden Point | Alex Barre-Boulet | Nikita Kucherov |
| DraftKings | 7300 | 3900 | 8500 |
| Fanduel | 7800 | 3700 | 9500 |
Player News
Miguel Vargas went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in a win over the Blue Jays on Sunday.
Vargas blooped a 73 mph double in the eighth inning, but it drove in two runs to break open a 2-2 tie and give Chicago the lead. Vargas now has 34 RBI on the season, and despite the fact that he’s cooled off from a power perspective after his strong stretch in the middle of May, he continues to make solid contact and is a fixture in the middle of this White Sox lineup.
Ernie Clement went 2-for-4 in a loss to the White Sox on Sunday.
Quietly, Clement has had a great season and has been scorching hot in June, going 28-for-74 (.378). That has come with just six extra base hits, one home run, and no steals in 19 games, which highlights a bit of the downside to his game from a fantasy perspective. The batting average will be there, and the runs will be too when Toronto is hot, but Clement won’t help you much in the other categories. Still, he could be a valuable piece depending on your team’s needs.
Adrian Houser allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Blue Jays on Sunday.
Houser was good, but Chris Bassitt was better, so Houser was in line for the loss until his team scored three runs in the eighth. That’s going to be the case as long as Houser is on the White Sox, but if he continues to pitch like this, he could get dealt to a contender later in the summer. Houser struck out four and walked three on the day while posting a 29 percent CSW. He’s not going to miss tons of bats, but he’s around the zone with his sinker and slider and could be worth a stream in deeper formats against the Giants next week.
Chris Bassitt allowed one run on three hits in six innings in a no-decision against the White Sox.
The veteran struck out seven and walked one while posting a strong 34 percent whiff rate and 33 percent CSW. He wasn’t sharp with the cutter today, but the rest of his pitches were commanded well in the zone and missed bats. He needed just 82 pitches to cover six innings, and it’s possible the Blue Jays wish they had pushed him longer, given that their bullpen imploded in a loss. Bassitt will be in for a much tougher outing in Boston next week.
Ronny Henriquez threw a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save in a 5-3 win over the Braves on Sunday.
The Marlins used Calvin Faucher to get out of a jam in the eighth, so it was Henriquez who got the ball in the ninth and faced the 8-9-1 hitters in Atlanta’s lineup. He allowed one hit but struck out a batter and locked down his second save of the season. The 25-year-old has been solid this season, but he gets ancillary saves on a poor Marlins team, so he’s not worth chasing in most formats.
Xavier Edwards went 3-for-4 with a double, a steal, one run scored, and an RBI in a win over the Braves on Sunday.
Edwards is now up to 14 steals on the season with a .289/.363/.326 slash line and 16 RBI. Despite hitting leadoff for the Marlins, he’s not a huge asset in the runs category, but he has speed and will put together a solid batting average, which makes him valuable in many league types.