NHL DFS DraftKings Picks October 9, 2026: Stacks, Values and Goalies

Our favorite starting point for Friday’s NHL DraftKings slate is Winnipeg’s top line, with Columbus providing the affordable second stack. The four-game slate begins at 7 p.m. ET on October 9. The Rangers visit Washington, Seattle visits Detroit and Pittsburgh visits Columbus in the first window. Anaheim at Winnipeg follows at 8 p.m. ET.

The decision is where to concentrate the expensive scoring upside. We prefer paying for Kyle Connor’s line rather than spreading the same money across unrelated stars. Kent Johnson and Matthew Knies make that possible without reducing the rest of the lineup to low-minute fillers.

Our NHL coverage and NHL Daily Lineups page are useful companions to the slate. The combinations below describe expected deployment.

Our NHL DFS priorities

Best stacks for the four-game slate

1. Winnipeg top line: our preferred spend

Kyle Connor $7,700, Mark Scheifele $6,400, Cole Perfetti $5,000. Combined salary: $19,100.

The Jets’ projected deployment has all three together at even strength and on the first power play. That is the appeal: we do not have to choose between buying a five-on-five line and buying the man advantage. Perfetti is the more affordable way to keep both forms of correlation.

Connor scored twice against Colorado, with Scheifele adding two assists, in Winnipeg’s latest win. We are buying the shared scoring opportunities rather than projecting another identical box score. A Connor goal assisted by both linemates is much more useful to this build than three unrelated forwards each having a decent night.

Neal Pionk $3,900 is the natural fourth Jet. He is listed on that same power-play unit, while Josh Morrissey is day-to-day. The four-man group costs $23,000. Pionk’s appeal is tied to that deployment; a return to a secondary power-play role would weaken the reason to use him over another inexpensive defenseman.

2. Columbus top line: the best budget fit

Adam Fantilli $6,000, Matthew Knies $4,700, Kent Johnson $3,700. Combined salary: $14,400.

The Blue Jackets’ top line also shares the first power play. Johnson is especially useful because his price does not force us to give up Winnipeg’s premium pieces. Knies keeps the same scoring combination intact at a midrange salary.

This is our preferred way to build two complete forward stacks. The combination of price and shared opportunity is the attraction. We do not need to assume every Pittsburgh defensive mistake becomes a goal. Pittsburgh will start Sergei Murashov; Cam Talbot starts for Columbus.

Zach Werenski $7,800 completes a four-player power-play stack at $22,200. That version has a different budget: it asks Werenski to deliver enough offense to justify passing on cheaper defense. We prefer the three forwards in the balanced example below and reserve Werenski for Columbus-heavy builds.

3. Detroit top line: another route to power-play scoring

Dylan Larkin $6,500, Lucas Raymond $6,200, Viktor Arvidsson $5,700. Combined salary: $18,400.

Larkin, Raymond and Arvidsson are grouped on the projected first line and first power play. Detroit therefore offers the same useful overlap as Winnipeg, but with a different matchup against Seattle.

Arvidsson is the salary-saving third member, not a claim that he has the same individual scoring ceiling as Raymond. For a two-man build, we would start with Larkin and Raymond. For a larger Detroit stack, Arvidsson preserves the even-strength link, while Alex DeBrincat $7,500 gives us a power-play alternative from a different forward line.

Moritz Seider $6,800 joins the first unit from defense. The Larkin-Raymond-Arvidsson-Seider combination costs $25,200, so it works better as the clear centerpiece than as a casual add-on to another expensive four-man stack.

4. Pittsburgh: separate the line stack from the power play

Sidney Crosby $7,000, Rickard Rakell $6,500, Bryan Rust $5,500. Combined salary: $19,000.

The Penguins’ projected combinations put Rakell, Crosby and Rust together at even strength. Rust is on the second power-play unit, though, so this is not a complete first-unit stack.

For a power-play-focused version, use Sidney Crosby $7,000, Evgeni Malkin $5,800, Erik Karlsson $5,600, a $18,400 trio. Crosby and Malkin do not share a regular forward line, but their first-unit overlap creates a different scoring path. Choose that version when betting on Pittsburgh’s special teams rather than treating every Penguins combination as interchangeable.

The less expensive full-line alternative is Egor Chinakhov $5,200, Tommy Novak $4,000, Evgeni Malkin $5,800, totaling $15,000. That construction makes room for a premium one-off elsewhere, although it does not provide the same first-unit overlap as our Winnipeg and Columbus groups.

One-off forwards and smaller stacks

Cutter Gauthier: premium Anaheim exposure

Cutter Gauthier $7,900 is our preferred Anaheim one-off. The Ducks’ projected lineup places him with Leo Carlsson at even strength and on the first power play. A Leo Carlsson $6,900 pairing costs $14,800. Adding Mikael Granlund $5,300 creates a power-play stack, not a three-man even-strength line.

Anaheim offers a direct alternative to concentrating on Winnipeg. We would not pair a large Ducks stack with the Jets’ goalie: that asks the same game to produce conflicting outcomes for the lineup.

Pierre-Luc Dubois: an inexpensive center with useful teammates

Pierre-Luc Dubois $3,900 is a strong salary-release option. Washington has him between Alex Tuch and Tom Wilson, and he shares its first power play with Wilson. The Tom Wilson $5,300 pairing costs $9,200.

Dubois produced a goal and an assist in Washington’s win over Pittsburgh. That result does not guarantee another productive night, but his current assignments give us a better reason to roster him than simply being a cheap center. Tuch is a different-lineup decision because he is on the second power-play unit.

Gabe Perreault: cheap access to the Rangers’ top line

Gabe Perreault $3,200 is projected beside Mika Zibanejad $6,100 and Alexis Lafreniere $4,900. That Rangers trio costs $14,200. Perreault is on the second power play, so his discount comes with less complete overlap than Columbus’s inexpensive line.

For a Rangers first-unit stack, substitute Adam Fox $5,400 for Perreault alongside Zibanejad and Lafreniere. That combination costs $16,400. It is the better fit when the lineup’s main argument is a productive New York power play.

Value plays: where we are saving

Defense: role first, then the salary decision

We would start with Pionk and Fox in a balanced build. Paying up at both defense spots means removing an expensive forward or breaking a full line, so there should be a specific team-scoring reason for doing it.

Goalies: value, home option and tournament alternatives

Igor Shesterkin: our preferred value

Igor Shesterkin $7,100. Reported starter. Mollie Walker’s report, relayed by RotoWire, has Shesterkin starting in Washington. His price is the reason he fits our preferred build: moving to an $8,000-plus goalie costs meaningful forward or defense salary.

This is not a claim that Washington is an easy opponent. We are accepting the road matchup in exchange for keeping two complete forward stacks. A save-heavy New York win is the outcome this choice needs; a Capitals scoring breakout is the obvious failure case.

John Gibson: the higher-priced home alternative

John Gibson $8,200. Reported starter. The Detroit starting report lists Gibson against Seattle. He costs $1,100 more than Shesterkin. We prefer that spend in a Detroit-led lineup where a Red Wings win is already part of the construction, rather than weakening both forward stacks merely to afford him.

Sergei Murashov: the Pittsburgh tournament choice

Sergei Murashov $7,500. Confirmed starter. He makes sense in builds that back Pittsburgh to win and deliberately avoid our Columbus stack. The appeal is a midrange goalie salary and a Pittsburgh win that would also frustrate Columbus-heavy lineups. Do not combine him with Fantilli, Knies and Johnson and expect both sides of the lineup to thrive.

Cam Talbot and Clay Stevenson: different conditions

Cam Talbot $7,900 is the confirmed Columbus starter and a natural alternative in a Blue Jackets-heavy build. We prefer him to Murashov in that specific construction, but his $800 premium over Shesterkin makes the example lineup below less comfortable.

Clay Stevenson $8,000 is expected to start for Winnipeg. Not an announced starter. He becomes a reasonable Jets-stack partner if he gets the assignment, but we prefer Shesterkin’s lower price in the balanced build.

Sample DraftKings lineup: $49,900

This example combines the complete Winnipeg and Columbus top lines, adds Pionk’s power-play connection, and uses Fox with Shesterkin for the remaining Rangers exposure.

Total: $49,900. Salary remaining: $100. It is a correlated tournament build, not a promise of optimal results. The two forward stacks need to do the scoring work; Fox supplies a separate power-play path without opposing our own goalie.

Gibson cannot simply replace Shesterkin here: that move exceeds the cap by $1,000. A different goalie requires a deliberate skater change, and any change to Pionk’s power-play role would also be a reason to rebuild rather than defend the original combination.

Our preferred order: start with Winnipeg’s top line, use Columbus for the second stack, and choose the goalie based on the lineup we can actually afford. Detroit is the strongest alternative to that structure, while Pittsburgh offers distinct even-strength and power-play builds.