This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The NHL All-Star Game was pretty fun (and the Skills Challenge was an unmitigated mess), but now it is time for the hockey to count again. We have six games on the slate Monday, and these are my recommendations for putting together your DFS lineups. Let's get back in the swing of things!
SLATE PREVIEW
Obviously, nobody is on a back-to-back Monday. While a few teams are on the first leg of a back-to-back, that doesn't matter a ton with the Islanders, since they have two good goalies, or the Ducks, since they are a disaster regardless. The only notable decision is whether or not the Lightning give all-star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy the day off Monday, which would mean Brian Elliott in net. That being said, since the Lightning are playing the Panthers on Monday and the Sharks on Tuesday, I imagine they will go with Vasilevskiy for this one, which means a tough matchup for the Panthers.
GOALIES
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. ANA ($8,500): It is harder to find value and save salary with goalies, so sometimes it just makes sense to go with the obvious choice and not worry about the salary outlay. Oettinger has a 2.26 GAA and .923 save percentage. The Ducks are last in goals per game. Oettinger should be able to waltz to a breezy win in this one.
Carter Hart, PHI vs. NYI ($7,400): Hart is as high variance as any goalie, as he seems to always either being standing on his head (like in his 40-save shutout in his last start) or really scuffling. In total, he has a 2.88 GAA and .911 save percentage, but the Islanders actually only rank 25th in goals per game. They may have added Bo Horvat, but he hasn't played with his new teammates yet, so Hart can catch New York before it has a chance to get into the swing of things.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Brandon Hagel, TAM at FLA ($6,100): Hagel has 19 goals and 22 assists in 48 games, and while he has an 18.1 shooting percentage, he had a 20.0 shooting percentage last season. Plus, even if he can't stay as efficient, 24-year-old is playing the most minutes of his career with the best teammates he's ever had. When you go from Chicago to Tampa and end up on the top power-play unit with some of the best offensive players in the NHL, naturally your numbers improve. The Panthers are in the bottom 10 in GAA and penalty-kill percentage, and it's possible third-string goalie Alex Lyon will have to be in net again.
Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN at ARI ($5,900): Over his last 12 goals, Eriksson has six goals, six assists, and 40 shots on net. Six of those points came with the extra man as well. In addition to having allowed 34.8 shots on net per game, the Coyotes have the 26th-ranked penalty kill.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Devils vs. Canucks
Nico Hischier (C - $6,300), Jesper Bratt (W - $6,600), Ondrej Palat (W - $4,000)
The Canucks have a 3.92 GAA, which is second highest in the NHL, and the worst penalty kill for good measure. While they did replace Bruce Boudreau with Rick Tocchet, they've also traded away Horvat, so the Canucks still feel very much in flux and rebuilding. That is to say, I don't think under Tocchet this team is suddenly not going to be terrible on the penalty kill or anything like that. I'm still inclined to tackle this matchup with a stack whenever viable.
On that front, Hischier has averaged 3:10 per game with the extra man, a personal high, and has 14 power-play points in 48 games. He already has 21 goals on the year, and his 152 shots on net has him on pace to blow past his previous high on that front. Bratt had at least one point in seven of his last eight games before the break. He has 17 power-play points on the year, and while none of them have come in his last nine games, he had five power-play points in the eight games prior to that. Sometimes points come in bunches. It took Palat a few games to get into the groove after returning from a long injury absence, but he has five points in his last seven outings. Only one of those was a goal, though, and his 5.0 shooting percentage since his return will assuredly improve.
Stars vs. Ducks
Wyatt Johnston (C - $3,400), Jamie Benn (W - $5,500), Ty Dellandrea (W - $2,600)
The Ducks take bad defense to the next level. They have a 4.06 GAA, highest in the NHL, and they've allowed a whopping 38.8 shots on net per contest. I'm going with the Stars' third line as my stack, as these three were playing well prior to the break, and there is an opportunity to save some salary here but still get a great matchup to target.
The rookie Johnston has 22 points through 51 games, but his role has gotten larger as the season has gone on. He's averaged 14:49 in ice time on the season, but 15:40 over his last 15 outings. The 19-year-old also has a point in four of his last five games. Benn is the veteran hand on this line, and he's having his best campaign in years. He has 19 goals and 25 assists this season, including 10 goals with the extra man. Anaheim ranks 30th on the penalty kill. Dellandrea, meanwhile, has five points in his last eight games.
DEFENSEMEN
Dougie Hamilton, NJD vs. VAN ($7,200): The worst penalty kill in the NHL meets a guy with 20 power-play points in 49 games. Hamilton is also going to put a ton of pressure on the Canucks goaltending, as the defenseman has tallied a robust 176 shots on net, which is a big number from the blue line.
Jared Spurgeon, MIN at ARI ($5,000): Spurgeon was playing well before the break, tallying five points over his last six games. In fact, he has 31 shots on net over his last 10 outings. The Coyotes have allowed 34.8 shots on goal per contest, so if Spurgeon is still feeling active, it should pay off.
