With a great baseball season in the books and the height of football season a few weeks away, it's a great time to delve into some NHL DFS action. Monday features four games on the schedule, with the first game starting at 7:30 p.m. EST. Here are my lineup recommendations to start the work week off on what will hopefully be a high note.
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SLATE PREVIEW
No team is on the second day of a back-to-back Monday, but two teams are on the first leg. That will be relevant if Edmonton or Nashville decide to save Stuart Skinner or Juuse Saros for Tuesday.
GOALIES
Thatcher Demko, VAN at NAS ($7,600): Demko's last start was subpar, but he still has a 2.41 GAA and .917 save percentage on the season. If you thought that Nashville's offense would bounce back and last season was a fluke, that hasn't proven to be the case. The Predators have averaged 2.46 goals and 27.0 shots on net per game.
Spencer Knight, CHI at SEA ($7,200): The start for Chicago's road trip out west hasn't gone well for Knight thus far, but on the campaign he has a .913 save percentage in nine outings. A trip to Seattle should be easier than stops in Winnipeg or Edmonton, though. In addition to having averaged 2.73 goals per game, the Kraken have managed a paltry 23.9 shots on net per contest.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Evgeni Malkin, PIT at TOR ($5,200): For as long as Malkin is enjoying his traditional hot start to the season, I'm happy to roster him. He's tallied 18 points through 13 games and has only been held off the score sheet twice. Meanwhile, Toronto has proven unexpectedly iffy at goal prevention to start the campaign. The Leafs have allowed 28.8 shots on net per game (average so far this season) and have a 3.67 GAA.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM at STL ($5,200): Stacking an Oilers line tends to be a real investment, because you'll have to cover the salary of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. However, having Nugent-Hopkins, who plays next to McDavid on the first line and is on the top power-play unit, in your lineup is both enticing and less of a hit to your salary cap. RNH has 13 points through 13 games, and unsurprisingly eight have come on the power play. The Blues have a 4.17 GAA, and part of that is owed to the fact they have a bottom-eight penalty kill.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Chicago at Kraken
Connor Bedard (C - $7,500), Andre Burakovsky (W - $3,900), Ryan Greene (W - $2,900)
My reasoning here is fairly straightforward, and it's not about the fact that Joey Daccord has an .882 save percentage over his last seven outings (though that helps). The Kraken have a bottom-five penalty kill, and two of these guys play on Chicago's top power-play unit. Beyond that, this is the first line, and the roster is built around trying to get Bedard as many opportunities as it can.
Bedard has 15 points on the campaign, but what I really am encouraged by is his recent activity offensively. Over his last seven games he has four goals, but he's put 31 shots on net, making his 12.9 percent shooting entirely reasonable. Burakovsky has benefited from the move from Seattle to Chicago (and his ice time jumping from 14:25 per game last year to 17:00 per game this year now that he gets to skate with Bedard). While Burakovsky's 26.7 percent shooting can't be sustained, he's on a three-game point streak including two points with the extra man. The 22-year-old Greene is getting his first shot at the NHL, and after being eased into the lineup with fourth-line minutes he's averaged 17:21 per game in ice time the last three games. Perhaps not coincidentally, he has two assists in those games as well.
DEFENSEMEN
Morgan Rielly, TOR vs. PIT ($5,000): Rielly is always good for at least 40 points, and he has seven points through 11 games this season. That's even though he doesn't have a point with the extra man while averaging 3:04 per contest on the power play. Rielly has also notched 23 shots on target. The Penguins have given up 30.9 shots on goal per contest, so Rielly should have his opportunities. Tristan Jarry has managed an impressive .923 save percentage to start this season, but he had a .903 save percentage over the prior three seasons, so I don't think he will sustain that.
Artyom Levshunov, CHI at SEA ($2,600): Levshunov only gets second-unit time on the power play, but that will still mean some opportunity against Seattle's penalty kill. However, on top of that he is on a three-game point streak, and that's the big driving force toward me recommending the guy who, don't forget, was the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
