What an exciting first night in the National Hockey League. It all started with the record setting debut of 1st overall pick Auston Matthews who scored four goals in an exciting overtime loss to the Senators in their home opener. The Blues pulled out a shocking road win in Chicago and as I write this the Oilers are up 3-1 in their new building and the Kings and Sharks are tied at one a piece.
Tonight marks the first big slate with nine games on the schedule. There is always a ton of value early in the season so paying up for goaltending and defense while still fitting some top forward stacks is much easier than it will be later in the season. Take advantage.
Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get access to our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.
If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 14.42 DK - 3.6
The Lightning come in as the biggest favorites(-180) Thursday night making Bishop a top lay at the position. He is coming off an outstanding season where he lead the league in goals against average(2.06), ranked second in save percentage(.926) and also ranked second with six shutouts. He helped the Bolts defeat the Red Winds in five games in last year's playoffs before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Penguins in the Conference Finals. The Red Wings are a weaker team than they were last year, in my opinion, as they lost their life blood Pavel Datsyuk. Look for a home opening win from the Bolts.
Opponent - NJ
Proj Pts FD - 12.02 DK - 3.58
The Florida Panthers will also open up their season at home and will be hungry to get back to work after a disappointing first round exit after wining the Atlantic Division. They start with a favorable matchup vs. the Devils in a game with a very low projected total of 5.0 with the under as the current favorite. I would use Luo more in a cash game setup tonight as the ceiling is a bit limited as the Panthers allowed under 30 shots per game last year while the Devils play a much slower game and took the least shots per game(24.4) of any team in the league last year. Not that Luongo makes a bad play in GPP as his win potential is very high but you aren't like to get more than 20-25 saves.
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 14.29 DK - 4.7
A blood clot forced Stamkos to miss the end of last season and seen the superstar only make it back to play one game in playoffs. Most people expected the free agent to sign elsewhere in the off season but Stamkos chose to remain in Tampa Bay. It could prove to be a very wise choice as the core of the team is one of the strongest in the league. Stamkos will be surrounded with talent and should start the season playing alongside Jonathan Drouin and Andrej Palat. He has an elite price but is worth every penny as he comes with a high floor and a very high ceiling.
Stack with: Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat
Opponent - CAR
Proj Pts FD - 13.81 DK - 4.19
Scheifele will open the season on the Jets top line between Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler and makes a terrific mid range option on both sites. He has continually evolved his game and seen his goals, points, +/-, and shot totals grow in each of the last three years. He will be hoping to take another step this year and help the Jets to the playoffs and it all starts tonight in a favorable matchup against the Hurricanes. who allowed 2.7 goals per game last year despite limiting opponents to under 28 shots against per game.
Stack with: Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler
Opponent - BUF
Proj Pts FD - 11.33 DK - 3.47
If you wanna go a little bit cheaper at the position take a shot with Galchenyuk who comes in under $6K on both sites and centers the Has top line. He is coming off a career high season where he appeared to have put it all together with 30 goals and 56 points while playing all 82 games. He will have to improve on his +/- to become a complete player but we aren't worried about that in DFS. The Habs are one of only two road favorites(-140) tonight and hold a team projection of 2.8 goals which is 5th highest on the night so far.
Stack with: Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher
Opponent - PIT
Proj Pts FD - 18.64 DK - 5.84
The best time to get exposure to Ovi is early in the season before his price gets inflated. He has the highest upside of anyone in fantasy hockey and is coming off three straight 50 goal seasons for the Caps. The biggest part of his game, although, it doesn't help us n fantasy, is the +/- as he has posted +21 and +10 the last two seasons. There is only one thing that left for him to do at this point and that is take his team deep in the playoffs. He can't do that tonight but he can sure get a good start by leading the Caps to a opening night win against the Pens who will be short their superstars Sidney Crosby.
Stack with: Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie
Opponent - CBJ
Proj Pts FD - 12.74 DK - 3.95
If any team has the potential to score multiple goals and get you to the GPP promise land it's the Bruins tonight. Why you ask? If you watched the World Cup of Hockey or even just checked the game logs you might have noticed Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron's name a ton. They played on a line with Sidney Crosby throughout the tournament and finished 2nd and 3rd in scoring while helping Canada win the whole thing. Bergeron will miss the opener with a minor injury so the Bruins will rely on Marchand to carry the load tonight.
Stack with: David Backes, David Pastrnak
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 7.77 DK - 2.33
When looking for value at the wing position I prefer players who are maybe not top talents but play a Top 6 role and are surrounded by talent that they can feed off. That is the case in Tampa Bay as Alex Killorn is by no means a star player but gets a decent amount of points playing alongside Tyler Johnson and up and coming superstar Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning are big favorites tonight and have one of the highest goal project(2.82) of any team. Get exposure to the Bolts tonight.
Stack with: Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov
Opponent - CAR
Proj Pts FD - 12.32 DK - 3.88
Of the top priced defensive options, Byfuglien has the best matchup and can contribute in many ways. He is coming off his fourth 50 point season for the Jets/Thrashers and has even started becoming a + player over the last two years. On top of the points and powerplay opportunities, Byfuglien also provides a floor as he averages over there shots a game while blocking around a shot a game as well. His price will soon be in the $7K so take advantage early.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 9.71 DK - 3.22
If you want to go the value route consider Cam Fowler of the Anaheim Ducks. His price is very affordable in the low to mid $4K range on both sites and he is projected to be on the top unit for the Ducks this season. He may seem young at age 24 but he is going into his 7th season as a pro and will be expected to take another step offensively. He has recorded 24+ points in five of his six seasons and has the potential to get to the 40-50 plateau. Just like a few other players I mentioned, you will want to get on board before the price rises.
Hockey is back and with it come our NHL projections which help inform these picks every night. When you purchase a DFSR NHL subscription to our base hockey projections you also get accessto our brand new NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users *ahem* tackle the NFL season.
If you want to see the numbers behind our projections, create linueps with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.
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