2026 Men's Olympic Hockey DFS Strategy & Picks for February 11 Slates on DraftKings
No NHL? No problem! On DraftKings, you can enjoy some Olympic men's hockey DFS action as well! That all begins Wednesday with the men's players, many of them NHLers, joining the women's hockey players in action. The first two games are Finland versus Slovakia and Sweden against Italy.
With this being the start of the action for the men, there are a few things to note, even if most people already know them. Sometimes it is still constructive to state the obvious. First, these are teams that do not usually play together. These are tournament rosters thrown together, and with a higher chance of line tweaks than in the NHL. Second, the ice in Italy is not NHL-sized. We have no idea at this point how that will change things. Third, I mentioned Italy. The first game starts at 10:40 a.m. ET. You'll need to get your lineups in early throughout the tournament, possibly even the day prior. With all of that said, time for some recommendations. I'll skip the usual slate preview I include on DraftKings, because it's not necessarily germane with the Olympic tournament, especially before a single puck has dropped.
Top Goalie Plays and Matchup Analysis for Finland vs Slovakia
Juuse Saros, Finland vs. Slovakia ($8,000): I'll start with this, even though it involves the other game: Italy is comfortably the worst team in this tournament. Certainly it is comfortably the worst roster of these four teams. As such, nobody would fault you for grabbing a Sweden goalie against Italy, even if it isn't fully certain who will start the first game at this point. The favorite for the role is Filip Gustavsson, as he was the preferred option when the 4 Nations Face-Off started.
Ultimately, though, I opted for Saros over Gustavsson to save $400 in salary. Neither Slovakia nor Italy has an NHL goalie. Slovakia has a few good NHL players, but this is not the glory days of Slovakian hockey. Saros hasn't had a great season in the NHL, but he has a better team in front of him than in Nashville. He also has a career .912 save percentage, and a .908 save percentage over the last five seasons. This is my play to try and save some salary to spend elsewhere.
Under the Radar Value Plays to Target in DFS Lineups
Oliver Kapanen, Finland vs. Slovakia ($3,700): Kapanen played in 18 games last season and made no impact, but this year has been decidedly different. He's tallied 18 goals and 13 assists in 57 games and has moved up to the second line for the Canadiens. Speaking of the second line, Kapanen is projected to skate next to Sebastian Aho on Finland's second line. That's a nice place to be. It doesn't really matter who starts for Slovakia, but the odds are Samuel Hlavaj will be the guy, and he's an AHL goalie.
Building a Forward Line Stack to Exploit Weak Opponents
Sweden vs. Italy
Elias Pettersson (C - $5,000), Filip Forsberg (W - $7,000), Lucas Raymond (W - $5,800)
This is where I am leaning on the matchup, and also on the projected lines. There is not a single Italian player who plays in the AHL, much less the NHL. Specifically, a lot of them play in Italy and Switzerland. Maybe the host country does something wild and unexpected, but my expectation is that Italy gets steamrolled in this tournament. In 2006, in Torino, Italy went 0-2-3 with a minus-19 goal differential. I've opted for Sweden's second line. Or, rather, the projected second line.
Pettersson has not been the 30-goal, 80-point guy for a few seasons, and he is a minus-15. However, he has 13 goals and 21 assists in 49 games, and he plays in Vancouver. The Canucks are terrible. He skates with players like Jake DeBrusk and Evander Kane. Pettersson getting to skate with players like Forsberg and Raymond is an entirely different proposition. I don't know how much I want to bring recent NHL form into this tournament, but it's worth considering since we're all looking for potential data points. Over his last 13 games with the Predators, Forsberg has eight goals on 44 shots on net and eight assists. He's going to be a 30-goal guy for the fourth time in five seasons, and the other season he was held to 50 games. Raymond is a point-per-game player, which you might not know if you aren't a regular Wings watcher. He has 60 points in 56 games, including 22 on the power play. I will note all three of these guys should see some power-play time, possibly a lot. Of course, there's also the question of how many penalties get called in this tournament, but that is to be determined.
Elite Defenseman Picks and Playing Time Expectations
Erik Karlsson, Sweden vs. Italy ($4,900): At 35 years old, Karlsson is still able to skate over 23 minutes per game and produce points and shots. Through 51 games he has 35 points and 108 shots on target. Speaking of evaluating how much certain factors will play a role in the tournament, Karlsson was arguably the best player for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off. More to the point, his salary isn't too tough to work around, he's likely to play at least 20 minutes in this game, and Italy has the worst roster in this tournament.
