Daily Fantasy Hockey Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 10/18/17

Hello my fellow hockey fans and welcome to another day of NHL action here at DFSR. Today we have a cozy little three-game slate and each game looks like it should be exciting to watch. Let's get started with some picks folks.

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 lineups with a single click, or research as deeply as your heart desires, click the button below to test out yourself.

GOALIE

Jonathan Quick FD - $9200 DK - $8300
Opponent - MON
Proj Pts FD - 15.33 DK - 3.83

After an injury-riddled season last year and only starting 17 games, Quickie's back and he's off to a great start. He has yet to lose in regulation after four games while allowing only seven goals and with an impressive .943 save %. Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens come to town and they are playing in back-to-back road games after an awful 5-2 loss to San Jose last night. The Habs are ranked dead last in the league with only 1.50 goals scored per game and L.A. is playing some great hockey so far this season. Quick is an elite play in all formats and is easily my top goalie play of the day.

CENTERS

Auston Matthews FD - $8100 DK - $8200
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 18.11 DK - 5.2

In case you haven't noticed, this guy is the real deal. This is his team for many years to come and the city of Toronto may as well give him a key already because everyone loves him and with good reason. The second-year phenom already has five goals and three assists in six games to go along with 18 shots on goal. He also sees an ample amount of time on the powerplay and the penalty kill units in Toronto and the Leafs are ranked #1 in the league with 4.67 goals scored per game. Wow! On a tiny three-game slate like this one, he is very hard to fade, so make sure you fire him up in all formats my friends.

Stack with: William Nylander, Patrick Marleau (PP)

Paul Stastny FD - $5000 DK - $5100
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 11.59 DK - 3.35

I'm not a big fan of targeting anyone against Corey Crawford right now, as he's allowed only seven goals in his first five games, but here we have a guy at these cheap prices who happens to play with one of the most dangerous snipers to ever play the game. Stastny plays with Tarasenko on the top line as well as the #1 PP unit and he's off to a decent start as he has two goals, four assists and 13 shots on goal in six games. He's not the safest play today, so maybe reserve him for your GPP lineups, but you should definitely get some exposure to him this evening in case Tarasenko goes wild.

Stack with: Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn (PP)

WINGERS

Brandon Saad FD - $6600 DK - $7000
Opponent - STL
Proj Pts FD - 11.92 DK - 3.43

After playing his first four seasons with Chicago, this guy went to play in Columbus for two seasons and now he's been reunited with his Blackhawks' teammates. Saad plays on the top line and the #2 PP with his line-mates and he is off to a fabulous start this year. After six games, he has six goals and two assists while averaging 4.3 shots per game. The Blues are ranked 10th in goals allowed with 2.67 per game but Chicago's offense is ranked 3rd in the league with 4.17 goals scored per game. Saad is a solid play in all formats this evening.

Stack with: Jonathan Toews, Richard Panik

Dustin Brown FD - $4500 DK - $5400
Opponent - MON
Proj Pts FD - 12.07 DK - 3.41

If you want to read a nice little bro-mance piece, then check out what I wrote about Brownie in October 15th's article. He deserves every bit of the attention he is getting and the veteran got another assist last game to extend his point streak to four games. In those four games, Brownie has four goals, three assists and a whopping 18 shots on goal. He skates on the #1 line and the #1 PP unit in L.A. and his opponent, the Canadiens have allowed a ninth worse 3.67 goals per game. Lock and load Brown in all formats at these cheap prices.

Stack with: Anze Kopitar, Alex Iafallo

Also Consider: Patrick Kane(Chi) in all formats & Anthony Mantha (Det) for GPP formats

DEFENSEMEN

Drew Doughty FD - $5600 DK - $6100
Opponent - MON
Proj Pts FD - 0 DK - 0

It's pick on Montreal day and this guy could be my favorite King of them all. The Canadiens are my favorite NHL team, but when you're a fantasy sports writer, the worst thing to do is to be biased. Montreal has been awful so far and backup goalie Al Montoya is starting in net tonight which is even better news for the Kings as Carey Price gets the night off. Doughty has been a fantasy stud to start the year as he has two goals, three assists, 15 shots on goals and 10 blocked shots through five games. He plays on the #1 PP unit in L.A. and he kills a ton of penalties. Doughty is an elite play in all formats this evening.

Also Consider: Morgan Reilly,(Tor) (GPP formats) Alex Pietrangelo (Stl) (Cash game formats)

Hockey is back and with it comes 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.