Welcome to the DFS Army NHL Game Break!! You have to start your research somewhere, and often times going game by game thinking about matchups and key players is the first step in our process. I’m your buddy @Choppodong and you can find me on both Twitter and YouTube with supplemental commentary and teaching. But, you’ll really find me in our VIP coaching forums inside coaching and detailing plays and strategic hockey maneuvers across all our main sports. If you are looking for it, we cover it! Follow me, watch me, interact with me, I welcome it all.
NHL DFS Matchup Rankings L10 Games
Last 10 games sample size. Home teams in white, away in gray. GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against. MU Score is a combined metric showing how one matchup tonight compares to the others on paper. Green is good, red is bad. We are looking for the best matchups of teams scoring goals facing teams allowing goals. Not exactly rocket science, so don’t overthink it. PPMU is another telling metric, but I save that one for VIPs. Just ask me in our coaching forums…
My plan is to describe the games some and drop quality players in these lists. You will get my player pool (VIPs might get bonus plays in our coaching forums later). My cash players are those I would happily use in head-to-head formats, 5050 contests, small leagues, and even some larger leagues. They will anchor my lineups in all formats and contain a lot of value plays and/or punts. The core gets you to the dance. The slightly funky plays off your core push you into the gpp money. Your core is everything! Even gpp-only players need a core of solid production to build from.
Edmonton Oilers @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Odds: TOR -250, 6.5 leaning over…
Not super high on Edmonton, but they do have some one-offs of note with Draisaitl actually being one of the safer plays on the slate. TOR gives just enough goals, we have a middle strength matchup and Draisaitl has been very consistent lately. Nugent-Hopkins is another and outside considerations to Nurse. The real watcher is when McDavid comes back, as that only helps Draisaitl even more. Goalie – Not when facing a top 3 offensive matchup on the slate.
5 star plays – Draisaitl (W)
4 star plays – Nugent-Hopkins (C), Nurse (D)
Cash gamers – Draisaitl
GPP Sleeper – perhaps, but I don’t see the correlated potential worthy of taking a risk. A 6 game slate, though, might justify it with the lack of options.
Toronto is starting to creep back up the MU Score rankings due to their offense heating up a little the last few games. Matthews and Tavares lead the way, but names like Kapanen and Hyman are great complimentary pieces. The 6.7 MU Score is 3rd on the slate, as mentioned above. Goalie – If Anderson gets the start, I’m on board with the strong -250 from Vegas sportsbooks. If Sparks gets the start, I’m nearly all in.
5 star plays – Matthews (C), Tavares (C), Rielly (D), Kapanen (W)
4 star plays – Marner (W), Johnsson (W), Hyman (W), Marleau (W)
Cash gamers – Kapanen, Johnsson
GPP Sleeper – nothing sneaky here
Calgary Flames @ New Jersey Devils
Odds: CGY -170, 6.5 leaning over…
Calgary is also creeping back up the offensive numbers. As a result, the MU Scores are coming up and we can look to match them up against softer defenses with more confidence. New Jersey is giving 3.4 goals against lately, and qualify as a softer defense. So, our Flames hit the MU Score with a solid 6.5. Before getting your panties in a wad, your normal targets of the CGY1 line (Monahan, Gaudreau) are Fool’s Gold lately. The nuggets lie in the CGY2 centered by Backlund with cheap value Frolik on one side and a very consistent Lindholm on the other. Giordano is very expensive, but has been more consistent of late, too. Goalie – Our goalie is in play, but I think I like the TOR situation better provided there isn’t a huge pricing difference here.
5 star plays – none
4 star plays – Lindholm (W), Giordano (D), Backlund (C)
Cash gamers – Frolik (W), Lindholm, Hamonic (D)
GPP Sleeper – CGY2 until people catch on.
New Jersey has some value, and the Flames can be generous at times. However, the Flames have clamped down a little lately giving only 2.7 goals against in 10 games. Jersey isn’t scoring like mad, and there are better options on this slate. I do like them as a tourney play, but my cash focus will be elsewhere. Goalie – Goalie has been an issue all year long. I don’t see myself playing one vs the warming up Flames.
5 star plays – none
4 star plays – Hischier (C), Bratt (W) – if back, Palmieri (W), Green (D)
Cash gamers – Bratt, Green, Wood (W)
GPP Sleeper – NJD1 of Palmieri, Hischier, Bratt gives a strong even strength line with a smidge of PP2 exposure through Bratt.
Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Rangers
Odds:
Tampa Bay is our other 7.1 MU Score on the night, and why wouldn’t they be the chalk? They will be. The Lightning are just too strong, too steady. Stamkos, Kucherov, Point are a crazy core if you can afford it. But, you are likely going to need other value plays like Gourde for value or even Johnson for upside. Goalie – I feel safer if Vasilevsky is in net, obviously, but I will consider Domingue. You’ll have to check back in our coaching forums later.
5 star plays – Kucherov (W), Stamkos (C), Point (C)
4 star plays – Gourde (W)
Cash gamers – Kucherov, Point, Gourde
GPP Sleeper – maybe something including Gourde or Palat, but otherwise it won’t be too sneaky.
New York lost Zuccarello to Dallas at the trade deadline, and we’ll have to see how it affects things going forward. As of now, these are already old numbers. And, with TB allowing only 1.7 goals against, I think we can pass on the Rangers tonight. Goalie – yeah right.
5 star plays – none
4 star plays – Nametsikov (W), DeAngelo (D)
Cash gamers – no one is cash safe even with how consistent they’ve been lately….the matchup is too tough for cash.
GPP Sleeper – here is where you find your stacks if you are a risk taker. Pick anything. No one will be in there with you.
NBA All-Star Break has been a great success for many of our newer players! Our coaches have done a lot of explaining, and our members have done a lot of winning. The edge clearly resides in coaching. Content and tools are nice, but how can you exploit your opponents when you don’t have the experts teaching you how to apply the content and tools? That’s where DFS Army steps in. Become a VIP and see what all the fuss is about…..#FearTheHelmet!!
Vancouver Canucks @ Colorado Avalanche
Odds: COL -180, 6.5 leaning under…
Vancouver can provide some one-offs, but they lack cohesion right now when it comes to playing well enough to stack. They only score 2.1 goals per game right now and just aren’t showing the ceiling necessary to take chances on. The only worse offense on the slate is Anaheim. Goalie – wrong again…pass.
5 star plays – none
4 star plays – Petterson (C), Horvat (C), Boeser (W)
Cash gamers – Petterson, Horvat, Spooner (Ryan Spooner, W, is a minsal punt at $3000 on FD….almost hard to miss with him in cash games.)
GPP Sleeper – Again, maybe if you like big risk. I won’t be here.
Colorado is another starting to gear back up lately. Their goals for were down under 3.0 and have suddenly crept back to a respectable 3.3 over their last 10 games. The bigs of MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen are starting to reunite and play well. Prices are a smidge depressed on them, too, meaning if you see them fully reunite, you might want to blindly jump on that bandwagon being they have the talent to destroy any matchup and break any slate. My favorite cash player, Carl Soderberg, is still bringing value but not as much as he was at lower pricing. He’s still viable, though. Goalie – I’m really going to be considering any COL goalie tonight. But, I still do like TOR, too.
5 star plays – Landeskog (W), MacKinnon (W)
4 star plays – Soderberg (C), Barrie (D), Compher (W)
Cash gamers – Landeskog, Soderberg, Nieto
GPP Sleeper – You could focus on the PP1 here with MacKinnon, Soderberg, and Barrie. You could also grab the PP2 of Landeskog, Rantanen, Compher….both have potential.
Chicago Blackhawks @ Anaheim Ducks
Odds:
Chicago “should” stomp the ducks like Indians getting the turkey/bird ready for the first Thanksgiving. Ok, bad joke….but, CHI should just crush Anaheim tonight. I don’t think I’m breaking worldwide news with the Blackhawks carrying the other 7.1 MU Score on the night and leading the way with Tampa Bay. Kane, Toews, DeBrincat, Strome, and Gustaffson have been targets of mine (and the Army’s) for weeks….and the train keeps rolling with some supplemental pieces. Goalie – Anaheim just can’t score right now. I’m loving this goalie matchup, too, and it might be my favorite on the night when I look deeper into the numbers later.
5 star plays – Kane (W), DeBrincat (W), Toews (C), Gustaffson (D)
4 star plays – Strome (C), Saad (C), Keith (D), Kahun (W)
Cash gamers – Kane, Debrincat, Toews, Gustaffson, Strome, Keith
GPP Sleeper – you are going to have to get very creative here to sneak up on anyone tonight.
Anaheim doesn’t deserve a write up. Just avoid them. Goalie – should get shelled.
5 star plays – nope
4 star plays – sorry
Cash gamers – they
GPP Sleeper – stink
Here is a one game view of our NHL Research Station matchup page. My daily videos typically walk you through this page and point out how I quickly decipher the best plays on the slate. When you unlock access to this page, you get team stats with large and small sample sizes to pick up trends, all the basis statistics, pricing, scoring lines, power play lines, scoring production including shots and blocks, and you get it all in one easy to read view. But, you only get it as a VIP. 99% of the stats I reference are directly from this single page. Your research has never been easier!!
Favorite NHL DFS Stacks for Tonight…
What is NHL without stacking?!
CGY2 – Backlund/Frolik/Lindholm
CHI PP1 – any combo
TOR2 – Matthews/Kapanen/Johnsson
TBL PP1 – any two because I don’t want Palat now, and a full stack hampers my lineup too hard. Mini-stack only for me.
GPP Sleeper stack = CGY2 is my favorite stack again. I’m riding the train until it derails. We’ve been on it for awhile; it could happen any day. But, for now, this stack just keeps bringing in the value night after night. For chalk stacks, sneaky stacks, and others, you will have to ask inside our coaching forums this afternoon…
Hopefully, those pointers get you started in your research. I will be bouncing in and out of our NHL coaching room all day, with the rest of our coaches, to guide anyone with questions. I plan to drop a slate video showing our research process most days, and with a little time, our VIPs request shorter, strategy videos to help them shore up fundamentals, too. All free videos can be found on my YouTube channel, but all VIP videos need the key to unlock the vault.
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I hope to see you inside soon. Have a blessed day.
