NHL Early DraftKings DFS: Best Plays and Stacks for October 24

Jack Hughes is our first spend-up for Saturday’s NHL early slate. Arseny Gritsyuk, Alex Laferriere and Matvei Michkov are the prices that make the rest of the build interesting. This is the two-game afternoon contest: Anaheim at Philadelphia at 1 p.m. ET, then Los Angeles at New Jersey at 3:30 p.m. ET. It is separate from the evening main slate.

Updated October 24, 2026, at 8:22 a.m. ET. Starting goalies remain unconfirmed. Line combinations are projected, and power-play references below are dated recent units, not confirmed warmup assignments.

The early-slate shortlist

Priority	Player	DraftKings salary / eligibility	Our angle
First spend	Jack Hughes	$8,400 C/UTIL	Build around New Jersey’s top-line scoring
Best cheap attachment	Arseny Gritsyuk	$3,700 W/UTIL	Affordable even-strength connection to Hughes
Center value	Alex Laferriere	$3,900 C/UTIL	Access to Panarin and Kempe without paying wing prices
Midrange wing	Matvei Michkov	$4,700 W/UTIL	Philadelphia scoring stack at a manageable price
Defense value	Jamie Drysdale	$3,300 D/UTIL	Cheap exposure to the recent Flyers PP1
Devils defense	Luke Hughes	$4,900 D/UTIL	Recent PP1 connection to Jack Hughes and Bratt
Alternative premium wing	Cutter Gauthier	$7,300 W/UTIL	Anaheim power-play build instead of another Devils-heavy entry

Start with Hughes, then decide how much New Jersey you want

New Jersey’s October 23 chart pairs Gritsyuk, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. The full trio costs $18,700; Hughes plus Gritsyuk costs $12,100. That cheaper pair is our preferred starting point when we also want meaningful Philadelphia or Anaheim exposure.

The trio has seven goals and 16 points over its past five games, according to the Devils’ preview. That is evidence the combination has been producing, not a reason to assume the scoring streak continues today. The stronger DFS argument is structural: Gritsyuk gives us a second player attached to Hughes without another premium salary.

Bratt is $6,600, W/UTIL. Add him when committing to that line rather than scattering three unrelated expensive forwards across the roster. Luke Hughes at $4,900 is the power-play extension. The recent PP1 includes Jack Hughes, Bratt and Luke Hughes; Gritsyuk is on PP2. A four-man Devils build therefore mixes even-strength and power-play correlation. It is not four players sharing every scoring opportunity.

We prefer Luke’s price and current first-unit route to Dougie Hamilton at $5,100 for this particular stack. If the power-play order changes before puck drop, that preference needs another look. Neither defenseman is an automatic play simply because the Devils are the team we want to target.

Philadelphia offers the easiest midrange mini-stack

Philadelphia’s latest available chart, updated October 22, has Porter Martone, Noah Cates and Michkov together. Martone $5,000 plus Michkov $4,700 costs $9,700. Cates is just $2,900, C/UTIL, taking the full line to $12,600. He is the cheap even-strength connection, not a promise of the same power-play role as the wingers.

For most builds, we would rather use the Martone–Michkov pair and keep a center spot for Hughes or Laferriere. The three-man version makes sense when the savings protect another full stack. Cates does not need to become a star to be useful at that salary, but a quiet game from the line can still leave all three slots short.

Drysdale at $3,300 is the inexpensive defenseman to consider with the Flyers. Their recent first unit includes Drysdale, Martone, Michkov, Trevor Zegras and Denver Barkey. Zegras costs $5,200, W/UTIL; Barkey is $2,700, W/UTIL. Barkey’s fourth-line even-strength assignment makes him a tournament punt, not a foundational value. A cheap power-play role is attractive, but it does not guarantee enough opportunities to rescue an otherwise quiet afternoon.

Ristolainen could return; York’s status remains uncertain. Terry, Poehling and Mintyukov remain unavailable for Anaheim. Recheck the Flyers’ defensive and power-play assignments before using Drysdale. We are not putting uncertain returning defensemen into the sample builds.

The Kings stack is a real alternative, not a token pivot

Los Angeles’ October 23 chart puts Artemi Panarin $6,800, Alex Laferriere $3,900 and Adrian Kempe $6,400 together at even strength and on PP1. The trio costs $17,100. Panarin and Kempe are W/UTIL; Laferriere is C/UTIL here.

Laferriere is the price that makes this stack easy to fit. You can buy the whole line for $1,600 less than the Devils trio, or use him as a standalone value when the rest of the build needs a cheaper center. Adding Brandt Clarke at $5,300, D/UTIL is an aggressive power-play extension. We would choose that route because we like a Kings scoring outcome, not because we have evidence the stack will be unpopular.

Byfield is questionable. Mercer, Daws and Bjugstad have left New Jersey in the Hellebuyck trade. None belongs in our primary build. Hellebuyck’s arrival also makes checking the actual Devils starting goalie especially important.

Anaheim: target the power-play connection

Leo Carlsson $6,200, Gauthier $7,300 and Jackson LaCombe $5,500 cost $19,000. Anaheim’s October 23 power-play chart groups them on PP1 with Beckett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund. Sennecke is $6,300, W/UTIL; Granlund is $4,800, C/UTIL.

The Carlsson–Gauthier–LaCombe combination is our preferred Ducks construction because it ties a center, wing and defenseman to one scoring route. Treat it as power-play correlation rather than assuming the entire group shares an even-strength line. On a two-game slate, committing to Anaheim also gives you a meaningful alternative to a Flyers-heavy build. Do not pair that Ducks stack with Philadelphia’s goalie.

Goalie choices: wait for the starter

The morning goalie board lists all four early-game starters as unconfirmed. These are conditional choices, not confirmed selections:

• Joseph Woll, $7,900: Our Flyers-win construction. Do not use him if Dan Vladar starts instead; Vladar is also $7,900.
• Jake Allen, $8,200: The Devils-win route. Do not assume the trade settles who starts. Wait for New Jersey’s announcement.
• Darcy Kuemper, $7,200: The cheaper Kings-win alternative. Avoid a Devils scoring stack alongside him.
• Lukas Dostal, $7,500: The Anaheim-win alternative. Pairing him with Ducks skaters is coherent; a large Flyers stack against him is not.

Salary alone is not a goalie ranking. A cheap goalie can still undo the entire lineup, and the expensive option is not automatically safe. Start with the game outcome your skaters need, then choose a confirmed starter who does not directly fight that outcome.

Two lineup examples

Example A: Devils scoring with Flyers support. $48,400, leaving $1,600. This is a construction example, not an optimized projection or a confirmed-entry recommendation. Use it only if Woll starts and the relevant skaters dress.

Slot	Player	Salary
C	Jack Hughes	$8,400
C	Alex Laferriere	$3,900
W	Jesper Bratt	$6,600
W	Arseny Gritsyuk	$3,700
W	Matvei Michkov	$4,700
D	Luke Hughes	$4,900
D	Jamie Drysdale	$3,300
G	Joseph Woll	$7,900
UTIL	Porter Martone	$5,000
Total		$48,400

The unspent salary is intentional: Drysdale’s recent role is the attraction, and we do not need to replace him solely to reach $50,000. This lineup avoids Ducks skaters against Woll. If you want more flexibility for the later game, move Gritsyuk to UTIL and Martone to W before the early game locks.

Example B: Anaheim power play with Hughes value. $50,000. Use only if Allen starts. Barkey is the fragile part of this construction: if his power-play assignment disappears, rebuild rather than keeping him just to preserve the exact total.

Slot	Player	Salary
C	Jack Hughes	$8,400
C	Leo Carlsson	$6,200
W	Cutter Gauthier	$7,300
W	Arseny Gritsyuk	$3,700
W	Matvei Michkov	$4,700
D	Jackson LaCombe	$5,500
D	Jamie Drysdale	$3,300
G	Jake Allen	$8,200
UTIL	Denver Barkey	$2,700
Total		$50,000

This build uses three skater teams and no Kings skaters against Allen. It takes a different scoring path from Example A instead of changing one name and calling it a different strategy. Put Gritsyuk in UTIL and Barkey at W before first lock if your contest permits late swap.

Before the 1 p.m. ET lock

• Confirm the Anaheim and Philadelphia starters and scratches.
• Check whether the Flyers retain Drysdale and Barkey on the first power play.
• Keep enough salary and roster flexibility for the 3:30 p.m. ET goalie announcement.
• Recheck the Kings and Devils lines before their game. Later news does not unlock players from Anaheim–Philadelphia.

Our preferred starting point: Jack Hughes with Gritsyuk, then Michkov and Laferriere for manageable prices. Build around one clear scoring combination rather than trying to squeeze every name on the shortlist into the same lineup.