DraftKings Fantasy Hockey Cheat Sheet: October 7th

The 2015-16 NHL regular season gets underway at 7:00 pm ET when the puck drops between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. The start of the regular season also means the start of One-Day Fantasy Hockey with DraftKings!

DraftKings gives away millions of dollars per week and on Wednesday you could turn $3 into $10,000! If you are new to DraftKings, you will get FREE entry into this contest.

How do you build a DraftKings lineup? Simple. 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.

Drafting a one-day fantasy hockey team is difficult task at any time, but it is especially difficult on the first day of the season. Teams are different and no one really know exactly what to expect out of most players…not even most coaches. So I am here to help you build your first DraftKings of the season and make sure that Wednesday is a profitable season opener for you!

Centres

Derek Stepan – @ CHI – $5,400

The Blackhawks are a formidable opponent to be sure, but they aren’t the same team that won the Stanley Cup last year and they have a lot of new pieces, so they might be exploitable early in the season before they are all comfortable playing with each other. Stepan has quality wingers in Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes and is coming off of a strong preseason—two goals, four assists (six points) in four games. Of the available centres, Stepan had the seventh most Fantasy Points Per Game (FPPG) last year and he is the second cheapest option of those seven.

Tomas Plekanec – @ TOR – $5,300

Plekanec is coming off of his best season since 2009-10 and scored the second most goals of his 11-year career (26). One the first night of the season he draws a great matchup against a rebuilding Maple Leafs that he dominated a season ago. The 32-year-old centre had four goals, one assist (five points), 17 shots on goal and 6.125 fantasy points per game in four games vs. Toronto last year.

Henrik Sedin – @ CGY – $4,000

Henrik historically doesn’t score a lot, but his 18 goals last season was his most since 2010-11 (19) but he picks up a tonne of assists—55 in 82 games last year. On opening night he comes in with the low, low price tag of $4,000 and with a solid matchup vs. Calgary. Henrik had two goal and 13 assists (15 points) in his last 14 games against the Flames.

Wingers

Max Pacioretty – @ TOR – $7,100

Pacioretty had the second most FPPG of available wingers last season and he has the best matchup as he gets set to face the Maple Leafs. He is one of the NHL’s top goal scorers and had one goals, two assists and 14 shots in three games vs. the Maple Leafs last season. The three time 30-goal scorer is a safe bet to score in the opener.

Chris Kreider – @ CHI – $5,000

Kreider enjoyed a nice preseason—two goals and one assist in four games—and comes into the season with high expectations. If you take Stepan, taking his linemate Kreider wouldn’t be a bad idea. This duo is nearly $2,000 cheaper than taking Rick Nash and Derick Brassard and have an equally good chance of scoring.

Artemi Panarin – vs. NYR – $3,700

If you don’t know who Panarin is, you should have bought our Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit this September. Panarin played in the KHL last on a team with Ilya Kovalchuk. Panarin led the team in points and will now play in the Blackhawks’ top-6 on a line with Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane. He looked good in his preseason debut and I’ll take his $3,700 all day, because it will rise quickly.

Defensemen

P.K Subban – @ TOR – $5,700

Subban is the most expensive defensemen on the board tonight, but he is arguably the best offensive-defenseman available and has the best matchup. He has strong numbers vs. the Maple Leafs and could be in for a big night in the season opener.

Dougie Hamilton – vs. VAN – $4,600

Hamilton was traded to Calgary this summer and signed a big deal with the Flames. He had a great 2014-15 season and is poised for some great seasons in Calgary. He is especially enticing early in the season while T.J Brodie is sidelined and he is playing with Mark Giordano. Gio is a strong option in his own right, but Dougie is $800 cheaper.

Morgan Rielly – vs. MTL – $4,100

If I’m going to endorse any Maple Leafs in the season opener it is Rielly. He should be unleashed offensively under Mike Babcock and we should see some of that when the Leafs try to upset the Canadiens tonight. Rielly’s salary is manageable for the amount of talent he possesses.

Goalies

Henrik Lundqvist – $8,300 – @ CHI

Not too many people are going to play Lundqvist tonight because of the matchup, but as I pointed out earlier, this isn’t the same Blackhawks team and there are a lot of new pieces which means they might not be totally gelled in game 1. Lundqvist is a top-3 fantasy net minder and with saves coming into play in daily fantasy, he should outscore Carey Price, who has an ideal matchup.

Martin Jones – @ LA – $6,900

Jones had a tremendous preseason with his new team and will face his former team tonight. He is obviously familiar with the Kings and will be motivated to beat them after playing behind Jonathan Quick for the last two seasons. He is a cheap-ish option with a lot of upside.

My Lineup