NHL DFS Playbook October 25: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks
Welcome to Wednesday's one-game NHL Slate. Jack Hughes and Alex Ovechkin are looking to lead their teams to victory and both players should be quite popular on this slate. We still need to dig deep and find value to allow us to pay up for both superstars, so let’s take a look at some options. You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Wednesday, October 25th, 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.
Highest Expected Goal Totals
New Jersey Devils Vs Hunter Shepard (4.0)
Washington Capitals Vs. Akira Schmid (2.7)
New Jersey Devils Vs. Washington Capitals
Players to target: Jack Hughes, Tyler Toffoli, Jesper Bratt, Dougie Hamilton, Akira Schmid, Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie
These two Metro division teams looks to be headed in opposite directions early in the season. The Devils are one point from being in first place, while the Capitals are currently last, and have an Eastern Conference worse -12 goal differential.
Jack Hughes is likely to be a popular choice tonight and rightly so, he has 9 points in his last three games and he has nearly averaged three points per game so far this season. He should be in your lineup, and I would want to consider what a lineup looks like with him in the captain spot. Alex Ovechkin remains a solid candidate for the captain spot as well. After a bit of a slow start to the season, Ovechkin has 19 shots on goal in his last two games, and points in three straight. Tyler Toffoli is coming off scoring a hat-trick last night, and he has scored in two straight games, which makes him a less expensive candidate for the captain spot if you're looking to run with a more rounded lineup. Other players worth your consideration today are Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Matthew Phillips who could be a nice value play.
On the backend, Dougie Hamilton also is a candidate for the captain spot as he will shoot the puck with volume, and has the ability to get you multiple points as well, however, his use would be more risky than the others. John Carlson is another defenseman who is worth taking a look at. Carlson has played well to start the season. He has points in four straight games, and he has blocked three shots or more in four straight games as well.
When it comes to goalies today, you can play Akira Schmid who is likely to get the start for the Devils, which gives him a good chance to get the win. The Capitals are going with Hunter Shepard today, who I would avoid using in such a tough matchup like this.
Player News
Rockies placed INF Thairo Estrada on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 11, with a left thumb sprain.
On the day that the Rockies get their starting shortstop back from the injured list, the other half of their double play combination lands on the injured list with a left thumb sprain. That will spare Ryan Ritter from a demotion to Triple-A Albuquerque for at least a few days. The Rockies are hopeful that Estrada won’t require much longer than a minimum stint on the injured list.
Rockies activated INF Ezequiel Tovar from the 10-day injured list.
The 23-year-old shortstop will make his triumphant return to the Rockies’ lineup for Friday night’s second-half opener against the Twins. Before landing on the injured list with a left oblique strain in early June he had been hitting .258/.301/.406 with three homers, 10 RBI and a pair of stolen bases through his first 138 plate appearances on the season.
Edward Cabrera (elbow) threw a side session in Miami without issue on Thursday and has been cleared to make his next scheduled start.
The 27-year-old hurler isn’t lined up to start during the first series of the second half against the Royals, but he will slot into the Marlins’ rotation during next week’s series against the Padres — most likely on Tuesday. Fantasy managers who had been waiting patiently on an update on Cabrera can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Bears signed second-round pick WR Luther Burden to a four-year contract.
The $10.965 million contract is fully guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Burden missed spring practices due to a soft tissue injury suffered in late May. Earlier this month, head coach Ben Johnson told reporters that Burden would be ready at the start of training camp. Rookies are scheduled to report tomorrow to the team’s facility.
Max Fried (blister) told reporters on Friday that he has felt good playing catch since his blister issue popped up and he’s hopeful that he’ll be able to start during the team’s upcoming series against the Blue Jays.
Fried had been scheduled to start the second half opener on Friday night, but he and the Yankees wanted to give his blister a few extra days to calm down. It sounds like if he continues to progress he’ll slot into the team’s rotation early next week, but a backdated stint on the injured list remains a possibility if it continues to linger.
Alex Manoah (elbow) is scheduled to make his next minor league rehab start at High-A Dunedin on Sunday.
The 27-year-old right-hander continues to progress nicely in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He threw 22 pitches his last time out in a Florida Complex League on Monday, so expect him to extend that a bit further during Sunday’s outing. He could be an option to join the Jays’ rotation at some point in August barring any setbacks.