NHL DFS Tournament Picks and Strategy | Snipes, Grinders, and Hard Passes Projections for Fanduel and Draftkings 11/13

DFS NHL is a volatile sport centering around correlation, stacking and game theory.  Learning how to win cash games and tournaments requires nailing those great upside plays/stacks, grabbing obvious value, and making the proper fades that sink everyone else’s ships.  Let’s look through today’s slate and identify those winning picks in “Snipes, Grinders, and Hard Passes!”

Snipe = Good Play
Grinder = Value Plays (Grinders are Valuable)
Hard-Pass = I’m fading in tournaments

DFS NHL Slate Overview:

So there are a ton of games today which means that there are going to be some sneakier options, it will take higher scores to win tournaments, and almost all ownership will be spread out to such an extreme that we don’t even really care about it; we are just going to play the best plays. The NYR/CBJ game I will try not to mention much, but there are some interesting ways to stack that game; and, with how fast of a pace the CBJ are playing this season, matched with how talented the NYR forwards are, indicates a potential high score. Also, whichever goalie wins, could end up with a monster score. Basically, from a GTO (game-theory optimal) sense, I suggest either stacking NYR (Zibanejad, Fox, Panarin, etc), or rostering Merzlikins and that’s about it from the entire game.

Snipes and Hard Passes for Tonight

Correlated Snipe #1

Pierre Luc Dubois $4900DK/$5400FD
Kyle Connor $7400DK/$8700FD

These guys appear to be underpriced on DK and appropriately priced on FD. With that being said I just love their spot and how these players have been playing recently. Dubois is seemlessly bouncing back after an atrocious year in 2020, and Kyle Connor has just done what he has always done; which is, skate really fast, handling the puck with ease, and be one of the most underrated players in the last 3 years. Winnipeg at home will always interest me, and with Doughty out long-term, the blueline will always have a hole in it. Not to mention that the Kings’ goalies should be an inconsistent rotation of inexperienced net minders (unless they keep sending Johnny Quick and his wheelchair out there). This could make for an interesting DFS NHL game stack if say you ran Kopitar/Kempe/Brown on the other side, or throw in Pionk or Morrisey to the Jets stack. Jets at home, trending upward, with more team speed than the LAK; sign me up for some of that.

Correlated Snipe #2

Mikhail Granlund $5900DK/$4800FD
Matt Duchene $5900DK/$5600FD
Roman Josi $8300DK/$6900FD

For obvious salary reasons this stack is better on FD; however, it is one of the main stacks in general that can just blow up and win a tournament. Arizona is the worst team in recent history and they are on the road in a second game of a back to back. They just lost to the Blackhawks even though they only conceded 2 goals, and they will be playing the worse of the 2 computer generated NHL22 goalies that they have. Seriously nobody knows who these goalies are. Also Granlund is coming off of a 4 assist game, Duchene is bouncing back in a big way this year, and Josi should be sub 1% owned because people would just rather play Makar, Burns, or Fox. This is obviously one of my more favorite sneaky stacks.

Snipe #3

Mike Hoffman $4300DK/$4600FD

Way too cheap for a guy that has 3 assists and 18 shots on goal in his last 3 games. Last I checked that’s an assist per game on average, and hitting the shots bonus on DK. Is that good? Yes! Can you pair him with Suzuki and company? Sure, why the hell not. All i’m saying is that with the minutes he is getting, the role he is in, and his overall hotness level, he can be played as a one-off if that is how your lineup builds are going.

Snipe #4

Nazem Kadri $4400DK/$5600FD

Everyone’s favorite sleezy dirtbag will continue to get more unique opportunities with Nathan Mackinnon out. Kadri is underratedly talented, and can be stacked with guys like Rantonen and Makar; however, he should have a high enough floor to be used as a one-off if necessary. Again stacking in hockey is super important, and I’m not suggesting you just play a bunch of the best plays as one-offs; because, that caps your ceiling. I will say that if you have a correlated lineup and you have $4400 left on DK, you should either be taking Hoffman or Kadri or you are probably doing fantasy wrong in my opinion.

Hard Pass #1 (and only hard pass)

This whole TB/FLA game is unpredictable to me.  There is overpriced talent all over the ice, with some of the best goalies in the game today. Vasilevskiy has been among the best goalies in the last 5 years, and I believe he is already confirmed as the starter for TB. Florida is sporting Sergei Bobrovsky who must have gone to several types of therapists, because he looks like the 2 time NHL Vezina winner he use to he and is sporting the highest save percentage in the world. They also have a very talented kid in Spencer Knight who I would not bet against either. The Russian Olympic team really is going to have 2 hall of fame goalies this year, wow. But, yeah, this game could go 1-0 and decided in a shootout, or it could go completely nuclear with 10 goals. Since I do not have the slightest idea, I will not be throw darts blindfolded into this affair.

NHL Grinder Value Plays

Grinder #1
Zach Werenski $4900FD

Werenski is horribly priced on FD and still a decent play on DK. Let’s just say he has a hat trick in his career and it was not a fluke; underrated defenseman.

Grinder Line #2
Cole Sillinger/Jakun Voracek/Yegor Chinakov

Both sites these guys are under priced

Grinder #3
Phillip Danault $3500DK/$4400FD

Good luck, I hope you all come in 2nd.  😉

DFS Army Core4 Memberships Unlock It All!

Take your DFS game to new heights by playing multiple sports.  With research tools, time-saving cheatsheets, an included lineup optimizer, and the coaching capable of showing you the winning tricks and picks, you can go from average joe to DFS pro! Look what our NBA crew did in a single week recently…