NHL DFS Plays: August 2nd (Day 2)

Line Stacks

Colorado 1

@Andre Burakovsky ($4,200) – @Nathan MacKinnon ($8,500) – Mikko Rantanen ($5,600)

The Blues are certainly not the best matchup, ranking seventh in Scoring Chances Against/60 this season but that hasn’t mattered much to MacKinnon. In the regular season, he picked up eight points (3G / 5A) in four games against the Blues and should lead the way on Sunday. It’s a slate without a lot of clear options so a top-line led by MacKinnon is a good place to start. It helps that Rantanen (who had four points in four games vs. St. Louis) is priced down and Burakovsky enjoyed the best year of his career in 2020.

Toronto 2

@Ilya Mikheyev ($3,500) – @John Tavares ($7,100) – @Mitch Marner ($7,000)

The Maple Leafs’ top-line is ridiculously expensive so a pivot to the second-line is the more sensible play. This might be the only time in the playoffs that we will see Mikheyev under $4,000, so take advantage of him coming off of an injury. Columbus can be stingy defensively but the Tavares-Marner duo are more than talented enough to create some chances.

Nashville 1

@Filip Forsberg ($5,400) – @Ryan Johansen ($4,300) – @Viktor Arvidsson ($4,400)

This is an incredible price for the best line in this hockey game. It will probably be hard to full-stack the Predators’ top line for near $14,000 ever again, so take advantage of the soft pricing. The Coyotes were 23rd in SCA/60 this year so there should be plenty of opportunities for NSH1. It was a relatively disappointing regular season for all three of thee players but Arvidsson is coming off of a two-goal performance in their one and only tune-up game, so he should be feeling good about his game coming in.

Minneota 1

@Jordan Greenway ($2,900) – @Eric Staal ($4,500) – @Kevin Fiala ($6,800)

The Wild are far from an offensive powerhouse but they’re a good 5v5 team and their top-line should generate plenty of chances against a Canucks squad that ranked next to last in SCA/60 in the regular season. After January 1st, Fiala was among the best goal-scorers in the entire league so hopefully, he picks up right where he left off.

Defensemen

@Cale Makar – COL ($5,200)

Makar actually comes in at a pretty good price, sitting as the ninth-most expensive blueliner. He was named a Calder Trophy finalist after scoring 50 points (12G / 38A) in 58 games and ranked as the seventh-highest DraftKings scoring defenseman on this slate during the regular season. He quarterbacks an Avalanche power-play that will see an average Blues’ penalty-kill tonight and correlates very well with COL1.

Samuel Girard – COL ($3,700)

If you are stacking two high-priced lines together like COL1 and TOR1 you’re going to need to find some savings on the blueline. You won’t be able to squeeze Makar in, so Girard is a solid value option. Girard averaged over 21 minutes per game in the regular season and quietly ranked in the top-35 in points (4G / 30A / 34pts) among defensemen in the regular season. He doesn’t correlate on the PP with COL1 but should see plenty of time with them at 5v5.

@Dante Fabbro – NSH ($2,800)

If you need to go even lower than Girard, you’ll find Fabbro at a very good price. He is an afterthought with @Roman Josi, @Ryan Ellis and @Mattias Ekholm all on the same blueline as him but he had a solid rookie campaign. The 22-year-old only had 11 points (5G / 6A) in 64 games but averaged 19:02 TOI and a strong 1.5 shots and 1.3 blocked shots per game. He might not get on the scoresheet but he should chip in a couple of DK Points and allows you to get creative with the rest of your lineup.

Goalies

@Frederik Andersen – TOR ($8,400)

The Maple Leafs are the biggest favourite on this slate and it’s reflected in Andersen’s price. He’s the most expensive goalie on the slate but is coming off of a strong exhibition game and faces a Blue Jackets team that scored the fourth-fewest goals this season. Toronto isn’t spectacular defensively so Andersen should see plenty of action and boost the save numbers while likely getting the win.

NSH; @Juuse Saros ($8,100) / @Pekka Rinne ($8,100)

The Predators likely won’t announce a goalie until warmups so you may have to make a swap but both Saros and Rinne are priced at $8,100. Nashville can’t really go wrong. Both are terrific goaltenders and have a terrific matchup vs. the Coyotes. They were 23rd in goals and scoring chance for this season so it could be a relatively easy afternoon for the Predators backstop, whoever it may be.

MIN: Alex Stalock ($7,400) / Devan Dubnyk ($7,400)

It’s unclear which goalie the Wild are going to go with but they’re both the same price so it doesn’t really matter. It’s obviously not an ideal matchup with the Canucks ranking eighth in scoring this season but no team is more air-tight defensively than the Wild. Stalock or Dubnyk may not be great goalies but they have the best chance of pulling out a victory of any of the goalies priced under $7,500.