Welcome to Daily Faceoff’s NHL DFS Value Plays, where five days a week from Monday to Friday, I break down hockey’s main slate, looking for the top value plays.
This value sheet includes salaries, projections for DraftKings and FanDuel for the top forward and defensemen values, as well as honourable mention forwards and three punt options for blue liners. While the main value plays look at spots to get different and their upside, the others revolve around their ability to produce peripheral points by taking shots and blocking them. These players are always live for the bonus on DraftKings, where all the value plays are directed for.
These projections don’t tell you exactly what’s going to happen. One game sample has too much randomness to pin down exact predictions. Instead, the projections represent a player’s average performance on average if that matchup was played repeatedly. There is a wide range of possible outcomes, and the projections represent each player’s average of those possibilities.
Macklin Celebrini (C, SJS1, PP1) – vs. STL – (DK-$3,000 / FD $6,400)
DFO Projection: DK – 10.2 / FD – 13.1
Welcome to the NHL, Macklin. DraftKings has him priced down, and based on the usage he’s about to get, that price tag is simply too low. There are going to be a few players on today’s list that are chalky plays, but our honourable mention forwards and punt defencemen will be see much lower-owned options.
Celebrini headlines the list today in his NHL debut, with an excellent matchup score taking on the St. Louis Blues, and is going to help free you up some salary.
Quinton Byfield (C, LAK2, PP2) – @ BUF – ($3,900 / $6,000)
DFO Projection: DK – 8.2 / FD – 11.0
Byfield’s salary topped out in the mid-$5,000 range last year, breaking out offensively with 35 goals and 55 points in 80 games. He’s slated to take another step forward at 22 years old, lining up alongside Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele as a trio who should provide lots of offensive volume. Their matchup isn’t the greatest, but they’re going up against a Sabres team who got outscored 7-2 in their season-opening games against New Jersey.
Brandt Clarke (D, LAK-3, PP1) – @ BUF – ($2,500/ $4,800)
DFO Projection: DK – 8.8 / FD – 11.3
Clarke will be a chalky play on DraftKings, but at $2,500, this is good chalk. He’s entering the 2024-25 season looking to build off his first true NHL look, scoring two goals and six points in 16 games last year with the Kings, with three of those assists on the power play.
Want to guess who’s quarterbacking the Kings’ top power play until this year? Brandt Clarke. The opportunity is massive for the offensive defenceman, and his price is too low to ignore on this slate.
Jared Spurgeon (D, MIN-2, PP2) – vs. CBJ – ($2,500 / $4,800)
DFO Projection: DK – 8.0 / FD – 10.5
Spurgeon missed a ton of time last year, playing just 16 games, and is looking to bounce back this season. He’s not a young player at 34 years old anymore, but he has always brought good shot and block volume. In the games, he was healthy last year, and his salary sat in the $4,000 range, so his minimum price tag today is simply too low.
Honourable mention forwards
- Will Smith (C, SJS2, PP2) ($2,600/$6,100): DK – 8.0 / FD – 10.5
- Maxim Tysplakov (W, NYI2, PP1) ($2,600/$3,300): DK – 6.8 / FD – 8.6
- Rickard Rakell (W, PIT2, PP1) ($3,600 / $4,900): DK – 8.1 / FD – 10.3
Top Punt Defensemen
- Erik Gustafsson (DET-3, PP1) ($2,500/$3,700): DK – 6.3 / FD – 8.2
- Simon Nemec (NJD-3) ($2,600/ $4,100): DK – 6.2 / FD – 8.1
- Esa Lindell (DAL-3) ($2,700/$4,900): DK – 6.2 / FD – 7.9
Tune into the DFO DFS REPORT Live at 4:00 PM EST!
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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist and makes up one half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.