NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/8 – Afternoon

Welcome to NHL DFS Man Advantage for Monday 10/8! There are 4 games total on Monday but only 3 on the DraftKings slate, with the Red Wings and Ducks game only on the stand alone Showdown contests with a 10pm eastern start time. Contest lock time for Monday is 1pm.

Since this is a small three game NHL DFS slate I will breakdown each game and give you some single plays and line stacks for each game.  I will also give you my thoughts on all 6 probable starters in net for each team.

NHL DFS Goalies

Mike Condon (Ott) – Short answer, No. Long answer, I don’t trust Condon, especially against the Bruins. In 31 games last season Condon went 5-17 with a GAA of 3.25 and a .902 save percentage.

Tuukka Rask (Bos) – Tuukka is probably the best option on this slate. He didn’t have a great start to the season last week against the Capitals, but the Senators are not the Capitals (the only thing they have in common is they both play their home games in their country’s Capital). In complete contrast to his opponent today Rask was 34-14 in 54 gp last season with a .917 save percentage and a 2.36 gaa and 3 shutouts. Ottawa has not been our friend when playing goalies against them early this season but I think today is finally the day they don’t disappoint and have a bad game.

Martin Jones (SJ) – It has not been announced who is starting for the Sharks but we are going to assume Jones is for now. Either way I like whoever starts for the Sharks against the Islanders on Monday. Jones has had a slow start to the season but he is one of the leagues most consistent goalies and he will get his wins (avg 34 wins a season last 3 years) and 4 shutouts per year in his 3 years in San Jose. If Aaron Dell starts, he is a good option as well.

Robin Lehner (NYI) – Lehner was already announced as the Islanders starter on Sunday, it will be his first for the team. Lehner was a highly touted goalie when he was drafted in 2009 by Ottawa, but has had some bad luck and some personal issues that have hindered his career. Lehner had a good preseason and I will be excited to see if he finally puts it together for this season. As far as using him today, I wouldn’t trust him in cash games against San Jose, but he is a good GPP target.

If you are interested here is a story about Lehner’s struggles with suicide and addiction: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/islanders/2018/09/13/robin-lehner-islanders-goalie-addiction-bipolar-disorder/1288415002/

Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK) – Vegas also has yet to announce a starter but if Fleury gets the nod he is a great cash game play right along side Rask. Fleury had a rocky start giving 5 goals on 16 shots in the season opener before being pulled, but bounced back on Saturday with a 29 save shootout win against the Wild. If Malcom Subban starts he becomes a GPP target and makes Rask the stand alone best cash play

Carter Hutton (Buf) – Like their opponent Buffalo has yet to announce their starter but if Carter Hutton starts then he is worth a look as a GPP target against Vegas. He is having a very good start to the season with a .931 save percentage and a 2.09 gaa. Hutton has finally gotten his long deserved shot at being the man in net for a team and it seems he is going to take advantage of it. If Linus Ullmark starts I have no interest in using him.

NHL DFS Game Breakdowns

Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins

This match-up seems very lopsided in Boston’s favor. Vegas has Boston as the biggest favorite (-260 money line favorite) against Ottawa, and the over/under is set at 6. With Condon in net for Ottawa I am going to be very heavy on Boston for Monday, especially with their top line of Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak. Last game against Buffalo they combined for 22.5 fantasy points on DraftKings. Charlie McAvoy is Boston best dman, but he is being used on the second pp unit and at the price of $5.0k on DK I am not sure if I want to spend up for him. Ryan Donato ($5.3) sees time on the first pp unit with the first line. If you want to be contrarian and use Ottawa against Rask I would suggest using the Senators 2nd line of Zach Smith – Mark Stone – Mikkel Boedker, this line stack had 12.5 points for the Sens against Toronto on Saturday.

Value plays –

Boston defenseman – Matt Grzelcyk ($3.9k) has been skating on the first power play unit at practice this weekend.  I think I like the savings Grzelcyk gives over McAvoy today

Forward –Danton Heinen ($4.0k) is on the 4th line currently but plays on the second pp unit

Ottawa – Defenseman Thomas Chabot ($4.5k) had 2 goals and an assist on Saturday as well as 5 shots on goal.

Forward – Chris Tierney($3.2k) centers the Sens 3rd line and the 2nd pp unit for the senators. He has a goal and an assist in 2 games so far and avg 3.3 fppg.

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San Jose Sharks @ New York Islanders 

This game also has a 6 over/under but the Sharks are only a slim favorite (-160) . I am thinking of using a few players from both these teams to round out my lineups after putting my Bruins in. For San Jose they are going to be with Jumbo Joe Thornton for the foreseeable future. They have not updated their lines yet, and we might not know until game time because it is an early game today. Who ever ends up centering Timo Meier and Joe Pavelski will be an option. Obviously you can use either Erik Karlsson or Brent Burns, but they are always an option so there is no need to write them up every game. New York’s 1st line of Anthony Beauvillier – Matthew Barzal – Josh Bailey have combined for 2 goals and 4 assists, but all of these points came from Barzal and Bailey.

Value Plays 

San Jose – Defenseman –  Joakim Ryan ($3.1k) hasn’t put up any points but he is playing on a d pair with Brent Burns so his points will come.

Forward – Kevin Labanc plays wing on the Sharks second line and also plays the point on the 2nd pp unit

New York – Defenseman – Ryan Pulock ($4.9K) is not a typical value play but he is almost $2k less than both Karlsson and Burns, so for this game he is a value. I don’t really like much else on the Isles blue right now

Forward – Valterri Filppula ($3.3k) has seemed to fountain of youth in NY early this season. He is averaging 4 fppg centering NY’s 4th line

Vegas Golden Knights @ Buffalo Sabres

This game features the lowest over under of the three games today at 5.5. This game should feature the best goaltending combo of the slate which is why I will probably be light on this game. When it comes to Vegas either of the top two lines are good to use in this game, but I prefer to Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith since they all play on the first line and first pp unit. For Buffalo it’s also the top line that is in play, Conor Sheary has two goals in two games this season Jack Eichel with 1 goal and an assist and Sam Reinhart has an assist and 5 shots on goal.

Value Plays

Vegas – defenseman Colin Miller ($4.2k) is averaging over 22 minutes a game for the Knights and also plays first power play unit

Forward – Thomas Nosek ($3.3k) is playing wing on the Knights 3rd line but playing on the first pp unit.

Buffalo – Defenseman – Marco Scandella ($3.0k) is on the Sabres top d pair and besides Rasmus Ristolainen he is the only defenseman for Buffalo averaging over 1 fppg.

Forward – I don’t really have an option for a value forward for Buffalo, their best values are on their first line (Sheary and Reinhart)

Birthday narrative section is back today for Brian. Today we have Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks turning 22! 

Thanks for reading once again. I am still trying to tweak my article every day until I find a format that works for everyone. Please hit me up on Twitter @MVecchio81 with any feedback or anything you’d like to see me include in future articles. Make sure you check out FantasyCPR.com every day for a the best coverage of all fantasy sports!