DFS Saturday: New York, New York
Stephen Dotzel
2023-04-08
We have arrived at the last DFS Saturday of the regular season and what a Saturday it is! With no games on the schedule Friday, all 32 teams will be on the ice on Saturday. The majority (22) will be in action for the main slate that starts at 7 pm EST. We will try and relish this moment because while there will be DFS slates on Saturdays throughout the playoffs, they will not have anywhere near these number of games. With that said, there is a lot to go through on this slate, so let's get to it. All player prices are from DraftKings, but the information and concepts can be applied to any site.
Top-Tier Stack to Pay Up For
There are several options here such as Tampa Bay, Florida, Boston, and Colorado but on this night, I'm going to target Toronto. Of those previous teams listed, only Boston is at home, and they are on cruise control and facing a fellow playoff-caliber opponent with New Jersey. Meanwhile, Toronto hosts a Montreal team who's been struggling for most of the season. The Leafs aren't exactly clicking right now, having alternated wins and losses for ten straight games, but if you want to pull a positive takeaway from that they have won five straight games following a loss, which is what they're coming off of here. I'm starting my stacks with Auston Matthews ($9,200) who while hasn't shown the same scoring touch as last year, does have six goals in the last eight games and has scored double digit DraftKings points all but once in that span. I'm not convinced the lines currently shown for the Leafs are going to stick so I'm willing to take a gamble we see William Nylander ($7,500) back with Matthews in this one to try and get him going again. I'll round out the stack with Mitch Marner ($6,800) who's a good bet to kick in some assists anytime there are goals going in for the Leafs.
Mid-Tier Stack to Target
We've picked on the Blue Jackets most of the season in this column and there's no reason not to continue that here. They have lost six of their last seven games and have allowed six goals, seven goals, and eight goals (twice) during that stretch. Yikes! The Rangers should be able to capitalize here even if Patrick Kane were to miss again. The second line of Artemi Panarin ($5,900), Vincent Trocheck ($5,600), and Vladimir Tarasenko ($5,000) have put up 12 points over just the last three games and that's where I'll look to stack in this one given their very reasonable price tags.
Cheap Stack to Build Around
With so many top teams in action you really have to dig to find some cheap stacks tonight. I want some exposure against a Flyers team that's lost five straight and who's allowed four or more goals in all of them. As well, targeting a team like the Islanders who are fighting for their playoff lives and are in must-win situations for every game here on out, is also a sound strategy. Taking all of those factors into consideration I find myself landing on the stack of Brock Nelson ($5,700), Kyle Palmieri ($4,200), and Pierre Engvall ($2,900). This trio are fully correlated with each other skating together at both even strength and the power play. Over the last five games, Palmieri leads the team with three goals while Engvall is second with two. Nelson has kicked in five points of his own during that stretch, which is also a team high. It's not a sexy stack, but we're getting the hottest line for a team desperate for a win who's facing off against one of the worst teams in the league. I will take my chances with that every time.
Goalies
Between the pipes I'm typically looking to stack my goalie with one of my stacks from that lineup. I'm keeping an eye on Toronto and if Joseph Woll happens to get the start, he would be my top play given he's minimum priced at just $6,500. However, if it's Ilya Samsonov at $8,300 I instead may take the price discount and pivot to Thatcher Demko ($7,200). Demko just pitched a 33-save shutout on Thursday and draws a home start on Saturday against a Calgary team who is ranked dead last in fantasy points given up to goalies on DraftKings this season.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @SteveDotzel so you can follow my "DFS-NHL" list which is comprised of dozens of team accounts and beat writers providing important updates throughout the day. Also, give a look to our tools at DFS Central to see who our formulas are liking for this slate. Best of luck with your lineups!