NHL DFS Playbook November 28: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks
Published: Nov 28, 2023
Welcome to Tuesday’s ten-game NHL Slate. We have many elite options to choose from, but we need to ensure that we are also targeting value. There are also some goalies that we need to keep an eye on because they could help us take down a GPP. You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Tuesday, November 28th, 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 at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.
NHL DFS Playbook November 28th
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
A large NHL slate means we have to make some tough choices. Do we pay up for Connor McDavid? Can we spend up on a goalie? Do we do one main four-man stack or go with two mini-stacks? So many questions, but we will break them all down below. Let’s take a look at which players we need to be targeting.
Recommended DFS Starting Goalies
Top Options for Saves
Juuse Saros Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Joseph Woll Vs. Florida Panthers
John Gibson Vs. Vancouver Canucks
Best Odds for a Win
Thatcher Demko Vs. Anaheim Ducks
Philipp Grubauer Vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Vitek Vanecek Vs. New York Islanders
Favorite Goalies to Use for DFS Lineups
Thatcher Demko, G, Vancouver Canucks
Nothing complicated about Thatcher Demko tonight. The Canucks are an elite hockey team and the Ducks have fallen apart since their strong start to the year. Demko is an elite option on a large slate and worth every dollar.
Joseph Woll, G, Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a decent spot tonight. Florida is coming off a tough game against the Ottawa Senators yesterday and could experience some fatigue. The Leafs also made some changes to their forward lines, so maybe that gets them going. Joseph Woll has given up three or more goals in his last four games, but I still think he’s good enough in this spot at his price tag.
Jordan Binnington, G, St. Louis Blues
I have no idea why the Minnesota Wild are favourites tonight. They are a mess defensively and just fired their head coach. Maybe they play a bit better tonight, but are they all of a sudden going to be elite? God no. The Blues do struggle a tad on the road, but Jordan Binnington has been decent this season and I love his cheap price tag. Don’t take the Minnesota bait.
Petr Mrazek, G, Chicago Blackhawks
You want me to trust the Seattle Kraken and their 2.77 goals per game to score goals tonight? That’s a hard no. I get the Blackhawks aren’t a great hockey team but Seattle can’t score goals and they don’t shoot the puck. Petr Mrazek is $7000 on DK and I’ll gladly take the upside with him.
Recommended DFS Skaters
Highest Expected Goal Totals
Vancouver Canucks Vs John Gibson (4.1)
Seattle Kraken Vs. Petr Mrazek (3.8)
New Jersey Devils Vs. Ilya Sorokin (3.7)
Favorite Skaters to Use for DFS Lineups
Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers
This is a tough matchup for Connor McDavid, but the greatest player in the NHL right now has nine points in his last two games and is terrorizing his opponents. If you think he’s legit, you can go ahead and play him.
Connor Bedard, C, Chicago Blackhawks
I refuse to believe that the Seattle Kraken are going to be good tonight. They don’t score goals and Philipp Grubauer can’t stop the puck. Connor Bedard is an elite hockey player and I love his upside tonight.
Brock Boeser, W, Vancouver Canucks
Brock Boeser has two goals and 11 shots on goal in the last two games and is ONLY $7000 on DK. He’s up to 15 goals on the season and has an elite matchup against Anaheim. I can’t think of a reason not to play him.
Pavel Buchnevich, W, St. Louis Blues
St. Louis doesn’t have a great offence but Pavel Buchnevich is still producing. He has 13 points in the last ten games and continues to see over 18 minutes of ice time per night. I refuse to believe that Minnesota’s goaltending is going to be solved because of a coaching change so I’ll gladly have some exposure to him and other St. Louis skaters.
Alex Pietrangelo, D, Vegas Golden Knights
If you’re looking for the most value from an expensive defenceman, Alex Pietrangelo is your guy. He’s $6700 tonight--which is a lot--but he is just such a complete player. He finished with SIX blocked shots against Calgary and now he has a date with the Oilers. Shea Theodore is out of the lineup and Alec Martinez isn’t ready to return, so the veteran blueliner is going to be on the ice a lot. He could very well hit value without registering a shot.
Ryan McDonagh, D, Nashville Predators
No team averages more shots on goal per game than the Pittsburgh Penguins, so this is a great spot for a lot of defenceman who like to block shots. Ryan McDonagh plays on the top pairing with Roman Josi and on the second penalty kill unit. He flirts with 20 minutes of ice time per night, so there’s a good chance he will find a way to block at least three shots tonight. Not bad for a player that is $3500 on DK.
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Player Pool
| $ Tier | C | W | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Auston Matthews  $9,200 |  Nikita Kucherov $9,000 |  Quinn Hughes $7,700 |
 Jack Eichel $8,100 |  Filip Forsberg $7,800 | Roman Josi $7,100 | |
 J.T. Miller $7,400 | William Nylander $8,000 | ||
| Medium | Ryan O'Reilly $5,700 | Brandon Hagel $5,300 |  Seth Jones $5,000 |
 Nico Hischier $5,200 | Jonathan Marchessault $6,300 | Victor Hedman $5,400 | |
| Low |  Jesperi Kotkaniemi $4,500 |  Gustav Nyquist $4,100 | Brayden McNabb $4,300 |
 Cole Guttman $3,200 | Tyler Bertuzzi $4,100 | Filip Hronek $4,800 |
Stacks
| Canucks | J.T. Miller | Brock Boeser | Quinn Hughes |
| DraftKings | 7400 | 7000 | 7700 |
 Fanduel | 9300 | 7900 | 9000 |
| Golden Knights | Alex Pietrangelo | Jack Eichel | Jonathan Marchessault |
| DraftKings | 6800 | 8100 | 6300 |
| Fanduel | 6500 | 8600 | 6100 |
| Blackhawks | Philipp Kurashev | Seth Jones | Connor Bedard |
| DraftKings | 4900 | 5000 | 7100 |
| Fanduel | 5800 | 4900 | 6900 |
| Canucks | J.T. Miller | Brock Boeser | Quinn Hughes |
| DraftKings | 7400 | 7000 | 7700 |
| Fanduel | 9300 | 7900 | 9000 |
| Golden Knights | Alex Pietrangelo | Jack Eichel | Jonathan Marchessault |
| DraftKings | 6800 | 8100 | 6300 |
| Fanduel | 6500 | 8600 | 6100 |
| Blackhawks | Philipp Kurashev | Seth Jones | Connor Bedard |
| DraftKings | 4900 | 5000 | 7100 |
| Fanduel | 5800 | 4900 | 6900 |
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.