NHL DFS Slate Summary: Thursday, November 2nd
Welcome to the RotoGrinders NHL DFS Slate Summary. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the key elements of DFS success while delivering analysis on the upcoming slate of NHL games for DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll discuss today’s NHL DFS player projections, player correlations and NHL stacking, NHL starting lineups, differentiation tactics using NHL projected ownership, and recommendations on ways to create lineup diversity if entering multiple lineups using LineupHQ.
NHL DFS Picks: Slate Summary for Monday, October 30th
Today’s Games
Slate Overview
Due to Halloween Tuesday, the NHL has switched up its usual setup and loaded up the Monday night with games instead, leaving just a pair of games for tomorrow night. Vegas has identified three huge favorites in the Penguins, Stars, and Golden Knights. Then there’s the next range of -160 to -190 favorites consisting of the Lightning, Hurricanes, Bruins, and Coyotes. I’ll wait for people smarter than me to project ownership, but I would imagine the Penguins and Stars would lead the ownership from a team perspective, with Pastrnak being the highest owned individual skater. Not a ton stands out as far as lineup construction, potential injuries, etc.
I’ll give my thoughts on the Penguins here, rather than in the individual sections below. Pittsburgh will be extremely popular tonight, and with good reason given the favorable matchup at home. My only issue with plays like Sidney Crosby (other than the high ownership) has been the lack of ceiling to date. He’s been extremely consistent with points in seven of eight games, but has only exceeded 18 DK points once all season. Malkin has does it twice in his eight games. So I think I prefer the wingers, Guentzel and Rust, at their respective prices, although I’ll be underweight overall.
Top Skaters
David Pastrnak
DraftKings $9,600
David Pastrnak is head and shoulders above the field from a raw projection standpoint tonight. He’s an elite volume shooter whose nightly shot prop is generally 4.5 shots, meaning he’s 50/50 to start the night with a floor of 10.5 points on DraftKings after the shot bonus. Then of course there’s the goals that inevitably come with the shots and they come in bunches. The other night, he was relatively quiet before scoring a penalty shot goal and an empty netter in the third period. He’s matchup proof no matter what, but the one against Detroit is neutral at worst.
Jason Robertson
DraftKings $7,300
Compared to many of the game’s other superstars, Robertson has started quite slowly. He has just a single goal and three assists in six games, which isn’t terrible for most, but disappointing for a player of his caliber. Fortunately for DFS players, the lack of production has resulted in a price cut as he’s the cheapest he’s been all season at $7300 on DraftKings. The matchup is the biggest reason Robertson is such a strong play. Columbus has been surprisingly good on offense, but they are still allowing plenty of quality scoring changes, and Robertson and company should be able to take advantage.