NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13

Welcome to NHL DFS Man Advantage for Saturday 10/13. We have a small 4 game slate with some interesting matchups before we get to the Main Slate and we are here to break down both.

There are two 1 pm eastern starts (Edm @ NYR, VGK @ Phi), at 2 pm it’s the Kings traveling to Ottawa and the last game of the slate has Detroit in Beantown to take on the Bruins at 3pm. Boston is a very big favorite and will probably be the chalk team on this slate. We will definitely want exposure to them because they will most likely be the highest scoring team on the slate but I will try to help you find some other options from the other 7 teams playing to set you apart from the pack.

NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13 – Afternoon Slate

NHL DFS Goalies

Like I mentioned in the open Boston is a huge favorite on home ice against Detroit. I expect that Tuukka Rask will the most widely owned goalie on the slate. Rask hasn’t been great to start the season and he has actually been outplayed by backup Jaroslave Halak. Rask has already been confirmed as the starter for Saturday. In 17/18  Rask was 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .946 SV% against Detroit.

While nothing has been announced yet I am assuming (hoping) Henrik Lundqvist gets the start in net for the Rangers on Saturday. Even though the rangers lost their first 3 games Lundqvist has played very well for the Blue Shirts. Hank has stopped 97 of 103 shots faced in his 3 starts this season leading to a 2.03 GAA and a .942 SV%. I am not as high on Rangers back Alexander Georgiev if he gets the start.

My last pick for goalie on the afternoon is not someone who I ever thought I would be writing up, but here we are. Jack Campbell has been forced into the starting role with the injury to Jonathan Quick. Campbell has been a pleasant surprise in place of Quick this season. In his three starts Campbell has faced 117 shots, stopping 113 of them for a GAA 1.35 and a .966 SV%. There is chance that the Kings got to Peter Budaj on Saturday, and like Georgiev from the Rangers, I am not nearly as high on him if he starts. If Budaj does play I think Craig Anderson becomes a viable option because of the win probability and the fact that Ottawa does give up so many shots (38.25 per game)

NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13 – Afternoon Slate

Edmonton @ NY Rangers

In the first game of the day the Oilers stay on the east coast and head to MSG to play the Rangers. There is a lot to like about Edmonton, on paper, but in their first 2 games the Oilers only have 3 goals and are winless. They have one amazing line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Conor McDavid/Ty Rattie but so far this season they only have 2 points combined ( 1 goal from McDavid and an assist from Rattie) It’s been the Oilers second line of Milan Lucic/Leon Draisaitl/Kailer Yamamoto that has been more productive with 4 combined points, a goal and an assist each from Lucic and Draisaitl. As far as defenseman go the two currently playing the best for Edmonton are Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning. Both play on the second pair together and both play on the second PP unit.

For the Rangers they haven getting some great play out of rookie center Brett Howden who has 2 goals and an assist in his first 4 career games. He has been playing with Pavel Buchnevich and Mats Zuccarello, but I believe Buchnevich did play with the first line last game so I am not sure of what the Rangers lines will look on Saturday afternoon. On defense the Rangers have not produced much, but Brady Skjei has been the best defenseman thus far scoring once and also adding an assist in 4 games.

Vegas Golden Knights @ Philadelphia Flyers 

So far Vegas has been a big disappointment compared to their inaugural last season. They have only scored 5 goals in 10 games and there is not a lot to like offensively from this team right now. Personally until I see more offense from them I won’t be playing them in my lineups. If you want to play anyone my suggestion would Jonathan Marchessault. In 5 games he has 2 goals and 4 assists on 19 shots.

Philadelphia is a much more consistent offense right now scoring 16 goals in their 4 games and coming off a 7 goal outburst against Ottawa on Wednesday. Their top line of Jackub Voracek/Sean Couturier/Claude Giroux have been on fire right now combining for 5 goals and 11 assists in 4 games. I am much more inclined to play Flyers in this game and fade the Knights. On defens both Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov are always in play, but also a cheaper d man who is seeing some PP time is Robert Hagg who has 2 goals and an assist in 4 games.

Los Angeles Kings @ Ottawa Senators

Losa Angeles has been playing well to start the season and their first line has been the catalyst for the good play. Alex Iafallo/Anze Kopitar/Ilya Kovalchuk have combined for 5 goals and 4 assists. Iafallo is actually leading the Kings in scoring with 2 goals and 2 assists and will only set you back $4.8k on DraftKings. On defense Drew Doughty is always an option but the best two d men on L.A. right now have been Alec Martinez ($4.8k) and Jake Muzzin (4.9k) who both have 2 assists each.

With Ottawa the only line I am interested in playing is their first line with Brady Tkachuk/Zack Smith/Mark Stone with a combined 4 goals and 5 assists this season. I would play Tkachuk as a one-off from this line. Ottawas best play thus far (on offense) has been Chris Tierney even though he has been centering their third line, but has been playing on the second PP unit. Tierney has a goal and 5 assists in 4 games. On defense it seems they haven’t missed Erik Karlsson‘s points because of the play of Thomas Chabot (2 g 4 a) and Maxime Lajoie (3 g 2 a )

Detroit Red Wings @ Boston Bruins

Detroit doesn’t have much to offer currently fantasy wise, especially against a team like Boston. If you are going in a different direction in net from Rask (in GPP’s mostly) then you would want to try to get some Red Wings for the contrarian plays. The Red Wings top line of Anthony Mantha/Dylan Larkin/Gustav Nyquist  have been the most productive unit thus far for the Wings. Larkin leads the team with 2 goals and 2 assists and Nyquist has 3 assists. With Dennis Cholowski injured there isn’t a lot of fantasy options on defense for the Wings, but Niklas Kronwall ($2.8k) returned to the lineup Thursday night and is seeing minutes on the second pp unit and does give you a nice salary relief to fit some other high-priced guys in.

Boston is going to be the chalk on the afternoon with the best line stack in all of hockey outside of Toronto right now. Everyone playing NHL DFS knows how productive Boston’s top line has been so there is no reason for me to break that down. Unfortunately for the Bruins outside of their top line they are getting next to no production from the rest of the forwards. Only David Krejci has more than one point on the season ( 2 assists). If you can’t work Marchand/Bergeron/Pastrnak in to your lineups, the best bet to get some Bruins in will be on the point. Charlie McAvoy has 4 assists, and Matt Grzelcyk has 2 assists so far.

NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13 – Main Slate

Welcome to NHL DFS Man Advantage for Saturday nights 9 game slate. There is one game everyone will be focusing on for both fantasy purposes and just for pure enjoyment of a great hockey game. Toronto and their highest scoring offense invades DC to take on the reigning champs, the Capitals. 

There are a few more intriguing matchups other than the Leafs and Caps, one I am particularly interested in is Vancouver in Florida to take on the Panthers as well as the Blackhawks hosting the Blues . There will probably be very few people who don’t have some exposure to the Caps/Leafs game as it most likely will be the highest scoring game on the night and I will not suggest you fade this game. For you to cash you will most likely need to have some exposure to it. For a game like this I won’t break down the top guys (Ove, JT Matthews…) because you already know the, but instead try to find you some value and other guys people may not be on.

NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13 – Main Slate

NHL DFS Goalies

My first goalie on the night is whoever is in net for the Predators. It is expected that Pekka Rinne will get the start on Saturday night, but if he doesn’t, that’s ok because his back, Juuse Saros is more than capable of having a great game (he already beat the Islanders this season).

Ben Bishop is my next choice and he is also the second highest price goalie ($8.3k on DraftKings). Bishop gets a matchup with the Ducks on Saturday and while the Ducks have started out pretty good they are not going to play this well for too much longer. Bishop is probably the best goalie the Ducks have seen this season and Dallas is the best team they’ve seen. Bishop is expensive but might just be worth the money tonight.

Buffalo skates in Arizona on Saturday and Carter Hutton (assuming he starts) could be a very good play tonight. First, he is only going to cost you $7.8k on DK. Hutton has a high 3.07 GAA but a SV% of .912. Buffalo gives up a lot of shots, 136 in 4 games (34 per game), so the opportunity for saves is there and Buffalo is a favorite to win as well.

For GPP’s I like both Robin Lehner and Jacob Markstrom tonight. Both teams are road underdogs but both have a good chance to win. Markstrom is in Florida and while he hasn’t played that well this season has been so crazy at the start that there is no reason he can’t play well tonight. Also nobody takes more shots on goal then Panthers (avg 42 per game). For Lehner he is coming off a 35 save shut out in his first game as an Islander.

NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13 – Main Slate

NHL DFS Game Breakdowns

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Washington Capitals

Like I said in the open, I am not going to go into detail about the top guys in this game, you all know them and know they are really good and really expensive. I am going to try to find you some value to play along side them. One player who might still be under the radar for some reason (not a value though) is Morgan Rielly. He is the NHL point leader right now (tied with teammate Auston Matthews) as a defenseman and it seems like he scores or assists on every Maple Leaf goal(actually it’s half ). For Toronto my first value is Kasperi Kapanen ($4.5k on DK), he has a goal and 3 assists in 5 games and is now on the top line with Matthews. Ron Hainsey ($3.6K) has 2 goals and an assist and 7 shots on goal as well. Brett Connolly ($4.3K) is still playing on the top line with Ove and Kuznetsov and has 3 assists so far this season. Connolly also plays on the second PP unit for Washington. Michael Kempny ($3.1K)missed the first couple of games this season and hasn’t scored yet this season but he does have some offensive ability and could factor in to the scoring tonight.

Vancouver Canucks @ Florida Panthers

This game may not seem like a game we would normally target but there is some potential here for a lot of goals. Starting with Vancouver who has been a bit of a surprise with their offense ( 16 goals, 6th best in the league). Nobody has been better for the Canucks than Elias Pettersson and his team leading 4 goals and 7 points. Sven Baertschi is also a fantasy option with 3 points this season. For a line stack I like the first line of Tyler Motte/Bo Horvat/Brock Boeser.

Florida has only 5 goals but has only played 2 games this season. For the Panthers the top two lines are always a threat to score, but the Panthers have made a change to their second line. Mike Hoffman has been swapped with Denis Malgin. Hoffman is now on the third unit and Malgin takes his place with Jonathan Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck. On defense Keith Yandle has only 1 assist on the year but he has taken 10 shots on goal this season, so it seems like he will get going soon.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa has only scored 2 goals in their 2 games so there isn’t much to go on stats wise. The obvious plays are Steven Stamkos and linemates Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov who are too talented to continue to be kept off the score sheet. Anthony Cirelli centers the third line for the Lightning and has been playing well through two games ( 1 goal and 6 shots on goal) and makes for a good value play ($3.3K). On the point Victor Hedman is the best d man they have and should start going soon.

For the Blue Jackets their first line of Artemi Panarin/Pierre-Luc Dubois/Cam Atkinson has been exceptional to start the year combing for 13 points. Nick Foligno and Anthony Duclair make a good mini stack on the Jackets second line with 3 goals and 4 assists combined. Markus Nutivaara is play very well for Columbus right now with 2 assists and 10 shots on goal.

Calgary Flames @ Colorado Avalanche 

My favorite to attack the Flames tonight be by using Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau together. Both have 1 goal and 6 assists and play on the first power play unit. Other options up front I like are Elias Lindholm and his 3 goals. On the blue line its Mark Giordano ($5.5K) and his 4 points (1 goal) and 10 shots, also TJ Brodie is a lower price option ($3.9K) with 3  assists.

For Colorado the best line is the first line like most teams. Both Nathan Mackinnon ( 6 points) and Mikko Rantanen (7 Points) to start the season. Gabriel Landeskog has not been as productive, only 2 points in 4 games. For one-off plays both Alexander Kerfoot (1 goal 4 assists) and Carl Soderberg (3 goals 2 assists)  have been playing surprisingly well. Erik Johnson ($5.4K) has 4 assists and 11 shots and for only $4k you can use Samuel Girard and his 3 assists and 4 shots on goal.

NHL DFS Man Advantage 10/13 – Main Slate

NHL DFS Best of the Rest

Nashville welcome the Islanders to Music City on Saturday. I am interested in using Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson tonight as a mini stack. On defense both Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm are in play. For the Islanders it’s a Josh Bailey and Mathew Barzal mini stack and their identical 1 goal 3 assists score line.

More from FanSided

• Shohei Ohtani Rumors: The best trade package from every NL East team
• Cardinals Rumors: Surprise extension, Dylan Carlson-Yankees link, Rays trade idea
• USWNT vs. Vietnam: Key takeaways before they take on the Dutch
• NFL rumors: 49ers trending toward contract drama with defensive star
• Steelers avoid any camp drama with latest roster move

Another surprising team is the Blackhawks and their surprising offense. Chicago has a combined 18 goals good for 2nd best in the league. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Alex DeBrincat are the best plays right now from this team. For the Blues it’s their 4th game Saturday and currently only Vladimir Tarasenko (2) and  David Perron (3) are the only players who have scored multiple goals this season.

As usual the Penguins are an expensive play but they are generally worth it. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel are hot right now. Malkin with a goal and 5 assists through 3 games, and Kessel fresh of a hat trick. Sidney Crosby seems to be having a new linemate going into Saturday as Bryan Rust swaps spots with Patric Hornqvist  on the first line. Rust has yet to find the score sheet but that is likely to change playing with 87.

Montreal’s best player right now is Paul Byron with 2 goals and 2 assists.

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