NHL Single-Game Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 10/23/23 (Canadiens at Sabres)

We've got just one NHL game on tap for tonight, but that doesn't mean we can't get in some daily fantasy action. Let's break down how to attack single-game fantasy contests on FanDuel tonight.

Tonight's game is the Montreal Canadiens at the Buffalo Sabres. According to the NHL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, Buffalo is currently a -184 favorite with the total sitting at 6.5 goals.

Captain Picks

If you're unfamiliar with single-game fantasy hockey, you'll get a 1.5 points multiplier for your player in the captain slot.

The highest-salaried player on the slate is Cole Caufield ($15,000). He leads Montreal with five points in four games and also leads the team in shot attempts by 12 over the next closest player.

With the Sabres being the favorites in this game, playing one of their players at captain probably makes more sense. Tage Thompson ($14,000) has the second-highest salary. He's yet to light up the score sheet like he did over the last two seasons, but we should see some regression. He's shooting just 4.17% after shooting over 15.0% in each of the previous two years.

Buffalo has mixed things up on their top line. Dylan Cozens ($11,000) is now playing up with Tage, and will continue his role on the top power play. With 31 goals and 68 points last season, it's not crazy to think that he can have the most fantasy points in this game.

Both Alex Tuch ($13,000) and Jeff Skinner ($12,000) lose some of their appeal from not playing with Tage. There's still a path to one of them being the highest scorer on the slate though. I'd prefer Skinner as he has 20 more shot attempts than Tuch so far this season.

The only Montreal captain to consider besides Caufield is Nick Suzuki ($11,000). He leads all forwards in this one with over 21 minutes of ice time per game. He'll play on the first line and first power-play unit with Caufield.

Flex Breakdown

A good strategy to use is to correlate your flex picks with your captain. It's similar to stacking in regular NHL DFS, and ideally we'll correlate at least two players who play at even strength and on the power play together.

A stand-out value for Buffalo is Jordan Greenway ($6,000). He's skating alongside Thompson and Cozens on that first line. For this salary, he's likely to be very popular. I'd only play him with Thompson and/or Cozens in the lineup because he's unlikely to deliver value without one of them getting there as well.

Rafael Harvey-Pinard ($9,000) is in a similar boat to Greenway on the Montreal side, with a salary that's $3,000 higher. He's on the first line with Suzuki and Caufield and deserves consideration if captaining one of them.

Montreal's second line has an affordable pairing of Alex Newhook ($8,000) and Juraj Slafkovsky ($6,000) that also plays together on the second power-play unit. Newhook has three goals in five games since joining the Habs, and Slafkovsky is one of the best values at the minimum salary.

Victor Olofsson ($7,500) is a high-volume shooter, which makes him a perfect one-off play. He doesn't need correlation because he can contribute to winning lineups at this salary just from shot volume. The same can be said for Brendan Gallagher ($7,500) if you need a Montreal player instead of a Sabre.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.