NHL DFS Picks Saturday: Best Goalies, Value Plays, Stacks and Defensemen
Saturday is wall-to-wall NHL action. I'm excited. However, that does leave us with "only" six games in the evening, starting at 7 p.m. ET or later. Hey, that still means plenty of choices for your NHL DFS lineups. To try and help you make those choices, here are some recommendations.
NHL DFS Slate Preview
The NHL didn't have a single game Friday. That left hockey lovers feeling a little lackluster, but it also means there are no teams on the second leg of a back-to-back Saturday. Everybody is on equal footing on that front.
Best NHL DFS Goalie Picks
Dan Vladar, PHI at WPG ($7,700): Vladar had a rough outing against Detroit in his last game, but he allowed a single goal in his three starts before that. Thanks in part to the Flyers allowing a mere 25.4 shots on net per game, Vladar has a 2.47 GAA. The Flyers are 24th in goals per game, so Vladar doesn't get a ton of goal support…but the Jets are 25th on that front.
Devin Cooley, CGY at SEA ($6,900): Cooley and Dustin Wolf have the lowest salaries among goalies aside from Seattle's Nikke Kokko, so I was happy to take advantage of that opportunity. The Flames are on the first leg of a back-to-back, and Wolf has been better at home this year, so I am predicting Cooley gets the call against the Kraken. He's been a nice surprise for the Flames, posting a .911 save percentage. The Kraken sit in the bottom eight in both goals and shots on net per game, so there's a lot of potential value in a netminder with a salary this low.
Value Plays for Saturday
Will Smith, SAN vs. VAN ($6,400): Yes, playing with Macklin Celebrini helps, but Smith is no slouch. He doesn't have 23 goals and 33 assists in 65 games in his age-20 season solely because he sees almost all his ice time alongside Celebrini. Smith's skills certainly suffice to get on the score sheet against the Canucks. Vancouver has a 3.83 GAA, and no other team has a GAA higher than 3.58.
Brock Boeser, VAN at SAN ($5,300): That means with a 3.58 GAA? That would be the Sharks. Vancouver's overall offense may not be good enough for this to be a shootout, but Boeser has done his best to keep his team viable offensively. He has 16 points in his last 14 games, and he's put 33 shots on net in that time as well.
Panthers Forward Line Stack Strategy Against the Maple Leafs
Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs - 7:00 p.m. ET
Eetu Luostarinen, FLA at TOR (C - $4,300), A.J. Greer (W - $4,200), Jesper Boqvist (W - $3,500)
The Maple Leafs have a top-five penalty kill, which speaks to how poorly they have done everything else defensively. Toronto has a 3.54 GAA, third-highest in the NHL. It has also given up 32.5 shots on net per contest. No other team has allowed more than 30.2. With the playoffs off the table after a remarkable three-season run, a lot of Panthers are on the sidelines, allowing this trio to step up and get more ice time.
Luostarinen has a point in each of his last two games. He's also put at least two shots on net in six of his last seven outings. Greer is 29, and he's emerged to have a career season. He has 15 goals and 14 assists through 75 contests. For much of the season, he was getting fourth-line minutes, but Greer has moved up the lineup, and he has seven points in his last nine games. Speaking of moving up the lineup, Boqvist has done that as well. He also has a point in each of his last two contests, and he's notched multiple shots on net in four of his last five contests.
Best NHL DFS Defensemen Picks for Power Play Value
Filip Hronek, VAN at SAN ($5,400): Like Boeser, Hronek is doing the best he can to push the Vancouver offense forward. Also, like Boeser, he has a woeful plus/minus rating, but I digress. Over his last 10 games, the defenseman has eight points and 22 shots on net. Now, seven of those points have come with the extra man, but the Sharks have the 26th-ranked penalty kill.
Zayne Parekh, CGY at SEA ($4,000): Five of Parekh's seven points have come in his last 10 games. Also, six of those seven points have come with the extra man. With the Flames looking toward the future, the promising young defenseman has been thrust into a larger role to prepare him for next year. Two teams in the NHL are comfortably behind the rest of the league in penalty-kill percentage. One is, unsurprisingly, the Canucks. The team in last, though, is the Kraken.
