The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs continue Friday evening with four games -- Lightning vs. Blue Jackets, Penguins vs. Islanders, Blues vs. Jets and Sharks vs. Golden Knights -- on the NHL schedule. With the action heating up in these series, DraftKings is running a $30k Quest for the Cup tournament, while FanDuel has a $20k Friday NHL Breakaway available on Friday. Both these NHL DFS tournaments feature all four games and get underway at 7 p.m. ET. Before sorting through potential top NHL DFS picks such as Sidney Crosby, Nikita Kucherov, Vladimir Tarasenko, first be sure to check out the optimal NHL DFS lineups and advice from Mike McClure. 

McClure is a DFS professional with nearly $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best NHL DFS values and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NHL DFS player.

For the Friday NHL schedule, McClure is recommending Kucherov at $8,900 on FanDuel and $7,800 on DraftKings. It was a slow start in Game 1 for the NHL's leading point producer in 2018-19, but don't let that deter you. Kucherov piled up 128 points in the regular season (41 goals, 87 assists), and he's shown over the past few postseasons that he'll continue to pile up production. He's recorded 58 points in 28 games in his last three playoff runs. The Lightning should play with extra urgency in an effort to even the series up before heading to Columbus, so confidently lock Kucherov in as a top NHL DFS pick for Friday. 

Part of McClure's optimal NHL DFS strategy for Friday includes targeting Sharks defenseman Brent Burns ($7,700 on FanDuel, $7,200 on DraftKings), who has recorded three multi-point games in a row. That span included Game 1 against Vegas, a matchup where he recorded a goal and an assist. He saw a whopping 28:25 of ice time in that game, and if San Jose continues to use him at that rate, he'll have a great chance to return value throughout the postseason. 

McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Friday. He's a huge steal at his price point, so this pick could be the difference between cashing and going home with nothing. You absolutely need to see who it is before setting your lineups.

So what are the optimal NHL DFS lineups for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure's complete optimal tournament lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings, and cash in big on NHL DFS.