NHL DraftKings DFS Picks: Best Plays and Stacks for October 26, 2026

Connor McDavid is our first spend-up for Monday’s three-game DraftKings NHL slate. Toronto supplies the midrange scoring stack, and Alex Laferriere is the affordable center who makes a Kings build work. The slate starts with Los Angeles at the Rangers at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Toronto at Calgary at 8:30 and Detroit at Edmonton at 9:30.

Late-game update, October 26 at 8:09 p.m. ET: Bobrovsky and Cooley led their teams onto the ice for warmups; Bobrovsky is Toronto’s reported starter. Backlund also took warmups and appears set to return, but that is not final lineup clearance. No verified change to Farabee, Coronato or Parekh’s projected roles. The Kings game has already locked: Kuemper’s starter confirmation and Byfield’s warmup participation were verified in our later check, not our prelock review. The original pregame recommendations below are preserved; power-play assignments remain projections unless noted.

The short list

Player	Salary	DK eligibility	Why we like him
Connor McDavid	$9,700	C/UTIL	First premium forward
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	$4,700	C/UTIL	Cheaper Edmonton power-play partner
William Nylander	$6,400	W/UTIL	Toronto scoring-stack anchor
Kirill Marchenko	$5,900	W/UTIL	Projected even-strength and PP1 link to Nylander
Alex Laferriere	$4,400	C/UTIL	Affordable access to Panarin and Kempe
Gavin McKenna	$3,900	W/UTIL	Toronto power-play value with a limited even-strength role
Easton Cowan	$3,500	W/UTIL	Cheaper projected Matthews linemate

Edmonton: start with McDavid, then choose the size of the stack

McDavid plus Nugent-Hopkins costs $14,400. That is our preferred compact Edmonton build. It leaves $35,600 for the other seven roster spots and avoids spending almost two-fifths of the cap on just two premium forwards.

The October 26 Edmonton chart has McDavid with Leon Draisaitl at even strength, while Nugent-Hopkins plays on the second line. All three share PP1. McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins are a power-play mini-stack, not an even-strength pair.

Draisaitl is $9,200 and W/UTIL on this slate. McDavid-Draisaitl costs $18,900. We like that aggressive tournament route when we are committing to Edmonton carrying the scoring, but it is a choice with consequences: the remaining seven spots average about $4,443 with a goalie still to buy. Do not squeeze in Evan Bouchard at $8,200 by default and leave the rest of the roster dependent on several thin punts.

Zach Hyman at $6,200 is another first-unit power-play attachment. Our preference is Nugent-Hopkins for savings or Draisaitl for the full premium commitment, rather than adding every available Oilers name to the same build.

Toronto: our favorite midrange pairing

Nylander plus Marchenko costs $12,300. The October 26 Toronto chart places them together at even strength and on PP1. That is the combination we prefer when we want two scoring partners without another $8,000-plus salary.

Gavin McKenna at $3,900 is the cheaper power-play extension. He appears on PP1 but on the third even-strength line. Use him to buy into Toronto’s special-teams upside; do not price him into the lineup as though he has Nylander’s full role. The three-player combination costs $16,200.

Auston Matthews is $8,500, C/UTIL. Easton Cowan at $3,500 joins him on the projected first line, but Cowan is on PP2. Their $12,000 pairing is the alternative for a Matthews-led scoring outcome. We prefer Nylander-Marchenko for the overlap across both situations; Matthews-Cowan is the cheaper way to attach a value winger to an elite center.

Choose the pairing first. Adding McKenna and Cowan together just because both are inexpensive can leave two roster spots dependent on very different opportunities. McKenna is our power-play savings option; Cowan is our even-strength attachment.

Los Angeles: Laferriere makes the full line affordable

Artemi Panarin $7,000, Laferriere $4,400 and Adrian Kempe $6,500 cost $17,900. Panarin and Kempe are W/UTIL; Laferriere is C/UTIL. The October 26 Kings chart puts the trio together at even strength and on the first power play.

This is our cleanest alternative to centering the lineup on Edmonton. Laferriere is the reason: his price makes a three-player scoring combination easier to fit than buying three expensive wings from different teams. Panarin-Laferriere alone costs $11,400, and Laferriere-Kempe costs $10,900.

Erik Gustafsson at $2,600, D/UTIL is now the conditional power-play value. Zach Dooley reports that Gustafsson practiced with the first unit while Brandt Clarke worked with the second. Gustafsson, Laferriere and Kempe cost $13,500. Use that savings route only if the first-unit assignment carries into the game. Clarke at $5,600 is no longer our preferred extension of this PP1 stack. Keep a Kings-heavy build separate from a Rangers goalie.

Defense: Raddysh for balance, Parekh for savings

Darren Raddysh at $5,500, D/UTIL is our preferred balanced defenseman. His projected Toronto PP1 assignment connects him to Nylander and Marchenko. That three-player group costs $17,800. Raddysh saves $2,700 versus Bouchard, enough to make a meaningful difference elsewhere without abandoning a first-unit role.

Zayne Parekh at $3,400, D/UTIL is the salary-relief option. The October 25 Calgary chart has him on PP1. Joel Farabee at $4,000 and Matt Coronato at $4,600 share a projected forward line and that power-play unit. Adding Parekh produces a $12,000 three-player stack. That is a coherent cheaper alternative, not a claim Calgary is the safest offense.

Bouchard remains the ceiling choice at defense. He has 33 shots in 11 games through October 24, according to DeepMetric’s player statistics. We like having shot volume behind the scoring role, but three shots per game does not guarantee a DraftKings shot bonus. His price is the reason we prefer Raddysh in balanced builds, not a lack of interest in Edmonton.

Two tournament alternatives

• Detroit: Dylan Larkin $6,200 plus Lucas Raymond $5,800. Their $12,000 pairing shares a projected even-strength line and PP1 on Detroit’s October 25 chart. It is a direct alternative to an Edmonton-dominates build. Do not combine it with the Oilers goalie.
• Rangers: J.T. Miller $5,000 plus Adam Fox $5,900. The $10,900 pair targets a shared first power play on the October 25 Rangers chart. Miller is C/UTIL and Fox is D/UTIL. This is a power-play mini-stack, not two players sharing an even-strength forward line.

Goalies: choose the starter, not just the salary

Goalie update at 8:09 p.m. ET: Jarry, Cooley and Postava remain reported starters. Bobrovsky has now led Toronto into warmups, and Kuemper was confirmed for the already-locked Kings game. Original salary-based preferences follow; do not attempt to swap locked players.

• Sergei Bobrovsky, Toronto, $8,000: Reported starter after leading Toronto onto the ice for warmups. He remains our balanced-price preference with Toronto skaters. Avoid a Calgary scoring stack in that lineup.
• Tristan Jarry, Edmonton, $8,400: confirmed. His start is reported, making him our confirmed pay-up option for an Edmonton-win build. A favorable team outcome is the attraction, not a promise of a safe goalie score. Do not use Detroit stacks against him.
• Devin Cooley, Calgary, $7,400: confirmed. The Flames confirm Cooley starts Monday. He is a tournament alternative for a Calgary-win build, not a partner for a Toronto scoring stack.
• Michal Postava, Detroit, $7,000: confirmed. His start is reported via Red Wings reporter Jonathan Mills. This is the aggressive Detroit-upset route, not our balanced goalie choice. Do not pair him with an Edmonton scoring stack.
• Darcy Kuemper, Los Angeles, $7,200: Our cheaper tournament route. Anton Forsberg is the same salary if he gets the start. The savings can support a stronger second skater stack, but avoid Rangers attackers against your own goalie.

James Reimer is confirmed for the Rangers on the afternoon goalie board. He is absent from the salary file used for this guide, so we are not assigning him a price or including him in the eligible player pool. Garand is no longer a recommended starter. Do not transfer another goalie’s salary or ID to Reimer.

Before the 7 p.m. ET lock

• Los Angeles: Mats Zuccarello is out. Quinton Byfield is preparing to play, but his availability is not finalized. Recheck the forward lines and whether Gustafsson retains the first power-play assignment before using the Kings stack.
• Toronto: John Tavares remains out on the latest chart. Recheck Nick Paul’s availability and the second line, plus the PP1 assignments that make McKenna and Raddysh attractive.
• Edmonton: Mattias Ekholm remains unavailable on the latest chart. Do not assume a cheap replacement inherits Bouchard’s first-unit power-play job.
• Later games, updated 8:09 p.m. ET: Bobrovsky led Toronto into warmups. Backlund took Calgary warmups and appears likely to return, with final lineup clearance still pending in the reports checked. Recheck final scratches for Detroit-Edmonton at 9:30. Keep a late skater in UTIL when possible if the contest permits late swap.

Our starting point: McDavid with Nugent-Hopkins, or Nylander with Marchenko if we want a more balanced spend. Laferriere is the center value, Raddysh the balanced defense choice and Parekh the cheaper alternative. Pick one clear scoring combination, then make the goalie and secondary stack fit that plan.