This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Welcome to April! Before this month is out, the NHL playoffs will have begun. There are eight regular-season games Monday, the first starting at 7 p.m. ET. Here are my DFS recommendations. Let's start a new month on a strong note!
SLATE PREVIEW
There was only one game Sunday, so there is no team on the second leg of a back-to-back Monday. Two teams, the Panthers and Islanders, are on the first leg, but neither team has the kind of goaltending situation where who gets which start really matters a ton, other than if you want to start one of their goalies in your DFS lineup Monday.
GOALIES
Philipp Grubauer, SEA at SAN ($8,400): I don't need my arm twisted to go with a goalie facing the Sharks. San Jose has managed a paltry 2.22 goals and 25.5 shots on net per contest. However, Grubauer has also been much better recently. Over his last 13 outings he has a 2.51 GAA and .913 save percentage. Sure, that's not good, but his .897 save percentage on the season may lead you to not realize the German has been a viable goalie since returning from an injury.
Stuart Skinner, EDM at STL ($8,100): Yeah, Skinner gets offensive support, which is partially why he is on an 8-1-2 run. It hasn't all been the work of Connor McDavid, though! Skinner has a 2.29 GAA and .924 save percentage in that time. As to the Blues, they have averaged 2.82 goals and 28.6 shots on net per game.
Cam Talbot, LOS at WPG ($7,400): For a guy with a 2.02 GAA and .930 save percentage across his last 14 outings, Talbot's salary seems like a nice value. His team has only allowed 28.3 shots on net per game and has the second-ranked penalty kill as well. The Jets aren't bad, ranking 20th in goals per contest, but that isn't terribly imposing either.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Alex DeBrincat, DET at TAM ($5,500): DeBrincat couldn't sustain his white-hot beginning to his tenure with the Red Wings. Had he, they likely wouldn't be desperately vying for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. That being said, he has 24 goals on 205 shots on net with 35 assists in 74 games. He's been really good all in all, and he's been a 40-goal scorer twice in his career. Andrei Vasilevskiy has also been excellent in the past, but this year he has a .900 save percentage.
Jonathan Drouin, COL at CLM ($4,000): I'm not saying if you take you or me and let us skate a ton of minutes with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar we'd be productive NHL players, but for those with a certain level of hockey skill it definitely helps. Drouin has six multipoint games in his last 11 outings, five of those from playing with the extra man. The Blue Jackets have a 3.65 GAA, which is 31st in the NHL. Drouin may lock up his first 50-point season since 2018-19.
Jaden Schwartz, SEA at SAN ($3,500): As I noted above, the Blue Jackets rank 31st in GAA. They may rise all the way up to 30th, but the Sharks are safely ensconced in 32nd. San Jose has a woeful 3.96 GAA, and has also allowed 35.0 shots on net per game. Schwartz has had issues with injuries, but he has three points in his last six outings.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Flyers vs. Islanders
Morgan Frost (C - $4,300), Travis Konecny (W - $6,800), Owen Tippett (W - $6,600)
The Islanders have the league's worst penalty kill. All three of these guys see considerable power-play time for the Flyers. That sums up the reasons for my stack, though I will also note the Islanders have allowed 32.9 shots on net per game and have a 3.30 GAA.
Frost has nine points in his last 10 games. Only two of them have come on the power play, but he's averaged 3:37 per contest with the extra man in that time. Konecny has been the big-time goal scorer for the Flyers, potted 31 of them in only 69 games. He's also tallied 224 shots on net this season. Tippett has 11 points in his last 10 contests. When it comes to getting shots on target, Tippett has notched 267 shots on goal in 71 outings.
DEFENSEMEN
Brandon Montour, FLA at TOR ($5,400): Montour had 33 power-play points last season, but this year he has been more reliant on playing with the extra man to hit the stat sheet. The defenseman has averaged 3:43 per game on the power play with 17 of his 31 points (in 58 games) coming with the extra man. Toronto isn't terrible defensively all in all, but it has the 22nd penalty kill.
Devon Toews, COL at CLM ($4,800): It seemed like Toews was going to fall short of hitting 50 points for the third season in a row. He's on a four-game point streak, though, and now he's at 45 points on the year. Toews could do it, and the Blue Jackets could help. They have a 3.65 GAA, after all.
Justin Schultz, SEA at SAN ($3,600): Vince Dunn keeps almost returning, but then not returning. Seattle isn't going to the playoffs, so why rush him? For now, Schwartz is seeing the bulk of the power-play time with the extra man, and he has a power-play point in two of his last three games. The Sharks have the league's worst GAA, but also the 28th-ranked penalty kill.
