NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/11

Welcome to NHL DFS Man Advantage for Thursday October 11! Tonight we have a MASSIVE 12 game slate which will give us a variety of ways to go when building our rosters. 

With 12 NHL DFS games there are going to be a bounty of superstars and high-priced goalies to use, the “problem” will be finding ways to fit as many as you can into your lineups along with some value plays that will help you cash in your contests. There are two teams on the second of a back to back and both are expected to use their back up netminders. Vegas has already announced that Malcom Subban will be in net for them in Pittsburgh and is expected that Washington will use Phoenix Copley in their net against the Devils.

NHL DFS Goalies

When going over the litany of games for tonight one name stuck out to me in net, Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Lightning. Tampa has only played one game this season thanks to the weird NHL scheduling to start the year. Vasilevskiy and the Lightning are far and away the biggest favorite on the slate tonight (-270 money line) as they host Vancouver. In their one game Vasilevskiy made 42 saves on 43 shots for a 2-1 shootout victory. Vancouver is playing their 3rd of 6 straight road games.

Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild host the Blackhawks on Thursday. Minnesota is winless in their first two games this season but it’s because of Dubnyk. In two games this season Dubnyk has stopped 77 of 80 shots for a 1.45 GAA and a .963 save percentage. If they can get some scoring on Thursday the Wild should have an easy win. Chicago has given up 14 goals in 3 games, so there is a pretty good chance Minnesota can get after Cam Ward and the Hawks

After a disappointing outcome on Monday afternoon Martin Jones looks to rebound against the Rangers on Thursday. Jones has not had the best start to his season sporting a 3.03 GAA and only 1 quality start in his first 3.

If you are looking for a GPP goalie to use, there are 2 I like, and both are playing the teams that are on back to backs. First, I am interested to see how the Penguins use their goalies after Matt Murray went out with a concussion. Getting the first crack is Casey DeSmith Thursday night against Vegas. With the Golden Knights starting their back up, Malcom Subban, there is an opportunity for the win. Pittsburgh has one of the best and most exciting offenses in the league should score plenty on Thursday. My second choice is Keith Kinkaid of the New Jersey Devils. After winning their opener in Sweden Saturday the Devils are back stateside and ready to move along with their season. Kinkaid should be low owned especially with so many big names on the slate he will go over looked. Last season Kinkaid sported a 2.77 GAA , a .913 save percentage, and won 26 of his 38 games. Washington is of course a high-powered offense but they are on a back to back and could be tired after a tough game with the Golden Knights on Wednesday. They are also most likely starting back up Phoenix Copley. 

NHL DFS – Game by Game Breakdowns

Vegas Golden Knights @ Pittsburgh Penguins

Since the Golden Knights game is ongoing while I am writing this I will not have the complete updated stats for them. Pittsburgh is coming off a disappointing loss Saturday night to the Canadiens and looks to bounce back against the Knights. Of course the Crosby and Malkin lines from the Penguins are in consideration, as they will be every night they play while they are healthy. Looking for some value on this team I like the opportunity Jack Johnson (21+ mins per game) seems to be getting. He is second on the team on avg time on ice  behind only Kris Letang. Johnson has yet to record a point this season and only has 1 SOG but with the minutes he’s getting, his points will come. As far as forwards, Derick Brassard and Daniel Sprong are getting time on the second PP unit.

For Vegas there isn’t much to go over since the lineup looks like it will shape up the same as last night. One change was the second line, now consisting of Max PAcioretty – Erik Haula – Tomas Nosek. There is some value here with Nosek sine he is only $3k on DraftKings and is playing on the first PP for Vegas

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Detroit Red Wings

Much like Pittsburgh, Toronto’s top two lines are going to always be in play on any fantasy slate they are on. With Kasperi Kapanen joining the Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau they are much more potent of a line. Morgan Rielly is one the top offensive d-men in the league and is having himself a break out campaign early on. In 4 games Rielly has 2 goals, 8 assists and 14 shots on goal. Nazim Kardi is also a very talented forward and sees PP minutes as well

Toronto may score the most goals in the league, but they also haven given up the most goals in the league thus far (17). I am not really huge on any one line stack for Detroit, rather I like the idea of stacking their pp. Detroit’s first unit includes Gustav Nyquist – Dylan Larkin – Tyler Bertuzzi. These three have combined for 3 of Detroits 6 goals and also 5 assists. On defense on the PP is Filip Hronek, the youngster is pointless so far in 3 games but does have 5 sog so the opportunities are there for him.

Vancouver Canucks @ Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa has only played game and scored 1 goal in that game so I am not going to go over stats, instead I will just go over some of the best ways to use this team. Tampa is a huge favorite and also this game is being given a 6.5 over/under for the night. Tampa Bay could easily score 4-5 goals tonight so we will want some exposure to them. Ondrej Palat skated on Wednesday with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in practice and looks to be playing on the top line Thursday night. On defense there is Victor Hedman and also Ryan McDonagh who see pp time. Brayden Point plays on the same PP unit as Hedman, Stamkos, and Kucherov. Alex Killorn sees times with Palat on the second unit.

In three games Elias Pettersson and his 3 goals and 3 assists has been the real lone bright spot for the Canucks this season. Pettersson plays on the second line with Loui Eriksson and Nikolay Goldobin who have combined for 6 points themselves. On defense Alexander Edler has 4 assists and 7 shots on goal.

NHL DFS Game Breakdowns cont.

Washington Capitals @ New Jersey Devils

Like with Vegas I don’t have complete stats for Washington because their game is ongoing as I am writing this. Alexander Ovechkin is in play, duh! Ove and his linemates (Brett Connolly and Evgeny Kuznetsov) are on absolute tear to start the year. Also playing exceptionally well is T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Jakub Vrana. On the point you have John Carlson, Matt Niskanen, and Dmitri Orlov all get powe play minutes. Lars Eller has also been play well to start the year and plays second unit PP minutes.

New Jersey has only played one game, a 5-2 win over Edmonton in Sweden. The Devils top line played well in the opener with Kyle Palmieri scoring twice, Nico Hischier adding an assist, and even though Taylor Hall was held off the score sheet I think he gets going against the Caps tonight. As far as the Devils point men, both Will Butcher and Sami Vatanen are playing power play minutes. Also Travis Zajac is an option because of his pp time with the first line on the first pp unit.

Colorado Avalanche @ Buffalo Sabres

For Colorado it’s pretty simple, play there first line. Outside of the top line their isn’t much else working for them. Carl Soderberg centering the third line has been playing well to start the year with 2 goals and 2 assists as is Alexander Kerfoot and his 3 assists. On Defense you have Erik Johnson with 4 assists and 11 shots through 3 games.

For Buffalo it’s also their first line of Connor Sheary – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart have 9 points in 3 games ( 5 goals, 4 assists). Kyle Okposo has been playing well so far with 2 assists and 4 shots in 3 games. On defense the best option Rasmus Ristolainen with 2 assists and 8 shots in three games.

Edmonton Oilers @ Boston Bruins 

This is only Edmonton’s second game of the season as they head back to North America from Sweden. Line 2 played well in the first game with both Milan Lucic and Leon Draisaitl scoring and getting an assist. OF course the top line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Conor McDavid – Ty Rattie  are going to look to get going on Thursday. On the point Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse are your best options for Edmonton defenders.

As far as Boston’s first line goes is as far as Boston will go as a team. They are a very one-dimensional line up, outside of David Pastrnak – Patrice Bergeron – Brad Marchand the rest of the team has 3 goals, meanwhile the top trio has 7. On defense Charlie McAvoy got going on Monday afternoon with a couple of assists.

NHL DFS Best of the Rest

Florida Panthers – Top 2 lines is where I will look on Thursday , there isn’t much outside of the Barkov line and the Trocheck line that interests me. On D, it’s Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle

Columbus Blue Jackets – I am not really looking for a stack here, more interested in single players like Nick Foligno, Artemi Panarin, and Josh Anderson, all three of these have scored 2 goals already.

San Jose Sharks – San Jose scored 8 goals against Philadelphia on Tuesday night but they probably won’t score that many tonight. Evander Kane is on fire with 4 goals this season already and is now play on the first line with Joe Pavelski and Kevin Labanc and his team leading 5 points.

St. Louis Blues – Vladimir Tarasenko – Ryan O’Reilly – Patrick Maroon have been great for the Blues this season scoring  2 goals, 6 assists, and 24 shots on goal. Colton Parakyo and Alex Pietrangelo are the picks on defense for St. Louis

Best of luck in your NHL DFS contests – stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest Fantasy Hockey news and DFS analysis.