This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Saturday was an immensely busy day for the NHL. Sunday is a bit more laid back. Still, we have four games on the slate, with the first one starting at 6 p.m. ET. That's not too tricky a start time on a weekend day. Here are my NHL DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Only a few teams didn't play Saturday, and two of them are in action Sunday. Las Vegas hosts Anaheim and Winnipeg hosts Minnesota. That means the other two games feature two teams on the second leg of a back-to-back, but Edmonton and Dallas get the benefit of being at home for both games.
GOALIE
Ilya Samsonov, VGK vs. ANA ($8,500): After two starts from Adin Hill, Samsonov makes his debut for the Golden Knights on Sunday. He's on his third team, in part, because his performance has been inconsistent. There's a strong chance he gets a win, and has a good night, here. The Ducks were 30th in goals per game last season. While this is only their second game of the season, the fact they are on the road for the second day of a back-to-back is still to Samsonov's benefit.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Jared McCann, SEA at DAL ($6,500): McCann is the greatest goal scorer in Kraken history. This is, of course, a history that only goes back four seasons, but the former Penguin has tallied at least 27 goals in every campaign the Kraken has had to date. Additionally, he's had at least 16 points with the extra man in every season for good measure. While Seattle is the team on the road for this battle of two teams finishing off back-to-backs, they will face new Stars backup goalie Casey DeSmith. The 33-year-old posted a .901 save percentage over the prior two seasons.
Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG vs. MIN ($5,200): Ehlers has picked up an assist in each of the first two games of the season for the Jets. He also put three shots on net in his last outing, which is a good jumping-off point to remind you he recorded 233 shots on net last season. The fact the Wild are currently carrying three goalies makes things a bit trickier for assessing who will be in net. What I do know is they are on the road for the second game of a back-to-back while the Jets did not play Saturday.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Golden Knights vs. Ducks
Tomas Hertl (C - $5,300), Pavel Dorofeyev (W - $3,700), Alexander Holtz (W - $2,700)
Las Vegas' second line has gotten off to a slow start, but it's only two games. This could be the game where the trio gets on track. The Ducks travel to Las Vegas after playing on the road Saturday. John Gibson is injured, but the Ducks decided to get roughly his equivalent to replace him on the roster for now. You know, a below-average veteran goalie. The 36-year-old James Reimer is on his fifth team in seven seasons, perhaps because he has a 3.03 GAA and .903 save percentage in that time.
This is Hertl's first full season with Las Vegas. The issue with him is health, not talent. He has two 30-goal seasons to his name, and he is also on the top power-play unit for the Golden Knights. That's good because the Ducks had the 31st-ranked penalty kill last year. Dorofeyev finally got a chance to see some real-time on the ice last season, scoring 13 goals and adding 11 assists in 47 games. He's still only 23, so improvement is to be expected. Playing for the Devils last season, Holtz had 16 goals on 121 shots in a limited role. He was the seventh overall pick in 2020. Vegas is giving him more opportunity than New Jersey did by putting him on the second line.
DEFENSEMEN
Shea Theodore, VGK vs. ANA ($5,600): Theodore is off to a red-hot start to the season, as he already has five points. Last year he scored 42 points in only 47 contests. Two of his five points this year have come on the power play. As noted, the Ducks ranked 31st in penalty-kill percentage last season.
Thomas Harley, DAL vs. SEA ($4,200): Harley emerged last season as the secondary option on the blue line behind Miro Heiskanen. He tallied 15 goals and 32 assists. This year, he's picked up a helper and put seven shots on net. The Kraken started Joey Daccord on Saturday, which means Philipp Grubauer is in line to start Sunday. His game fell off as soon as he joined the Kraken. In his time with the team, he has a .893 save percentage.
