Hopefully, everyone had a great Halloween! After a very quiet evening in the NHL last night, there is a massive, 12-game slate scheduled for November 1st. With 24 teams in play, there are plenty of options at each position. Honing in on the right stacks and individual players will be tough. With that said, let’s take a deeper dive into the slate to see who some of the best DFS options are for tonight’s NHL DFS main-slate.
Center
Connor McDavid (EDM): $8,200 vs. CHI
Not a ton of analysis needed here. He is simply a top fantasy producing NHL player in the league each night he plays. In his first 11 games played, Connor McDavid has been held pointless in just one game. He has recorded 18 points to start the season, while also averaging nearly four shots on goal per game. Although he has the highest price tag, McDavid has the highest fantasy point floor and ceiling among any player. Take into consideration that the Blackhawks will be on the back end of their back-to-back, there will not be a single player who will have the legs to stay close to McDavid.
Mathew Barzal (NYI): $4,900 vs. PIT
We watched this matchup just two nights ago in Pittsburgh. The result was a high-event game with a lot of offense. Mathew Barzal was able to notch two assists in that game where the Islanders won handily, 6-3. While it would be optimistic to expect a similar result, DraftKings has failed to recognize the potential these players have on this team. The second line is priced below $5,000 and is a great salary-saving option on a night with plenty of stars to pay up for.
Wing
Jordan Eberle (NYI): $4,200 vs. PIT
Like Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle is priced too low and is hard to pass up. New York is playing great under Barry Trotz and while they will want to dictate the pace at home against the Penguins, the game flow will force both teams to run up and down the ice. Ebs is a talented winger who should have an easy matchup against Phil Kessel. The defensemen on Pittsburgh are slow, without Kris Letang and Justin Schultz, which will benefit the speedy Islander forwards.
Jonathan Marchessault (VGK): $7,200 @ STL
The Vegas Golden Knights are off to a rough start this season. However, all of the analytic statistics point in the direction of positive regression. They rank second in the NHL in CF% where they have dominated the possession game and are firing shots on goal. They’re HDCF% High Danger Chances For) and SCF % (Scoring Chances For) are among the very best of any team, yet the team has not been able to find the back of the net. It is only a matter of time before Vegas starts scoring and it could begin tonight against a weak St. Louis Blues.
Reilly Smith (VGK): $5,000 @ STL
Reilly Smith is the second piece to a mini-stack with the Golden Knights. Smith is reasonably priced for a winger who will see a lot of ice-time on even strength and the man advantage. As mentioned above, St. Louis is struggling. To start the season, the Blues have allowed 27 even strength goals and seven more when killing penalties. They are among the leagues worst teams when it comes to goal differential and advanced stats. If the Knights break-out tonight, Reilly Smith will be a major contributor.
Alex Chiasson (EDM): $3,600 vs. CHI
As a pure salary saving option, look to Alex Chiasson. The former Washington Capital is on a bit of a tear right now, since being moved up to the second forward line, playing alongside Leon Draisaitl. Chiasson is a career third-line type player who has made the most of his opportunity. Chiasson has scored four goals in his last five games and has seen a huge uptick in minutes. Ty Rattie will be coming back from injury soon and when he does, Chiasson will slide down the depth chart. Take advantage of the deep discount.
Defense
Nick Leddy (NYI): $3,600 vs. PIT
The best defensemen to target on the New York Islanders is Nick Leddy. Leddy leads all Islander defensemen in ice-time and has plenty of offensive upside as he will also quarterback the top power-play unit. This game should feature plenty of goals and at sub $4,000, Leddy is a steal.
Ryan McDonagh (TB): $4,500 vs. NSH
Tampa Bay, unfortunately, lost their top defenseman Victor Hedman to injury. The organization has turned to Ryan McDonagh to eat up minutes and be the leader on the back-end. On Tuesday night, McDonagh scored a goal and added two assists which led to 11 DraftKings points in a night where the Lightning dominated the New Jersey Devils. Tampa Bay will not score eight goals every night, but McDonagh will see a massive increase in usage and ice-time with Hedman out.
Goalie
Carter Hutton (BUF): $7,500 @ OTT
The Sabres netminder is having a solid start to the 2018-19 season where he owns a 2.94 GAA and .910 SV%. Buffalo will get their easiest matchup of the season this evening as they travel to Ottawa and take on the Senators. Hutton is a -130 road favorite in a game Buffalo should win. Ottawa will generate shots against, providing a high floor for the netminder. In addition to the win, Hutton is a top play at the position.
Jeremy Maw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jeremy, check out his archive or follow him @j_maw.
