Are you down for some NHL action Monday? I know I am (mostly because I'm worried the Lions are going to lose, so I welcome the distraction). There are five games on the slate for DFS purposes. First pucks drop at 7 p.m. EDT. Here are my NHL DFS lineup recommendations for Monday.
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SLATE PREVIEW
There are no teams on the second leg of a back-to-back. One team however, the Kraken, is on the first leg of a back-to-back. That's worth noting just in case Philipp Grubauer gets the call Monday to save Joey Daccord for Tuesday. If that happens, suddenly Seattle looks like an enticing matchup for Philadelphia.
GOALIES
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG at CGY ($8,000): Arguably the best goalie in the world is facing arguably the worst offense in action Monday, and he doesn't even have the highest salary among goaltenders. That makes Hellebuyck an easy call. His first start this season was iffy but in three outings since then, the reigning Hart winner has a 1.67 GAA and .938 save percentage. Since the start of last season, the Flames are 30th in goals per game, and this year they have not raised their profile at all.
Joey Daccord, SEA at PHI ($7,600): This is, of course, presuming Daccord gets the call, but more often than not the No. 1 goalie gets the first leg of a back-to-back. Like Hellebuyck, Daccord has had one iffy start this season, but thanks to his other three outings he has a 2.39 GAA and .912 save percentage. The Flyers are in the bottom 10 in goals and shots on net per game since the start of last year, and many have them pegged as a bottom-five team in the league this season.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Artemi Panarin, NYR vs. MIN ($7,600): Bread Man delivered in the Rangers' last game, as he dropped four points on the Canadiens. That only got him up to six points on the season, but his 6.3 percent shooting is going to at least double when all is said and done. This is also a guy you can all but lock in for at least 25 power-play points this year, and since the start of last season the Wild are 30th in penalty-kill percentage.
Jaden Schwartz, SEA at PHI ($4,100): Schwartz has a point in four out of five contests this campaign. Last year, lost in the snooze that was Seattle's season, the veteran had 26 goals, his most in a decade. If the Flyers keep their goaltending rotation goes, it's Samuel Ersson's turn. He has a career .887 save percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Canadiens vs. Sabres
Nick Suzuki (C - $6,800), Cole Caufield (W - $7,000), Juraj Slafkovsky (W - $5,600)
Alex Lyon has made every start for the Sabres. He's faced at least 30 shots in all five of those starts. He's allowed at least three goals in three of those starts. Lyon has appeared in 118 games over nine seasons, and he has a career .903 save percentage. I think Montreal's high-level top line could really pop in this matchup.
Suzuki needs to pick it up on the goal-scoring front to get to 30 for the third season in a row, but his 8.3 percent shooting will improve. Also, he has seven assists in six games, so he's still delivered plenty of production. With Suzuki having so many assists, it's no surprise that Caufield has five goals. He's on a five-game point streak, and he has three multi-point games in that time. Slafkovsky is a bit behind his linemates, but he has two goals on the season. Additionally, all three of these guys play on the top power-play unit, and the Sabres have had a below-average penalty kill since the start of last season.
DEFENSEMEN
Josh Morrissey, WPG at CGY ($6,000): Morrissey needs to get it in gear, but he's been a 60-point player each of the last three seasons so I'm not worried. He's averaged 24:41 per game in ice time this season and is a plus-6, which is also encouraging. The 3:12 per contest he's averaged on the power play is also relevant. Calgary has had a bottom-10 penalty kill since the start of last season, and this year Dustin Wolf has an .854 save percentage.
Vince Dunn, SEA at PHI ($5,200): Injuries the last couple years have perhaps hidden Dunn's offensive upside. In each of the last two years he had 11 goals and at least 39 points, but he also didn't play more than 62 games in either campaign. Here's hoping he stays healthy this season, as he has five points through five games and has put multiple shots on net in every game. As I previously noted, Ersson has a career .887 save percentage for the Flyers.
