Below are is a breakdown for Friday’s three-game NHL DFS main slate followed by example lineups. Please note that the pivots in the lineups are intended to skew more toward GPP plays.
Teams to Target
Pittsburgh has the highest implied goal total of the slate, which is not a surprise given that the opposing Red Wings allow the most goals per game. There are no individual matchups to target or avoid as Detroit is bad defensively up and down the lineup, so lean towards the only Pitt line with two guys on the top PP unit. That would be Evgeni Malkin’s line with Bryan Rust joining him on the power play. Malkin is priced appropriately on both sites, while Rust continues to be a value on FD but is overpriced on DK. There are three (and maybe only two) elite defensemen on this slate, and Kris Letang is one of them.
Carolina has the second highest implied goal total of the slate. The Canes mixed up their lines last night, so it may be tough to predict their combos as they could easily revert to a more normal configuration. We’d never know given that they’re not skating in the morning. As it stands, Erik Haula looks like great option. Sebastian Aho moved to his wing last night, so now he’s playing with Aho almost all the time as the two play on the top PP unit. Haula is priced very well on both sites, but Aho is priced better on DK if you’re looking for a mini-stack. Dougie Hamilton is another of those three elite defensemen on the slate if you go the Canes route, though he left last night’s game early so he could be out tonight.
The other favorite tonight, albeit a smaller one than Pittsburgh and Carolina, is Tampa. The Bolts get a good matchup against a Winnipeg team that has one of the three worst xGA marks in the last month-plus. The problem is that the Jets have an equalizer in net named Connor Hellebuyck who ranks second in Goals Saved Above Average. If you’re going to pick on the Jets, you do it by targeting their top line which is offensively dangerous but has been unable to handle opposing top six lines in their own zone. The top line pair of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov stay together on the top PP unit and have all kinds of upside. Ondrej Palat joins them at even and could be included with them to offset some cost, particularly on FD. Victor Hedman is the last of the three elite defensemen on the slate who can be included in Bolts lineups.
Value Plays
Winnipeg is a home team facing a team playing for the second night in a row, and the Jets are the smallest of the three underdogs tonight. They might go a bit overlooked against Tampa which could make them appealing in GPPs. Second line center Blake Wheeler is priced well on both sites, especially on DK, and he works with the top line on the top PP unit. His winger, Nikolaj Ehlers, is priced well on FD, so the pair could be a mini-stack there. Top line Mark Scheifele is underpriced on DK where he’ll take up 2.6-percent less of the cap than he will on FD. Winger Kyle Connor joins Scheifele on the top line and top PP unit, and he is priced reasonably on DK. Top PP unit defenseman Neal Pionk is priced well on both sites (more so on FD), and he could be included with either of those mini-stacks.
The previously mentioned Haula and Ehlers are nice values on FD, but if you really need some salary relief, consider Ondrej Kase who is only $400 over the minimum. Kase has a top six role right now and is seeing significant power play usage of late. Kase is also priced well on DK, but an even deeper discount to consider there is Ryan Dzingel. He has seven points and an average of 14-plus minutes per game in his last 10. His line mate Martin Necas is slightly cheaper if you need even more salary relief.
Pionk is the best blue line value of the slate on FD, but over on DK it is Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh returned to the lineup last night, but the DK pricing model for this slate isn’t aware of it as he’s priced at the minimum. McDonagh was priced $1,400 higher four games prior to his injury. He averages over 20 minutes per game and right around three shots on goal plus blocks per game, which gives him a bit of a floor.
Goalies
Hellebuyck versus Andrei Vasilevskiy is by far the best goaltending matchup of the night. With four of six teams playing for the second night in a row, we’re going to see several backup goalies, but Vas will start tonight after backup Curtis McElhinney started for the Bolts last night. Vas makes plenty of sense in cash games with Tampa being favored, and he is priced much better on DK than FD. Hellebuyck is worth a look in GPPs on DK where he is priced well. He would make sense to include with a Jets mini-stack in a DK GPP lineup.
Save totals matter less on FD than DK, which puts the probable goalies of the two large favorites of the slate in play on FD. That’s likely to be Reimer and Matt Murray. Reimer is a bit cheaper if you need an extra $200 for some reason, but Murray is the preferred play. These are also probably your best options for GPPs on FD unless you feel like gambling with Jimmy Howard who projects to see the highest shot total of the slate against the Pens.