DFS Thursday: Islanders and Senators in Prime Matchups; Hofer’s Hot Start, and More

Andrew Santillo

2026-10-08

Good day, all! Before we dive on in, we must get the elephant out of the room – the Colorado Avalanche are in an exceptionally good spot tonight on the road against the Calgary Flames. I won't sway anyone away from playing them but will say that if you are, I'd look to get way over the field. I'm not sure that a Nathan MacKinnon one-off is going to make or break it tonight.

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New York Islanders

For those who have been reading my daily fantasy write-ups for a while now knew this was coming. It seems like more times than not when there's a 10- to 12-game slate with some heavy hitters on the board, there's chalk Islanders on the horizon like the Death Star in Rogue One. However, let's just talk this one out for a minute.  

So, we have the Chicago Blackhawks on the road – green flag. The Hawks are allowing 4 goals against per game thus far in the early going – green flag. The Hawks are also allowing 31 shots on goal per game, which is most in the NHL – again, flag is green. If I'm playing New York, then I'll just go for the top line and take Bo Horvat ($6,700), Kyle Palmieri ($5,100) and although Emil Heineman is not on the top power play with them, he's someone that I like as a player and is only priced at $3K.

I'll get to defensemen later but I'd add Matthew Schaefer to this stack as well, as he may see more minutes in a good matchup with Alexander Romanov now injured. I'm not sure in single-entry if I want to center my lineup around the Islanders just yet, but with how much Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill (ehhh) changed up the lines yesterday at morning skate, this may be a very good time to roster New York.   

Ottawa Senators

This is more so catching the Philadelphia Flyers at a good time coming into Ottawa where the Senators have played well on home ice.

If this is a "get right" spot for the Flyers, I'd be a little surprised, but can see this game being chippy on both ends. With the Senators, you can go in a couple different ways to get unique if you're looking to roster them tonight. I don't mind the top two lines, and I also think that the Shane Pinto line might make for a good filler stack with Pinto at 22 shots on goal for the year and Claude Giroux at 26.

This is a club tonight to where if they appear on your optimizers for multi-entry, I wouldn't fade them as they really could be in a terrific matchup on home ice.   

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights will play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs for your late-night programing, and I have some interest in Vegas.

I know it's early, but thus far the Leafs have the second-most high danger chances against on the penalty kill. On the flipside, the Knights have the second-best high danger chances for on the power play. Even with Toronto right in the middle of the pack in penalties taken, a Vegas power play stack could be a fun build as you would get exposure to the top three lines with Vegas currently rolling out a five-forward power play.

My only concern, is that I'd want to be absolutely certain that a five-forward power play is what the Knights are going to throw over the boards on the man advantage and with this being the last game of the night, swapping out to an alternate stack won't be an option. For me if I'm multi-entry then I'm getting some Vegas shares in the mix, whereas in single-entry I'd lean maybe the top line plus a cheaper Vegas defenseman.

Defense

Much like on Tuesday, my ceiling is Rasmus Dahlin at $6,800 coming off a 17.7-point performance against the Wild. I also like Matthew Schaefer that we mentioned sitting at $6,500 which is $200 less than his price on Tuesday in a much more favorable matchup.

In the middle-tier pricing I'm looking at MacKenzie Weegar at $5,300. Weegar has blocked four shots a game in each of his last three contests, and with Mikhail Sergachev's availability in question, Weegar may see a minute's bump and time on the Utah top power play. I also don't mind Filip Hronek at $4,900 or Thomas Harley at $4,400.

For my cheaper play I have circled Brayden McNabb at $3,300. McNabb already has four points on the season, and last season was always live for the block bonus on any slate. He's also currently on the top pair for the Golden Knights, which may get overlooked.

Goalies

It may be chasing the win, but Ilya Sorokin at $8,100 must be mentioned. I'm still not sure why the goaltender that finished second in Vezina voting had the night off early in the season for an episode of the Semyon Varlamov show, but Sorokin has already been named the confirmed starter for tonight in a very favorable matchup.

Joel Hofer has some good underlying numbers and is on home ice tonight against San Jose, and I could see him making for a fine start tonight. I think his price tag might be a little high at $7,900 but if you have salary left from your build and can't spend up to the $8K's on goaltending, then he makes for a solid play in net tonight.   

For a cheaper goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt is priced at $7,400 and in a matchup against the Lightning to where he should see a good amount of volume. Even with the Wild not favored in that matchup, Wallstedt is good enough to potentially steal a win on the road for Minnesota.


That's it for now — best of luck tonight!

For continued fantasy news and notes, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz.

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