Across Philadelphia and New Jersey as a whole, a superb winter celebration has simmered down – or rather, that’s the case for Philly sports. The Eagles raised the Super Bowl, but both the Flyers and 76ers have long been off the pace to make it to the postseason. That leaves us with the New Jersey Devils.
Performing very well this season to hit around a .563 point percentage – good for a divisional playoff spot at the time of writing – the Devils managed to upgrade their lines with several solid trade deadline additions without giving up too much.
So, if backing the Garden State’s team is your leaning, this is a look at the players and other things to keep in mind when DFS competitions open up for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Things to Consider for NHL DFS Picks
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are particularly brutal, demanding that all of the players on the ice up their effort levels, lay down more checks, and battle their increasingly familiar foes over at least four games. It makes for some particularly intense and intriguing viewing and ups the ante in DFS circles.
Of course, playing NHL DFS will only be as enjoyable as it possibly could be if you’re on a DFS app that lets you tap into your NHL knowledge to win competitions. To do this, you could start by picking one of the best DFS apps, exploring its offering for NHL DFS games, and then seeing how the welcome bonus weighs up.
Having a varied scoring system is particularly desirable for NHL DFS in the playoffs. Some will only give points for goals, assists, powerplay points, short-handed points, and blocks. If you can find an app that also bundles in shots and hits, then that’s the one you should consider.
Unfortunately for the playoffs hopes of NJD, the team lost its star center, Jack Hughes, to a season-ending shoulder injury. He’ll be back and raring to go in training camp, but he’ll miss the postseason. In the first ten games without Hughes, and with many deadline additions coming in, the Devils went 4-5-1, scoring 28 but conceding 35 goals.
Devils Players Worth a Look in DFS
The lines have been reshuffled a couple of times since Hughes’ injury, but the new setup does look to be starting to click in time for the turn into the playoffs. The top line is now Erik Haula (nine goals and 17 points in 59 games), Nico Hischier (30 goals and 57 points in 66 games), and Timo Meier (22 goals and 47 points in 71 games).
Of the trio, Hischier has been the most consistent since Hughes’ injury, putting in at least a point in the seven games from March 11 to March 24. Meier had also started to get hot, particularly when it comes to goals. He put away five goals in seven games over that same spell, including a brace of goals against VAN with Thatcher Demko back.
Importantly for Meier in DFS, his scoring is buoyed by his hefty hit count, which was at 126 hits in 71 games. With 59 tallied so far, he’s also good for a block in most games. Of course, if you want to bank on blocks points, defenseman Dougie Hamilton’s a good pick with 81 blocks and 40 points in 63 games, while Brenden Dillon’s 98 blocks also comes with a mighty 174 hits through his first 72 games of the season.
Without Hughes, the Devils are going to want to step up in all regards to fill the gap, so look to the likes of Meier, Hischier, Hamilton, and Dillon when spending your DFS budget for playoff games.