We have four games today with some high-flying offensive teams. Toronto and New York are going to be popular, but can we find some value elsewhere? Can Auston Matthews find his scoring touch? Can we trust Logan Thompson as the most expensive goalie on DraftKings? You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Sunday, October 30th, but before you build those NHL daily fantasy lineups, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS projections, the NHL Value Finder, and the NHL DFS lineup generator. Let's now take a closer look at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS slate.

 


Minnesota Wild vs. Chicago Blackhawks


I’ll keep this section short and sweet because there isn’t much to love here. Both teams are playing the tail end of a back-to-back, so this game could get sloppy in a hurry.

All I care about for Minnesota is their top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Frederik Gaudreau and Mats Zuccarello. Any combination of those three would work well in any lineup.

For Chicago, I’ll look at their defence and target either Seth Jones or Jake McCabe. Jones has the upside for points, but McCabe is cheap and is coming off six blocked shots yesterday. That value is going to be very hard to beat.

As for the rest, save your salary and concentrate on the other games. 


New York Rangers vs. Arizona Coyotes


This matchup has a lot of combinations that I like. Even if the Rangers are playing their second game in as many nights, they still have an elite matchup against a terrible Arizona team.

I will have a ton of exposure to Mika Zibanejad tonight. He is just firing on all cylinders rights now and I can’t find a reason to fade him. He’s firing the puck on goal a ton and is a candidate for three or more points in one game. He’s a very streaky player, but I'm expecting greatness from him tonight. 

On the wing, Chris Kreider is a great candidate to score a goal, but it’s Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko that I’ll focus my attention on. Both players are under $4K and are capable of easily hitting value. If you need some exposure to New York without breaking the bank, this is one way to do it.

On the back end, Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren are two players I’m very interested in. Trouba is capable of firing the puck on goal and blocking shots. He can also find the scoresheet, so there’s a lot to love at $5900. As for Lindgren, he’s cheap and is capable of blocking shots. Arizona doesn’t generate a ton of offence, but he could still block three shots in this contest and hit value.

Jaroslav Halak will likely get the start for his game, and while he has a great matchup on paper, he has no upside. He would need to be almost perfect to hit value, and I don’t think he will be. He’s a cash game option, but nothing more.

When it comes to the Coyotes, J.J. Moser is a decent option, but I hate his $4100 price tag. That’s just too rich for me on such a short slate. If Dysin Mayo gets a chance to get back into the lineup, I would consider playing him at $2600. Everyone else can be forgotten.


Vegas Golden Knights vs. Winnipeg Jets


I love the Vegas Golden Knights in this matchup and you don’t have to spend a ton to get some good players in. Winnipeg isn’t a bad team, but I just don’t see them being any good on the road.

Jack Eichel and Chandler Stephenson are skating on the top line and are more than affordable tonight. Stephenson doesn’t take a ton of shots on goal, but he’s $3700 and has eight points on the season, so I’ll gladly take that on a short slate. I’ll also have some Jonathan Marchessault in my lineup, mainly due to his $5200 price tag on DK. He can shoot the puck, but he hasn’t finished with more than three in a game since game one of the season. He has five goals on the season and eight points, so he’s another player that can find the scoresheet regularly. 

On the blue line, I'm going with the mini-stack of Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb. We know that Martinez is the king of blocking shots and that won’t change tonight. His $4000 price tag is just too low for what he brings to the DFS table. McNabb is capable of doing the same, but he’s cheaper and isn’t as consistent. If both players can hit the bonus, that’s more than enough for me to be happy.

Logan Thompson is the most expensive goalie on DK, but he is worth the price of admission. He’s coming off a shutout against the Anaheim Ducks and has been phenomenal in six starts. He’s expensive, but he’s by far the best goalie on the slate.

For the Winnipeg Jets, Kyle Connor is the only forward I really care about. He has one goal this season and only 30 shots on goal. That’s not enough for a player of his calibre. I don’t love his matchup, but there is upside here for a player that knows how to find the back of the net. I’ll consider him as a single bullet in a GPP.  Outside of him, don’t waste your time or salary.


Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Anaheim Ducks


The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing out West and they haven’t looked really good. They lost yesterday to the Los Angeles Kings and even against the Ducks, I don’t love them. 

Auston Matthews has 44 shots on goal this season, but only two goals. I’m not going to roster him tonight because he’s too expensive and isn’t giving me enough. I’ll go down and target John Tavares, who is cheaper and is averaging over a point per game. He’s their best offensive weapon right now, so I’ll take my chances with him.

On the wing, Alex Kerfoot and William Nylander offer us the best value. Nylander can shoot the puck and rack up points, so I like him as a mini-stack with Tavares. Kerfoot is skating on the top line and is only $2900. At that price, the salary savings alone is worth playing him. 

In goal, Erik Kallgren is confirmed to get the start for this one. He has a great matchup on paper, but Anaheim doesn’t shoot the puck and he would also need to be close to perfect to hit value. The Ducks could surprise us all here, so I’ll limit my exposure to Kallagren.

For Anaheim, We can get a ton of players at a discount. Trevor Zegras is $4700 and can easily add a goal or two to his total. Toronto isn’t great defensively and I think Anaheim can at least score two or three goals here. Troy Terry and Mason McTavish are the two wingers I would look to stack with Zegras. I’m not worried about what line they are playing on, only about who is capable of producing. All three players are above-average and can rack up points and shots on goal.

I’ll gladly take my chances with Dimitry Kulikov tonight, especially at $3000. He blocked four shots last game and easily hit value. The Leafs can generate shots and I expect them to flirt with about 35 tonight. Kulikov is seeing about 20-minutes per night, so he has a legit chance of hitting the bonus before the end of the second period.

If Anthony Stolarz gets the call for Anaheim, I’ll consider him in a GPP. The Leafs have good players, but they aren’t scoring goals. John Gibson has been a mess, and while Stolarz isn’t exactly a huge upgrade, he was pretty elite in his one start this season. I’ll take my chances here if I’m going extra contrarian. 

 
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