This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
We're here in early April, with the NHL playoffs on the horizon. Saturday is a busy day for the league, including eight games taking place in the evening. Pucks start to drop at 7 p.m. ET. Here are my lineup recommendations for DFS purposes.
SLATE PREVIEW
The only team on the second leg of a back-to-back is Carolina who is on the road, but against the careening Bruins. By "careening," I mean, "have lost 10 games in a row." Several teams, including Boston, are on the first leg of a back-to-back, but for goaltending recommendations I will adhere to the RotoWire goalie grid. There are no decisions intuitive to me that counter the assessment of said grid.
GOALIES
Frederik Andersen, CAR at BOS ($8,400): Were it Pyotr Kochetkov's turn in net, I might demure, but I fret not about Andersen tending goal Saturday. Even a slightly fatigued version of the defense that sits in the top-two in penalty-kill percentage and shots on net allowed per game can handle these Bruins. The checked-out club is down to 2.59 goals and 26.5 shots on net per contest. Kochetkov has relied on Carolina's defense, but Andersen has a .920 save percentage bolstering his 1.95 GAA.
Adin Hill, VGK at CGY ($8,000): Here is one of those goaltending situations involving a team on the first day of a back-to-back. Ilya Samsonov is day-to-day at the moment, so it makes all the sense in the world for Hill to start Saturday to give his teammate added time to recuperate. Hill has a .917 save percentage since the start of March, and while the Flames are pushing for a playoff spot, it's not due to offensive output. Calgary has average 2.59 goals per game, putting them comfortably in a battle to see which team finishes where in the bottom four.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Matthew Knies, TOR vs. CLM ($6,100): The Maple Leafs are one of those clubs with enough high-end talent for two lines, thus making stacking a line a salary-subsuming proposition. That's a good problem for a team to have, but it leaves me looking to one-offs to try and avoid a cap crunch on the margins. Skating with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Knies is now up to 26 goals and 25 assists in his sophomore season. Columbus's defensive play will end up being its downfall when it comes to the playoff race. The Jackets have scored 3.23 goals per game…but allowed 3.41.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, TAM at BUF ($4,600): It took Bjorkstrand a second to adjust after being dealt from the Kraken to the Lightning. However, he's notched five points in his last seven games. The Sabres, once more, have proven incapable at keeping pucks out of their net. They have a 3.54 GAA, bottom-four in the NHL.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Canadiens vs. Flyers
Nick Suzuki (C - $6,000), Cole Caufield (W - $6,300), Juraj Slafkovsky (W - $5,700)
The Flyers may be free from the tyranny of John Tortorella, but they are not free from the burden of below-average goaltending. All the "discipline" in the world from Torts hasn't stopped the Flyers from posting a 3.42 GAA at this point in the season. Samuel Ersson, the best option the club employs, has an .880 save percentage. Montreal, surprisingly, seems primed to grab the last playoff spot in the East. This trio has been key to that.
Once more, Suzuki has taken a step forward and increased his point total for the fifth season in a row. Now, with 81 points in 75 games, he's a true point-a-game player in the NHL. In fact, he has multiple points in each of his last three contests. In time, Caufield was going to have a 30-goal season. It was just a matter of staying on the ice and avoiding bad puck luck. Through 75 games this season he has 35 goals on 220 shots on net. You know what? Slafkovsky was a reasonable first-overall pick. He had 50 points in his age-19 season, and here in his age-20 season he has 48 points through 72 games. That includes 13 points in his last 12 outings.
Kraken at Sharks
Shane Wright (C - $6,100), Jared McCann (W - $6,000), Andre Burakovsky (W - $4,000)
All things considered, the vibes in San Jose are better than in Seattle. The Sharks hit the reset button hard and with acceptance and now field young talent and a franchise cornerstone in Macklin Celebrini. Meanwhile, the Kraken will also miss the playoff yet again and are, if not rudderless, than rudderless-adjacent. That being said…the Sharks are definitely worse right now and are absolutely inept defensively. With a 3.73 GAA, San Jose has sewn up having the highest GAA in the NHL, and have allowed 31.7 shots on net per game for good measure. This Kraken line can take advantage of that.
Speaking of franchise cornerstones, it doesn't seem Wright is that. He did just end a long pointless streak, though, and on the year he has 41 points in 73 games. Wright has also been getting time on the top power-play unit, which is conducive to point production. McCann remains the best player in Kraken history, though a 9.7 shooting percentage has limited him to 18 goals this season. He does have 10 points in his last eight games, though, and has put 24 shots on net in that time as well. It had been a tough season for Burakovsky, but it seems he's put all that behind him. Over his last eight games he has nine points of his own.
DEFENSEMEN
Vince Dunn, SEA at SAN ($4,800): Dunn has six assists in his last eight games. Only one of them has come with the extra man, but he has 10 power-play points in 56 contests this season. The Sharks, on top of all their other faults, rank 27th on the penalty kill.
Ryan McDonagh, TAM at BUF ($4,000): McDonagh is back with the Lightning to take some pressure off Victor Hedman, to eat up some ice time, and to chip in some points. He's done all that, having tallied 29 points on the season. However, nine of those points have come in his last 11 games. Given that the Sabres are in the bottom eight in GAA and shots on net allowed per game, McDonagh could stay hot as he seeks another ring with the Lightning.
