DraftKings Fantasy Hockey Cheat Sheet: October 28th

Tonight’s featured DraftKings contest has a $3 entry fee or FREE if you are a new user. The top 3,840 finishers will split a prize pool of $50,000 with first place taking home $4,000! Do you have what it takes to turn $3 into $4,000?

Are you new to DraftKings or Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS)? Here’s a quick lesson on how to build your lineup an play! You have $50,000 in Salary space, to build a team that consists of 2C, 3W, 2D, 1G and 1 Util. Below you will find how skaters and goalies scoring works!

• Players will accumulate points as follows:

Goal = +3 PTS
Assist = +2 PTS
Shot on Goal = +0.5 PTS
Blocked Shot = +0.5 PTS
Short Handed Point Bonus (Goal/Assist) = +1 PTS
Shootout Goal = +0.2 PTS
Hat Trick Bonus = +1.5 PTS

• Goalies only will accumulate points as follows:

Win = +3 PTS
Save = +0.2 PTS
Goal Against = -1 PTS
Shutout Bonus = +2 PTS

• Goalie Scoring Notes:

Goalies WILL receive points for all stats they accrue, including goals and assists.
The Goalie Shutout Bonus is credited to goalies if they complete the entire game with 0 goals allowed in regulation + overtime. Shootout goals will not prevent a shutout. Goalie must complete the entire game to get credit for a shutout.

Below I’ve listed my top DFS plays at each position as well as my ideal DraftKings lineup for tonight.

Centres

Sidney Crosby – @ WSH – ($7,700)

I’ve always been on the Ovechkin side of this rivalry (except for in the Olympics; GO CANADA) but when you look at Crosby’s numbers in his career vs. the Capitals, it is hard not to pick him. He has 18 goals and 33 assists (51 points) in 33 career games vs. Washington—1.55 points per game. He is off to a slow start this season, but a matchup with Ovechkin and the Caps, just might wake him up.

Evgeny Kuznetsov – vs. PIT – ($5,400)

Washington won three of four meeting with the Penguins last season and scored at least three goals in each of those games. Playing with Alex Ovehckin makes life easy on Kuznetsov, who is coming off of a five-point game and has three goals and, six assists and 12 shots on goal in his last three games.

Mika Zibanejad – vs. CGY – ($4,400)

Zibanejad has quietly put together a nice October on the Senators second line. He has scored two goals with five assists and 20 shots on goal in eight contests and with Mike Hoffman and Curtis Lazar out, the Senators should lean on their top-2 lines a little more tonight.

Value Options: Mike Ribeiro – @ SJ – ($3,900) / Sam Bennett – @ OTT – ($3,300)

Wingers

Alex Ovechkin – vs. PIT – ($9,300)

Like Crosby, Ovechkin’s career numbers vs. the Penguins are also outstanding. He has scored 27 goals with 19 assists (46 points) in 39 games vs. Pittsburgh. In a four game series last year, Ovechkin tallied four goals and one assist. With he and his new line mates Kuznetsov and T.J Oshie clicking, they should keep the ball rolling tonight, at home vs. their rivals.

James Neal – @ SJ – ($6,200)

After being held pointless in his first three games of the season, Neal has picked up at least one point in each of his last five games and has totalled six goals and three assists over that span. His 32 shots on goal is also impressive and shows that he is very confident right now. Ride the hot streak.

T.J Oshie – vs. PIT ($5,900)

There was a lot of hype surrounding Oshie entering the season because of the potential for him to play with Ovechkin. Well, he is and it is working. He has scored three goals and four assists (seven points) in seven games and I like him stacked with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov tonight.

Value Options: Pascal Dupuis – @ WSH – ($4,800) / Shane Prince – vs. CGY – ($2,500) / Matt Puempel – vs. CGY – ($2,500)

Defensemen

Erik Karlsson – vs. CGY – ($6,800)

Karlsson has not scored a goal in eight games and his 17 shots is well below the norm for the NHL’s top offensive defenseman, but he has collected eight assists in eight games. This is a player who has topped 20 goals in the last two seasons, so he scores roughly once every four games. Maybe he will get back on track with two tonight—the matchup is certainly there for the taking.

John Carlson – vs. PIT ($6,400)

This Carlson spells his nam a little different but his offensive output is nearly the same. Carlson has scored twice and added eight assists (10 points) to lead all defensemen through seven games. He plays a tonne on the Capitals power-play and has failed to record a point in only one game this season.

Ryan Ellis – @ SJ – ($3,600)

Ellis is a personal favourite of mine in DraftKings, because there is so much offensive upside for such a low price. However, he has only registered a point in two of seven games this season, but one of those games he had one goal and two assists. The ice-time and upside are there, it’s just a matter of him getting it done for you.

Goalies

Pekka Rinne – @ SJ – ($7,900)

Rinne is arguably the best goalie available tonight but comes in with the second highest price tag. It is difficult to tell which way a Pittsburgh-Washington game is going to go, which is why I’m staying away from Holtby and Fleury. He will face a Sharks team, who has lost three of five while averaging just 2.20 goals per game over that span.

Craig Anderson – vs. CGY ($6,900)

Anderson draws the best matchup of any available goalie tonight and comes in having posted solid numbers in his first six starts. A 2.61 GAA is not ideal for DFS, but a .918 SV% shows he is seeing the puck and playing well. He faces a Flames team who ranks 28th in the NHL in scoring, with just 1.78 goals per game. So don’t be afraid to roll with the second cheapest goalie option tonight.

My Lineup