NHL DFS DraftKings Picks: October 7, 2026 Stacks, Values & Lineup

Our NHL DFS DraftKings picks for October 7 start with Colorado’s first line, Edmonton’s concentrated star power and a cheap Washington combination that makes the expensive pieces fit. This three-game slate begins at 7:30 p.m. ET: Avalanche at Jets and Penguins at Capitals, followed by Oilers at Ducks at 10 p.m. ET.

Top Stacks

1. Colorado: our favorite full line

Nathan MacKinnon $8,700 + Artturi Lehkonen $5,300 + Martin Necas $7,000. Total: $21,000.

All three skate together on the projected first line. MacKinnon drives the attack, Necas gives us another puck carrier and finisher, and Lehkonen is the cheapest way to complete the line. Colorado has 14 goals in two games, but we are buying the shared opportunity rather than expecting seven goals every night. MacKinnon and Necas also share the first power play; Lehkonen is on the second unit.

2. Edmonton: maximum scoring concentration

Connor McDavid $9,000 + Leon Draisaitl $8,500 + Vasily Podkolzin $5,600. Total: $23,100.

This projected top line also connects on the first power play. That is the strongest reason to pay for it: one productive shift or penalty can bring all three into the scoring. Podkolzin costs less than either superstar without losing that shared role. Draisaitl is wing-eligible on this DraftKings slate. We prefer committing to this trio over using McDavid alone and hoping unrelated mid-range forwards supply the rest.

GPP Stacks

Anaheim: attack the other side of Edmonton

Leo Carlsson $6,500 + Cutter Gauthier $7,300 + Jackson LaCombe $5,300. Total: $19,100.

Carlsson and Gauthier share even-strength minutes, and LaCombe connects them on Anaheim’s first power play. Gauthier scored twice with the man advantage against Florida, with Carlsson assisting on all three Ducks goals. We like the shooting-playmaking combination more than a blind bet against Edmonton. A Ducks power-play eruption can lift this stack while hurting Oilers-goalie lineups. Do not pair it with the opposing goalie.

Winnipeg: a direct alternative to Colorado-heavy builds

Kyle Connor $7,400 + Mark Scheifele $6,400 + Cole Perfetti $4,600. Total: $18,400.

These three share the projected first line and first power play. Perfetti is the key salary piece: he is much cheaper than the other two without giving up the same scoring connections. This is genuine tournament leverage against Colorado-goalie lineups if Winnipeg wins the matchup.

Pittsburgh: Crosby with an inexpensive linemate

Sidney Crosby $6,700 + Rickard Rakell $6,200 + Hendrix Lapierre $2,700. Total: $15,600.

Lapierre joins Crosby and Rakell on the projected top line, cutting the price of a complete trio. Crosby and Rakell also work together on the first power play, while Lapierre is on the second. We prefer this combination when betting on Pittsburgh’s first line doing the damage, rather than spreading the same money across three different teams.

Value Stacks

Washington: our favorite salary-saving line

Alex Ovechkin $5,800 + Dylan Strome $4,100 + Anthony Beauvillier $2,600. Total: $12,500.

Washington has moved Beauvillier alongside Ovechkin and Strome. Ovechkin and Strome also share PP1, giving the pair an additional scoring connection. Beauvillier is the even-strength attachment, not a first-power-play substitute. At this combined price, we can pair a complete Capitals line with a premium Colorado or Edmonton stack instead of relying on three unrelated bargains.

Pittsburgh: a cheaper even-strength route

Tommy Novak $4,000 + Evgeni Malkin $6,000 + Egor Chinakhov $4,500. Total: $14,500.

The projected second line offers three-way even-strength correlation below the Crosby trio’s price. Novak adds first-unit power-play access, while Malkin and Chinakhov work on PP2. That makes Novak our preferred individual value from the group. Use the full trio when betting on their shared line, not as a three-man PP1 stack. Malkin fills a wing spot here.

Best One-Off Plays

Nathan MacKinnon $8,700: Our first forward choice when only one premium salary fits. His first-line and first-power-play roles support multiple scoring routes, and Colorado exposure does not require buying the whole trio.

Evan Bouchard $7,500: Our highest-upside defense spend for an Edmonton-led build. He quarterbacks the first power play alongside the top forwards. An assist-heavy night can accompany his own shooting, giving him a route to an elite score without needing multiple goals.

Cale Makar $7,200: The preferred premium defenseman with Colorado stacks. He shares PP1 with MacKinnon and Necas, adding a different roster position to the same scoring unit. The choice between Makar and Bouchard should follow the offense we are emphasizing, rather than forcing both into a weakened forward group.

Sidney Crosby $6,700: Our mid-priced center alternative to the two most expensive stars. Top-line and PP1 work keep him central to Pittsburgh’s scoring chances. The savings are meaningful enough to upgrade a second forward or defenseman.

Erik Karlsson $5,400: Our favorite middle-tier offensive defenseman. He runs Pittsburgh’s first power play and saves $1,800 from Makar. We prefer him to a cheaper defenseman whose ceiling depends almost entirely on blocked shots.

One-Off Values

T.J. Hughes $3,200: The most interesting cheap Colorado power-play piece. He is on PP1 but the third even-strength line, so use him with the premium power-play players rather than treating him as MacKinnon’s full-time linemate. That role gives a bargain winger a real multi-point path.

Anthony Beauvillier $2,600: Our preferred near-minimum winger with Washington exposure. The appeal is the Ovechkin-Strome assignment, not a projected breakout in independent shot volume.

Hendrix Lapierre $2,700: The corresponding Pittsburgh bargain. His projected Crosby-Rakell assignment makes him most useful as a stack attachment. He is less attractive as a random one-off in a lineup otherwise built around different teams.

Ben Kindel $3,900: A stronger cheap-center ceiling play than a depth forward without special-teams opportunity. He has scored in both appearances and works on PP1. The role is more important than extending the scoring streak.

Kasperi Kapanen $4,000: Another inexpensive route to Edmonton’s first power play. He is not part of the projected McDavid even-strength trio, so his strongest fit is a power-play stack rather than a full-line build.

Declan Carlile $3,100: His projected pairing with Karlsson gives him exposure to offensive shifts at a low price. Treat him as an even-strength assist-and-blocks option, not a power-play quarterback.

Josh Manson $2,900: Our inexpensive defense filler when the forwards deserve the salary. His projected third-pair and penalty-kill work offer a blocked-shot route to points. There is no first-power-play role here, so we are not paying for a repeat goal.

Goalies

Best

MacKenzie Blackwood $8,400 at Winnipeg. Not announced starter. He is our preferred expected starter because Colorado offers the strongest team-win setup on our board. The goalie reports list him as likely, and the Avalanche are the largest favorite of these three games on the matchup board. The trade-off is price: a controlled win with modest save volume can be less valuable than a busier, cheaper goalie win.

GPP

Devon Levi $7,900 at Anaheim. Confirmed starter. Edmonton has named Levi its starter. We like the combination of Oilers scoring support and a Ducks opponent capable of keeping him busy. He saves $500 from Blackwood, but Anaheim’s top power-play group makes the matchup less comfortable. He is our choice in the lineup below, which uses no Ducks skaters.

Value / Deep GPP

Arturs Silovs $7,100 at Washington. Confirmed starter. Pittsburgh has named Silovs its starter. He is our preferred salary-saving upset play. A Penguins win gives access to the goalie win bonus for $1,300 less than Blackwood. Use him with a Pittsburgh-led construction, not the Ovechkin line we feature below.

Lukas Dostal $7,500 vs. Edmonton. Not announced starter. The expected Ducks starter is our deeper tournament alternative. Edmonton can supply enough shots for a strong save score, and an Anaheim win would damage expensive Oilers stacks at the same time. The scoring talent he faces also creates the clearest blowup risk of these options.

Our DraftKings Lineup

Total: $49,700. Salary remaining: $300.

This tournament lineup pairs the full Colorado first line with the Ovechkin-Strome-Beauvillier combination. Karlsson supplies a separate power-play scoring route, and the inexpensive second defense spot lets us keep the six-forward structure intact. Levi is not facing any of our skaters. The lineup takes a clear position on which lines do the scoring rather than trying to cover all six offenses.

Explore our NHL Daily Lineups and NHL DFS coverage for more slate research.