This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
There are only two NHL games Sunday, and the first one starts at 1 p.m. ET. That means to play DFS (not in single-game form), you will need to get your lineups in early. And hey, with Bills-Steelers getting moved to Monday, now you have something to watch Sunday afternoon! Here are my recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Literally every team in the NHL plays Saturday, which means that all four of these teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Maple Leafs are the only ones who got to be at home for both games, and the Rangers are the other team at home Sunday, but they are doing a home-and-home with the Capitals.
GOALIE
Igor Shesterkin, NYR vs. WAS ($8,000): An easy call, even if Shesterkin is having a down year. He has a career .921 save percentage and is only 28. Washington, meanwhile, ranks 30th in goals per game. There's no need to overthink this one.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Vincent Trocheck, NYR vs. WAS ($6,100): Trocheck may be a second-line center, but he skates next to Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, so he's not exactly fighting uphill here. Indeed, he has four multi-point games in his last seven outings. Darcy Kuemper is in line to start Sunday, and he has a 3.27 GAA and .891 save percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Red Wings at Maple Leafs
J.T. Compher (C - $4,500), Alex DeBrincat (W - $6,900), Patrick Kane (W - $6,800)
Ilya Samsonov is back from the AHL. Ilya Samsonov was waived and ended up in the AHL. That about sums it up. The Russian goalie has a 3.94 GAA and .862 save percentage. With the Wings, you can either have the star center (Dylan Larkin) with two solid wings, or the solid center with two star wings. I went with the latter.
Compher was a 50-point guy with the Avalanche last year, and he's worked well in a similar role for the Red Wings this season. He has 24 points in 37 games, including five in his last 10. DeBrincat has slowed down a bit after a torrid start with his new team, but he still has 39 points in 42 games, which is more than sufficient. The Michigan native has also put 129 shots on target. Kane had a goal and an assist Saturday, but what stands out to me is how many shots he's managed since getting healthy and joining the Red Wings. He's put 63 shots on net in only 18 contests.
DEFENSEMAN
Adam Fox, NYR vs. WAS ($5,100): I saw Fox at this salary, with five defensemen with higher salaries, and I had to pounce. It's not that he had two goals Saturday, though that's nice. Fox is perhaps the top power-play point man in the NHL, and he has 17 points with the extra man in 31 games. The Capitals have a middling penalty kill, but they are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back with Kuemper and his .891 save percentage in net.
