NHL DraftKings DFS: October 23, 2026

Friday’s two-game NHL DraftKings slate starts at 8 p.m. ET. Montreal visits Chicago, followed by Tampa Bay at Colorado at 9 p.m. ET. Our first decision is Nathan MacKinnon versus a Tampa Bay scoring stack. Oliver Kapanen’s $2,500 salary is the key that makes either direction affordable.

Last updated: October 23, 2026, 4:40 p.m. ET. All four starting goalies are reported confirmed. Skater combinations below are projected lines or dated practice units, not guaranteed warmup assignments.

Best plays at a glance

• First spend-up: Nathan MacKinnon, $9,200, C/UTIL.
• Alternative ceiling: Nikita Kucherov, $8,700, W/UTIL; Brandon Hagel, $7,700, W/UTIL.
• Priority value: Oliver Kapanen, $2,500, W/UTIL. He is wing-eligible here, not center-eligible.
• Midrange targets: Artturi Lehkonen $4,900, W/UTIL; Anthony Cirelli $4,600, C/UTIL; Noah Dobson $4,500, D/UTIL.
• Cheap attachments: Teuvo Teravainen $3,000, W/UTIL; T.J. Hughes $3,200, W/UTIL; Frank Nazar $3,000, C/UTIL.
• Premium defense: Cale Makar $7,200, D/UTIL. Lane Hutson $5,800, D/UTIL is the less expensive Montreal alternative.
• Goalies: Jacob Fowler $7,800 for Montreal builds; MacKenzie Blackwood $8,000 for Colorado builds; Andrei Vasilevskiy $7,400 for Tampa Bay builds. Spencer Knight $7,600 is the Chicago-win tournament pivot.

The news that changes the slate

Suzuki and Byram are out; Matheson returns. Cirelli will play; Roy remains out. D’Astous is a projected scratch.

The important Montreal change is not simply “more usage for everyone.” Thursday’s practice put Kapanen between Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, with Kapanen and Dobson joining Caufield, Slafkovsky and Hutson on the first power play. That is a dated practice assignment, but it gives us a specific, affordable way to target the vacancy. Do not put Suzuki into a lineup or pay for a generic replacement without checking the actual role.

MacKinnon or Tampa Bay: choose your ceiling

Nathan MacKinnon: $9,200, C/UTIL

MacKinnon has 44 shots in 10 games and 15 in his last three, per Frozen Tools. That shot activity is why he is our first standalone spend-up. We want a premium player who can keep accumulating opportunities when a teammate does not finish a pass, not just a famous name with a high salary.

Colorado’s projected top line is Lehkonen–MacKinnon–Martin Necas. The MacKinnon–Lehkonen pair costs $14,100; adding Necas at $6,700 makes it $20,800. We prefer the pair in balanced builds and the full trio when deliberately betting on even-strength scoring. Do not describe the trio as one first-power-play unit: the October 22 chart separates Lehkonen and Necas onto PP2.

Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel: $8,700 and $7,700, W/UTIL

Kucherov and Hagel recorded 17 and 14 shots over their last three games, respectively. Tampa Bay’s projected top line pairs them with Cirelli. The three cost $21,000. Cirelli is the affordable connection, not a third player we expect to match the wingers’ shooting output.

That is our preferred alternative to forcing MacKinnon into every tournament lineup. It buys a coherent scoring outcome instead of spreading salary across unrelated stars. If you choose the Lightning trio, do not also use Blackwood in that same lineup. The cheaper Point–Guentzel pair costs $11,800 and offers another Tampa Bay route, but it is a different even-strength combination, not a substitute for a complete first-line stack.

The values that make the construction work

Oliver Kapanen: $2,500, W/UTIL

Kapanen is our first salary-saving choice while the promoted role holds. Pairing him with Caufield at $7,500 costs $10,000; adding Dobson costs $14,500. That gives a lineup room for a premium Colorado or Tampa Bay anchor without filling multiple positions with fourth-line punts. The risk is clear: a promotion is an opportunity, not proof he replaces Suzuki’s production. If warmups move him away from the top line and first power play, reduce exposure rather than treating minimum salary as automatic value.

Teuvo Teravainen: $3,000, W/UTIL

Chicago’s October 23 chart places Teravainen with Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi, and on the first power play with Bedard, Kane, Kantserov and Bertuzzi. He is our favorite cheap Chicago attachment. His last three games produced three points with 17:14 average ice time, but only five shots. Buy the price and correlation, not an imaginary high-volume floor.

T.J. Hughes: $3,200, W/UTIL

Colorado’s October 22 projected PP1 includes Hughes, Kadri, Schwartz, Makar and MacKinnon. Hughes is therefore a different kind of cheap attachment than Lehkonen: power-play correlation rather than projected top-line correlation. A MacKinnon–Makar–Hughes trio costs $19,600. Keep it conditional on that unit surviving warmups; his even-strength role is on a separate line.

Frank Nazar: $3,000, C/UTIL

Nazar is the practical center relief when you cannot use Kapanen in that slot. Chicago projects him on the third line and second power play. We would rather acknowledge that limited role than sell him as a top-line replacement. Use him to protect a high-conviction stack elsewhere, not as the centerpiece of a supposedly safe lineup.

Defense: Dobson first for value, Makar for ceiling

Dobson $4,500: The new first-unit practice opportunity is the attraction. He is $1,300 cheaper than Hutson, which is meaningful when fitting a premium forward. The pregame profile shows 21 shots and 11 blocks in nine games. The special-teams promotion offers upside beyond that existing production, but it has not yet established a new nightly workload.

Makar $7,200: Nine shots, six blocks and four assists in his last three games support paying for multiple scoring routes. He is our preferred premium defenseman with MacKinnon. Using both is expensive, so accept that the remaining slots must include real value rather than trying to add every other star.

Hutson $5,800: Best used when prioritizing Montreal or when the $1,400 savings from Makar improves another meaningful slot. Doubling Hutson and Dobson is an aggressive Montreal power-play bet, not automatic diversification.

Victor Hedman $3,100: A salary-saving tournament option, not a promise of his old first-unit role. He averaged only one second of power-play time over his last three games. Do not assume D’Astous sitting automatically hands Hedman PP1. John Carlson at $5,700 likewise needs an actual role update before we pay a promotion premium.

Stacks and pivots

• Colorado even strength: MacKinnon–Lehkonen, with Necas as the third piece. Start here if you want MacKinnon’s shooting and direct linemate correlation.
• Montreal value: Caufield–Kapanen–Dobson. Slafkovsky at $6,100 or Hutson can replace a piece when committing more salary, rather than forcing five Montreal skaters.
• Tampa Bay ceiling: Cirelli–Kucherov–Hagel. Use Vasilevskiy if the rest of the lineup also supports a Lightning-win script.
• Chicago alternative: Bedard $6,500 with Kantserov $4,400 costs $10,900; adding Kane $5,000 completes the projected first line at $15,900. Teravainen is the cheaper power-play attachment, not their even-strength linemate.

A two-game slate rewards choosing which scoring story you want to win. A pivot should change that story or improve correlation. It does not need a made-up ownership percentage to be useful. Avoid forcing the full salary cap if the final upgrade breaks the stack you intended to play.

Goalies: match the skaters to the result

Daily Faceoff lists Fowler, Knight, Vasilevskiy and Blackwood as confirmed starters, citing same-day reports. Our order depends on the lineup, not a claim that one goalie is risk-free.

• Fowler $7,800: Our first choice in Montreal-focused builds. Avoid pairing him with a full Chicago scoring stack. The goalie choice should reinforce the result you need, not cancel it.
• Blackwood $8,000: Fits the MacKinnon-led build below. He costs the most, so use him because you favor that Colorado outcome, not because the highest goalie salary guarantees the best score.
• Vasilevskiy $7,400: Cheapest confirmed starter and the natural fit with the Lightning trio. The discount helps, but facing Colorado is the risk you are accepting.
• Knight $7,600: Chicago-win tournament route. He has allowed at least three goals in six of seven starts, so he is not our default merely because Suzuki is unavailable.

Two complete lineup examples

These are constructions, not projections or guaranteed winners. Each uses nine unique players, stays below $50,000 and includes skaters from three teams across both games. No example includes skaters opposing its goalie.

Colorado ceiling build: $49,800

Slot	Player	Salary
C	Nathan MacKinnon	$9,200
C	Frank Nazar	$3,000
W	Artturi Lehkonen	$4,900
W	Cole Caufield	$7,500
W	Oliver Kapanen	$2,500
D	Cale Makar	$7,200
D	Noah Dobson	$4,500
G	MacKenzie Blackwood	$8,000
UTIL	Teuvo Teravainen	$3,000

This spends on MacKinnon and Makar, adds Lehkonen for even-strength correlation, and pairs Caufield with Kapanen and Dobson. Nazar fills the second center slot; Teravainen supplies inexpensive Chicago exposure. Blackwood fits the Colorado-win script, with no Tampa Bay skater fighting that outcome. The remaining $200 is intentional, not a reason to force a weaker fit.

Tampa Bay tournament build: $49,400

Slot	Player	Salary
C	Anthony Cirelli	$4,600
C	Connor Bedard	$6,500
W	Nikita Kucherov	$8,700
W	Brandon Hagel	$7,700
W	Roman Kantserov	$4,400
D	Victor Hedman	$3,100
D	Noah Dobson	$4,500
G	Andrei Vasilevskiy	$7,400
UTIL	Oliver Kapanen	$2,500

This commits to Tampa Bay’s projected first line, then adds Bedard–Kantserov and Kapanen–Dobson mini-stacks. Vasilevskiy fits a Lightning win; there are no Colorado skaters opposing him. It leaves $600 unused. If you prefer Kane’s playmaking to Kantserov, that exact $600 upgrade takes the build to $50,000.

Before lock

Confirm Kapanen’s promoted role, Chicago’s five-forward power play and Colorado’s Hughes assignment. Recheck goalie status in case of a late change. Do not add D’Astous from an older PP chart without evidence he is dressing. Montreal–Chicago locks first at 8 p.m. ET; Tampa Bay–Colorado follows at 9 p.m. ET. Where your contest permits late swap, keep a later-game skater in UTIL when it preserves flexibility.

Our preferred starting point remains MacKinnon with Kapanen and Dobson for salary relief. For a distinctly different tournament entry, build around Cirelli–Kucherov–Hagel rather than making a cosmetic one-player change.