NHL DFS Early Slate Picks for October 31, 2026

Saturday’s six-game NHL early slate begins at 1 p.m. ET. Boston is my first stack, Edmonton is the expensive ceiling alternative, and Ottawa supplies a genuinely cheaper line. The schedule runs through the two 4 p.m. games; none of tonight’s Colorado, Toronto, Dallas or Montreal players belong to this slate.

Top stack: Boston’s first line

Pavel Zacha $3,900 + David Pastrnak $7,500 + JJ Peterka $3,900. Total: $15,300.

Boston projects Peterka–Zacha–Pastrnak together. NHL lineup preview. The attraction is the price of the supporting pieces: two $3,900 forwards buy exposure to the same even-strength scoring events as Pastrnak without forcing a lineup full of minimum-salary players.

Chicago has allowed 3.69 goals per game, while scoring only 2.08; Boston has scored 3.57. Matchup statistics. That gives this stack a cleaner team-level setup than paying the full Edmonton premium against the Islanders’ strong penalty kill. It is not a promise of a four-goal Boston game.

Pastrnak has 46 shots and 18 points through 14 games. Season production. His shooting supplies an independent scoring path when the assists do not connect. Zacha and Pastrnak also appear on Boston’s first power-play unit, while Peterka is on the second. Power-play deployment. This is primarily an even-strength stack, not three players sharing every special-teams shift.

GPP stack: Edmonton’s expensive ceiling

Connor McDavid $9,500 + Leon Draisaitl $9,000. Total: $18,500. Add Vasily Podkolzin $6,100 for a $24,600 forward trio, or use Podkolzin instead of Draisaitl to preserve salary.

McDavid, Draisaitl and Podkolzin form Edmonton’s projected first line. Projected lineup. McDavid has 36 points in 13 games; Draisaitl has 24 points and six power-play goals. Edmonton’s power play is converting 35.7%, but the Islanders have killed 86.4% of penalties. Islanders matchup preview.

That is why Edmonton is the ceiling alternative rather than an automatic all-in stack. Paying for two elite forwards can work when their production overlaps, but it leaves less room for shot-generating defensemen. Podkolzin’s three power-play goals provide a reason to include him beyond simply being the cheaper winger. The Islanders matchup still carries resistance, and his salary no longer qualifies as bargain-bin value.

Value stack: Ottawa’s first line

Tim Stuetzle $6,000 + Claude Giroux $3,300 + Fabian Zetterlund $3,400. Total: $12,700.

Ottawa projects Zetterlund–Stuetzle–Giroux together. Senators lineup news. Stuetzle and Giroux also appear on the first power play; Zetterlund is on the second. Two forwards below $3,500 make this a genuine salary-saving full-line stack. Dylan Cozens $4,200 and Drake Batherson $5,700 are the alternative $9,900 first-unit power-play pair. Power-play units.

San Jose has allowed 30.7 shots per game and owns a 45.3% shot-attempt share, but its penalty kill is a respectable 83.0%. Team matchup data. The stronger argument is sustained even-strength opportunity at a manageable total price, not pretending Ottawa’s power play has an easy assignment. Zetterlund can still finish with very little if the line scores through other combinations.

One-offs

• Macklin Celebrini, $9,200: a premium alternative to McDavid, with the option of adding projected linemate Collin Graf for $3,100. Ullmark is out; his replacement remains unconfirmed. Ottawa injury news. The appeal is concentrating San Jose exposure in its offensive centerpiece instead of guessing which secondary line scores.
• Nikita Kucherov, $8,500: a different expensive winger for builds that do not use Draisaitl. Tampa Bay projects Guentzel–Point–Kucherov together. Point costs $4,900 if you prefer a two-player combination. Lightning lineup preview. This pairing offers a lower total cost than Edmonton’s two stars, with less room for an ordinary Kucherov performance at his individual salary.

Value forwards

Claude Giroux $3,300 is the inexpensive first-power-play attachment, while Fabian Zetterlund $3,400 completes the even-strength value stack. Collin Graf $3,100 provides a cheap Celebrini attachment. Andre Burakovsky $2,500 is only a conditional alternative: he left Thursday with a lower-body injury and remains day-to-day, despite appearing in the NHL projected lineup. That unresolved health issue keeps him out of my preferred value stack. Burakovsky injury status.

Defense

Evan Bouchard $8,200 is the premium ceiling choice. His 22 points lead NHL defensemen, but pairing him with both Edmonton stars costs $26,700 before adding six other players. Charlie McAvoy $5,100 is the more balanced Boston attachment through the first power play. Mattias Ekholm $3,300 is the salary-saving Edmonton defenseman; he is paired with Bouchard, but is not a cheaper copy of Bouchard’s offensive role.

Matthew Schaefer $6,800 is the one-off alternative. He has eight points over his last six games. His case is stronger in a lineup that does not also require Edmonton’s goalie to suppress the Islanders. These are alternatives at different prices, not a reason to jam every expensive defenseman together.

Goalies: top, GPP and value

Top: Jeremy Swayman $8,500, projected. Chicago’s low scoring rate supports the win-oriented case, but its limited shot volume can also cap save points. This is a premium on team matchup, not an assumption that he will face 35 shots.

GPP: Yaroslav Askarov $7,400, projected. He saves $1,100 versus Swayman. San Jose’s tendency to concede shots gives him a save-driven path, but also exposes him to the Ottawa attack. Use him in builds that fade the Senators stack, not alongside three Ottawa forwards.

Value: Ilya Sorokin $7,300, projected. This is an intentional bet against Edmonton’s expensive stack. The Islanders’ penalty kill offers support, but McDavid and Draisaitl make the failure case obvious. I prefer him as a separate tournament construction rather than as the goalie in an Oilers-heavy lineup.

Those three selections remain unconfirmed on the morning goalie board. Tristan Jarry, $8,100, is listed as confirmed for Edmonton, with the report attributed to Stephen Whyno. Starting-goalie reports. Jarry is an alternative for an Edmonton-led build, but costs $700 more than Askarov.

Lineup construction and example

The example combines Boston’s full line with McDavid–Podkolzin, adds McAvoy’s power-play connection, and keeps a small San Jose connection through Graf and Askarov. It accepts a thinner offensive defenseman in Ekholm to avoid a minimum-price forward with no credible scoring partners.

Total: $49,800. Remaining: $200. Askarov’s start is the specific unresolved piece. The construction bets on Boston and Edmonton scoring while San Jose wins a game in which its goalie is busy. It does not include Ottawa skaters against that goalie. For a Boston-goalie version, the extra $1,100 has to come out of the skaters; it is not a straight affordable swap.