DraftKings NHL: Sunday Breakdown

There are four Sunday NHL games, although one is at 1 p.m. ET and one is at 6 p.m. ET. It's the weekend, so it's possible you could play a full slate if one was made available by DraftKings. However, in my experience DraftKings isn't keen to do that in a situation like this. As such, since this is the first Sunday of the NHL season with more than one game, I am going to just focus on the two games starting at 7 p.m. ET or later.

SLATE PREVIEW

So who is playing Sunday night? Well, the Red Wings are visiting their old rivals the Blackhawks, but the Wings are on the second leg of a back-to-back. Also on the second night of a back-to-back? The Islanders, who are headed to Vegas to play the Golden Knights.

GOALIE

Marc-Andre Fleury, CHI vs. DET ($7,600): Weird start to the season for Fleury, huh? After winning the Vezina last season he now has a 5.63 GAA and .840 save percentage. Yeah, that won't continue. He hasn't had a save percentage lower than .905 since his rookie year. This is a chance for Fleury to find his footing. The Wings are on the second leg of a back-to-back, and also ranked 30th in goals per game last year.

Robin Lehner, VGK vs. NYI ($7,000): Lehner and Fleury were teammates last season, and now they are both getting recommended by me Sunday. The Knights goalie is also off to a slow start, but I also expect him to rebound. He had a 2.29 GAA last season, after all. New York normally plays stout defense, but it is less impressive on the offensive side of things. The Islanders only put 29.0 shots on net per game last season and, again, are on a back-to-back.

VALUE PLAYS

Dominik Kubalik, CHI vs. DET ($5,400): Kubalik started the season with a goal in his first two games, but hasn't scored since. However, he scored 30 goals as a rookie and had 17 last season. The Red Wings had a 3.00 GAA and allowed 31.9 shots on goal last year, but they have a new goaltending tandem. However, they are also on the road for the second game of a back-to-back, and the half of the tandem expected to start Sunday – Alex Nedjelkovic, opened the year allowing seven goals to the Lightning.

Reilly Smith, VGK vs. NYI ($4,700): Smith doesn't have a goal yet this year, but he does have 12 shots on net in four games. The goals will come, and he did have 27 goals in the NHL's last full season. Plus, he has two assists this year as well. The Islanders have a strong goaltending duo when Semyon Varlamov is healthy, but he hasn't been healthy just yet. If he isn't ready to go this weekend, that could mean an appearance from Cory Schneider, and that tends not to bode well.

Lucas Raymond, DET at CHI ($4,400): Betting on a 19-year-old rookie? That can be tricky, but this is a rookie that was drafted fourth overall and has three points in five games. He also has 11 shots on net in his last three games and is already on the top power-play unit for the Wings. The Blackhawks' GAA from last year may not mean a ton with Fleury around now, but the Blackhawks did also allowed 33.7 shots on net per game last season, highest in the NHL.

LINE STACK TO CONSIDER

Blackhawks vs. Red Wings

Kirby Dach (C - $4,600), Patrick Kane (W - $7,500), Brandon Hagel (W - $3,000)

This is mostly about wanting Kane against a team that is on the road for the second day of a back-to-back. A team that has not exactly been defensively stout for several seasons and is still rebuilding. Kane is, of course, an elite offensive force. He has five points in five games, and also 24 shots on net in five games. Kane is one of the most-prolific shooters in the NHL, a guy who put 341 shots on goal in the NHL's last full 82-game campaign. Dach is no slouch either, though. Raymond may have been drafted fourth overall, but Dach went third in 2019. He had 10 points in 18 games last season and has three points in five games. Hagel is 23 and new to the top line for the Blackhawks. He has two points in five games, but playing with Dach and Kane will help.

It should be noted that Kane had to enter COVID-19 protocol on Saturday. There's a good chance he won't be able to play Sunday, so you might want to go with Alex DeBrincat ($6,400) instead. He's like a B+ version of Kane anyway.

DEFENSE

Seth Jones, CHI vs. DET ($6,500): The Blackhawks brought Jones on board to bolster the blue line. So far, so good. He's averaged 25:40 in ice time and tallied three assists in five games. That's all well and good, but he's also put 17 shots on net. Two of his points have come with the extra man, and the Red Wings had the 22nd-ranked penalty kill last year.

Nicolas Hague, VGK vs. NYI ($3,500): The Golden Knights have Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, but I'm intrigued by Hague. He's only 22 but playing on the top pairing for Vegas, at least with Alec Martinez out. Last year he had 17 points in 52 games, and this year he has two. Hague also has seven shots on goal and six blocked shots. If you want to save some salary on the blue line, Hague is a good way to go.