NHL DFS: DraftKings Main Slate | Best Stacks, Goalies & Value | November 4, 2026

The slate starts at 7:30 p.m. ET. Ottawa visits Buffalo and Chicago visits Florida in the opening window. Calgary–Seattle and San Jose–Los Angeles begin at 10 p.m. ET. All salaries below are from this DraftKings slate.

Goalie update, 6:29 p.m. ET: The Daily Faceoff November 4 board lists Samuel Ersson, Jacob Markstrom, Dustin Wolf and Yaroslav Askarov as confirmed. Colten Ellis, Spencer Knight, Joey Daccord and Darcy Kuemper remain likely, not confirmed. Wolf is the new confirmation since our afternoon update. Markstrom remains our preferred goalie; use Knight only if his start is confirmed.

Top stack: Florida’s Tkachuk–Bennett–Tkachuk line

C Sam Bennett $5,000 + W Brady Tkachuk $7,700 + W Matthew Tkachuk $7,300
Total: $20,000

This is our first choice because the matchup supports scoring at even strength, and Bennett keeps two expensive wings manageable. Chicago is allowing 3.9 goals and 30.3 shots per game in the morning DraftKings matchup data. That is the weakest goals-against profile among tonight’s eight teams.

Florida’s November 4 preview retains Brady Tkachuk–Bennett–Matthew Tkachuk. Its announced lineup change is Uvis Balinskis replacing healthy scratch Radko Gudas on defense; our four Florida skaters are unchanged in the projection. The Panthers line board places both Tkachuks on PP1 and Bennett on PP2. The trio therefore has full-line correlation but only partial power-play overlap.

We prefer that $20,000 construction to paying an extra $2,200 for Reinhart in Bennett’s place. The Reinhart version increases first-unit power-play exposure but gives up the three-man even-strength line. Seth Jones at $5,400 is the defense extension when there is enough room.

The main risk is distribution. Florida can win comfortably while Reinhart’s line or Lundell’s group collects the goals. The line, price and opponent make Florida our highest-conviction stack.

GPP stack: San Jose’s Celebrini–Smith–Toffoli line

C Macklin Celebrini $9,200 + W Will Smith $6,100 + W Tyler Toffoli $4,000
Total: $19,300

San Jose is our tournament alternative because Los Angeles has a 62.5% penalty kill, the lowest rate on this slate. The Kings are also allowing 3.5 goals per game. The Sharks’ November 3 board connects all three forwards at even strength and on PP1.

Toffoli is essential to the price. Celebrini and Smith alone cost $15,300, so we want their cheaper linemate rather than a third premium wing from elsewhere. The full stack costs $700 less than Florida’s and keeps the same C/W/W structure.

San Jose is scoring only 2.6 goals per game. That is why this is a ceiling-oriented alternative rather than our first stack. We are targeting the Kings’ special-teams weakness, not assuming San Jose’s offense is suddenly reliable.

Value stack: Seattle’s Catton–Kakko–Samoskevich line

C Berkly Catton $3,300 + W Kaapo Kakko $3,300 + W Mackie Samoskevich $3,900
Total: $10,500

Seattle’s Wednesday preview projects Kakko–Catton–Samoskevich. The Kraken deployment board also groups them on PP2. That gives this inexpensive trio two shared scoring routes.

The savings are substantial: $9,500 below Florida’s top stack and $4,200 below Seattle’s McMann–Beniers–Eberle trio. It allows us to keep the expensive Florida wings and still buy an offensive defenseman.

This is a salary-driven selection with a lower minutes ceiling than Seattle’s leading line. Calgary’s 83.0% penalty kill also makes a PP2 payoff far from automatic. Two forwards are enough in smaller-field builds if using all three would put too much of the lineup on Seattle’s secondary scoring.

Best one-off forwards

Tage Thompson, Buffalo, W, $8,100: Our first standalone forward. Buffalo’s November 2 report lists 63 season shots, including 18 over his last three games. That shooting is the reason to pay up. Ottawa’s 73.3% penalty kill provides an additional route through Buffalo’s top unit. He is wing-eligible in this slate, regardless of where a line chart places him.

Artemi Panarin, Los Angeles, W, $7,200: The preferred Kings one-off. NHL.com confirms Kempe will return tonight, and Wednesday’s Kings preview projects Panarin–Laferriere–Kempe. That newer reporting takes precedence over a last-game chart still showing Chromiak on the first line. San Jose allows 30.4 shots per game, giving us a reason to buy the matchup without committing to three Kings.

Drake Batherson, Ottawa, W, $6,000: A midrange alternative to another $7,000-plus forward. The Senators’ latest board places him on PP1. Buffalo’s 68.6% penalty kill is inviting, although Ottawa’s own 12.3% power-play conversion rate keeps the expectation measured.

Best one-off defensemen

Seth Jones, Florida, $5,400: Our preferred defense spend. Florida’s October 31 report records 18 October points, 11 on the power play, and 24:52 average ice time. PP1 access at this salary is the appeal, whether he accompanies the Tkachuks or stands alone.

Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo, $6,300: The premium alternative. He anchors the reported first power-play unit with Thompson, Quinn, Benson and Ostlund. The $900 increase over Jones is reasonable when the rest of the roster is already heavy on Florida.

Thomas Chabot, Ottawa, $4,900: The middle-price fit in our example. Ottawa lists him on PP2, so he is not a cheaper substitute for Sanderson’s first-unit role. We prefer the $1,700 saving from Sanderson when it preserves both complete forward stacks. He also provides the required third skater team.

Best value forwards

Tyler Toffoli, San Jose, W, $4,000: The best role-based value outside the Seattle trio. His reported Celebrini-line and PP1 assignments make him useful even as a one-off.

Noah Ostlund, Buffalo, C, $3,900: A cheap center on the reported first power play. Pairing him with Thompson costs $12,000 and captures special-teams correlation across two even-strength lines. Jack Quinn at $5,600 is the natural partner for a two-man even-strength version.

Chandler Stephenson, Seattle, W, $3,300: A different Seattle value route through PP1. He is W/UTIL here, not a center. He does not belong to the Catton line, so replacing Kakko with him changes the correlation even though the salary is identical.

Sandis Vilmanis, Florida, W, $2,600: The inexpensive attachment to Reinhart and Verhaeghe at even strength. He is absent from the reported power-play units. Use him when the salary makes a specific upgrade possible, rather than treating every top-six winger as interchangeable value.

Best value defensemen

Zayne Parekh, Calgary, $3,400: Our first cheap defenseman. The Flames’ latest board gives him PP1, and Calgary’s 30.6% power play meets Seattle’s 64.1% penalty kill. That combination gives him a clear offensive path. Morgan Frost at $3,800 is a low-cost PP1 partner.

Erik Gustafsson, Los Angeles, $3,300: The conditional alternative. The Kings’ last-game board lists him on PP1, but Kempe’s return makes the fresh power-play alignment important. We would use him only if that assignment holds, not assume the October 31 unit remains intact.

Aaron Ekblad, Florida, $3,200: A cheaper Panthers defense option with PP2 exposure. The $2,200 saving from Jones is useful when paying for Thompson or Celebrini, but it sacrifices the first-unit connection that makes Jones our priority.

Top goalie: Jacob Markstrom, Florida, $8,500

Reported confirmed by Daily Faceoff. Markstrom remains our first choice. Chicago is producing just 2.2 goals and 23.0 shots per game, while Florida allows 2.9 goals per game. It is the clearest opponent-based case for paying up in net.

The drawback is limited save volume at the slate’s highest goalie price. A routine win can still fall short of a cheaper goalie facing more shots. Same-priced Akira Schmid is not the reported starter; do not swap to him without a later announcement.

GPP goalie: Yaroslav Askarov, San Jose, $7,200

Reported confirmed by Daily Faceoff. Askarov saves $1,300 from Markstrom and fits a build that backs San Jose to win the late game. Los Angeles averages 28.0 shots and 2.8 goals per game. That gives him a plausible save-and-win route without needing to face an elite-volume offense.

San Jose still allows 30.4 shots per game, so the workload can become a liability quickly. Use this route with Sharks skaters or in a lineup that avoids a Kings scoring stack. Daily Faceoff now lists Askarov as confirmed; same-priced Alex Nedeljkovic is not the reported starter.

Value goalie: Spencer Knight, Chicago, $6,900

Likely, per Daily Faceoff; not yet confirmed. Knight is the lowest-priced goalie on the slate and saves $1,600 from Markstrom. He is a tournament-only salary choice for a lineup that bets against our preferred Florida stack.

Florida’s 28.5 shots per game could support saves, but Chicago’s 3.9 goals allowed per game makes the downside obvious. We would not combine Knight with the Tkachuk–Bennett stack. A cheap goalie has to fit the lineup’s scoring story, not merely solve the cap.

Seattle goalie note: The team preview projects Daccord, and Daily Faceoff now lists him as likely after he was first off the ice at morning skate. He remains unconfirmed. Daccord and Grubauer both cost $8,000; do not treat Grubauer as the expected starter based on the older morning board.

Final thoughts: slate strategy and lineup construction

Our preferred tournament structure is four Florida skaters, three Seattle forwards and one defenseman from a third team, with Florida’s starting goalie. The Florida group combines a full forward line with Jones’ power-play connection. Seattle’s inexpensive trio allows that concentration without minimum-salary filler throughout the roster.

If paying for Celebrini, use the Sharks as the primary stack rather than trying to squeeze them beside all three Florida forwards. Thompson is the cleaner premium one-off when the rest of the lineup already has a coherent stack.

Lineup check, 6:29 p.m. ET: NHL.com’s November 4 projections retain all three recommended forward stacks. Buffalo says Benson, Kulich and Timmins are available, but availability is not a confirmed lineup spot; its preview still anticipates the same lineup. Kempe will return for Los Angeles, and Clarke says he is healthy. The fresh Kings projection has Chromiak away from Panarin’s line. Gustafsson’s PP1 role remains conditional because the fresh Kings report does not confirm power-play units.

Keep a late-game skater in UTIL when the contest permits late swap. If the Catton line changes, replace it deliberately with another connected group rather than leaving three unrelated cheap forwards behind.

Sample DraftKings lineup: $49,300

This 4-3-1 skater construction follows the preferred stacks and leaves $700 unused. It is salary-legal for this slate and remains conditional on Markstrom starting and Seattle retaining its projected line.

All nine players are unique and match their assigned slots. The eight skaters span three teams and three games. No Chicago skater opposes Markstrom. The construction is intentionally concentrated: if Florida’s top line or Seattle’s cheaper group misses, several roster spots can fail together.

A concrete pivot: Markstrom to Askarov saves $1,300; Chabot to Dahlin adds $1,400. Together, those changes produce a $49,400 lineup with no Kings skater opposing Askarov. That is an alternative only if Askarov starts and the San Jose game script is the one you want.

Salaries and eligibility: November 4 DraftKings main slate, DKSalaries (104).csv. Team matchup rates: DraftKings morning data checked at 7:57 a.m. ET, rounded season figures. Line assignments reflect the linked reports, not confirmed game rosters. Goalie statuses refreshed from Daily Faceoff at 6:29 p.m. ET; confirmed and likely labels are attributed to that board. Official November 4 lineup and injury reports were also rechecked at that time. Stack rankings are editorial selections, not fantasy-point or ownership projections.