NHL DFS DraftKings Snipes - Thursday October 4th, 2018

NHL DFS DraftKings Snipes – Thursday October 4th, 2018

Oh how refreshing it was to have hockey back last night! It was a small slate, but a wild one to say the least. We saw the banner raising in Washington followed by a 7-0 onslaught. Solid debuts by Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Elias Pettersson and Max Comtois. The superstar pairing of Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns working on the same line. A statement by Big Joe Thornton, in the form of beard reconstruction. Overall, it was a great night for hockey fans and NHL DFS players!

Today features a larger pool of competition with a 10-game slate. Hopefully you will be playing NHL DFS on DraftKings, because we at FantasyCPR will have you covered with some snipes for the evening.

Hockey offers a fast-paced style of play and on-the-fly line changes making it more difficult to predict outcomes. However, with the use of advanced statistics, you can find an edge in each slate. The goal (pun intended) is to leverage match ups to help you win. That is where we at FantasyCPR step in. We want to help ease the selection process to give you that edge.

The two most favorable match ups tonight, according to Vegas Odds, are Dallas (-185) over Arizona, and Vegas (-160) over Philadelphia. Washington will go on the road to Pittsburgh for the second night of a back-to-back. Boston will try to salvage their back-to-back as they hit the road to Buffalo.

Play around with your lineups. Find a strategy that you feel most comfortable with, and have fun with it! Get in front of the mirror and start practicing your best Celly after dominating your tournament. I will be active on Twitter @rickyolshansky as news breaks before and during each slate. So feel free to follow me there, and as always, stay up to date on FantasyCPR for all of your hockey content. Best of luck to all!

NHL DFS DraftKings Snipes – Centers

Jack Eichel Buffalo Sabres ($6,900)

Boston is on the second night of a back-to-back following a dreadful loss last night to the Stanley Cup Champs in Washington. Buffalo’s captain, Jack Eichel will look to keep Boston in a spiral and take advantage of confirmed backup goalie Jaroslav Halak. He was brought in yesterday after Tuukka Rask got yanked. Eichel is a generational talent and has improved every season. He had 64 points in 67 games and looks primed to continue that success.

The Sabres reloaded this year with the number one overall pick on the blue line, Rasmus Dahlin. Between him and Rasmus Ristolainen, they should have added offensive firepower from the back-end. This addition should add a boost to Eichel, and his numbers. He led the team in shots on goal with 246 and averaged about 20 minutes of ice per game.

Nick Schmaltz Chicago Blackhawks ($5,000)

You should feel confident in stacking this whole line, because who wouldn’t like centering a line with Patrick Kane. Schmaltz broke out in a big way last year finishing with 52 points and 118 shots on goal. He had a CF% of 51.9 and a FF% of 50.0. Also important to note is how often his shifts started in the offensive zone. That occurred 64.1% of the time. On a line with Kane, it is likely that they start as the main power play unit as well.

Andreas Athanasiou Detroit Red Wings ($4,800)

Athanasiou is a blur on the ice, and one of my favorite players to watch. He had a spectacular preseason with four goals and two assists in the four games he participated in. He is primed for a breakout season, and I’m not alone in this thought. Bob Heyrman of OctopusThrower agrees that Athanasiou is ready to fill in areas that Detroit will miss with Henrik Zetterberg‘s retirement. His speed creates problems for opposing defenders, especially on the power play.

DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: Andrei Svechnikov poses after being selected second overall by the Carolina Hurricanes during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

NHL DFS DraftKings Snipes – Wingers

Patrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks ($7,400)

The leader of my Blackhawks stack tonight. Kane comes in as the 2nd most expensive winger on the slate behind Ovechkin. He is a point scoring machine going against a Senators team that ranks 30th against opposing right wingers. He won’t have to matchup against the 1st round pick Brady Tkachuk either who is dealing with a groin strain.

Brandon Saad Chicago Blackhawks ($5,500)

The Manchild was once thought of to be the next coming of Marian Hossa. That may have been a little unfair to him as he suffered a down year since rejoining the Hawks. After three consecutive 50+ point seasons, Saad took a wrong turn and only finished with 18 goals and 17 assists. Coach Quenneville will look to reinvigorate the Manchild by pairing him with Kane and Schmaltz, both of whom like to set up their teammates. With Saad’s aggressiveness, and Kane and Schmaltz ability to possess and move the puck, we could see some easy points for this stacked line.

Andrei Svechnikov Carolina Hurricanes ($5,300)

As we saw last night out of Kotkaniemi, Pettersson, and Comtois, there is no need to worry about plugging in a young rookie to your DFS lineup. The second overall pick Svechnikov is a goal scorer, and a very nice consolation prize for Carolina. He is a bit of a dart throw tonight as he may be on the third or fourth line, but that could change throughout the game. Plus, a match up against the Islanders third or fourth line may look pretty juicy. In the preseason, Svechnikov was used on the power play. Look for Carolina to try to get him acclimated with the league quickly.

NHL DFS DraftKings Snipes – Defense and Goalies

John Klingberg Dallas Stars ($6,000)

Don’t let Klingbergs low goal numbers fool you. He was the clear top option defensively in Dallas and had a crazy 59 assists. He finished 6th in the Norris Trophy vote and averaged a mammoth 24 minutes of ice time per game. With all of that time on the ice, you may expect possession numbers to suffer. On the contrary, Klingberg had a CF% of 53.7 and a FF% of 52.4. He’s a shot blocker and a shot taker, with 109 blocks and 204 shots.

More from FanSided

Esa Lindell Dallas Stars ($3,200)

Here is a perfect example of taking the cheaper option of the top line. Esa Lindell is the beneficiary of playing with Klingberg. He had a very impressive season with seven goals and 20 assists. He also led the team in blocked shots with 123. Lindell’s ice time is also close to his line mates at about 22 minutes per game. Klingberg may be chalk, but his partner would save you $2,800 in order to maximize your other positions.

Dougie Hamilton Carolina Hurricanes ($5,600)

Dougie Hamilton has consistently put up big numbers with Boston and Calgary. Since 2014, he has put up four consecutive seasons of 40+ points, including a 50 point season in 2016/17. He took 270 shots last season and converted on 17 of them. The Islanders are the 31st ranked team against opposing defenses and plays on the top line. There should not be too much of a drop-off between Hamilton and Klingberg in numbers due to the favorable matchup.

Marc-Andre Fleury Vegas Golden Knights ($8,200)

If you chose one of the value plays in another spot of your lineup, you can feel comfortable playing Stanley Cup runner-up Marc-Andre Fleury. Phew, that’s a lot of hyphens. Generally, expansion teams don’t have the type of success we experienced in Vegas. If you are a fan of hockey, you had to enjoy watching this team, built with players from other NHL teams. They played hard, aggressive, fast and smart hockey all year-long. He had four shutouts last season with a .927 SV%.

Cam Ward Chicago Blackhawks ($7,800)

He is no Corey Crawford, but let’s remember the Hawks came out of the gates hot last season. In the first game, they exploded for 10 goals against the Stanley Cup champions of the prior year, Pittsburgh Penguins. The Hawks will look to prove they are still a dynasty, even though their superstars are aging. There is still a ton of talent on the team in front of Ward, and he comes at a cheaper price than your top guns between the pipes.

Next. FanDuel NHL DFS Picks. dark

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and fantasy sports analysis all season long.