NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 12/20/17

Jake Hari  —  @jakehari Dec 20th, 2017
Johnny Gaudreau will avoid the Blues' top line tonight at home. Who else should you target in NHL DFS?

A good chunk of you probably already play daily fantasy football, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion have also tried out daily fantasy basketball and baseball. But hockey? Hockey?

It's time to give it a try over on FanDuel.com because it's a ton of fun. And our analysis and projections can help you win.

To help, take a look at some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.

Goalie to Target

Mike Smith ($7,800): Smith is way too cheap for being a home favorite, and also makes for a nice leverage play in tournaments as the St. Louis Blues will surely be popular on a short slate. Smith has lost three starts in a row, but didn't perform poorly in any of those games. Tonight, with the Mikael Backlund line looking to limit the Vladimir Tarasenko line for St. Louis, Smith should have a great chance to get a win on home ice.

High-Priced Skaters

John Gaudreau ($7,600): Gaudreau will not see the Tarasenko line for the Blues, but instead, he will get to feast on the depth lines. He is one of the best in the NHL at creating scoring chances, and has a 12.5 individual Corsi For per 60 minutes in the month of December, which is low for him. This is likely due to seeing some tough matchups against teams that suppress shot attempts. Look for Gaudreau to find himself on the scoresheet and get back on track tonight.

Josh Anderson ($5,600): Anderson is one of the better plays on the night, going up against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are on a back-to-back. He has been firing the puck from everywhere lately, posting a 22.7 individual Corsi For per 60 minutes and 13.5 individual Scoring Chances For per 60 minutes this month. Anderson also plays with talented linemates in Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois, who often set him up for great chances. If that's not reason enough to want to play Anderson tonight, he will also get power play time on the second unit.

Value Skaters

Tyler Bozak ($4,100): Most people know Bozak is a good play tonight, especially since he is coming off a four-point performance against the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday. However, Bozak is sneakily one of the better values on the night, as he leads his team in individual Corsi For per 60 minutes and individual Scoring Chances For per 60 minutes in December. Bozak will also play on the top power play for the Leafs which is a plus, and the Columbus Blue Jackets have had trouble defending in December at even-strength, allowing the most High-Danger Chances Against per 60 minutes in that time.

Andreas Athanasiou ($3,500): In his first game since being promoted to Dylan Larkin's line, Athanasiou had three shot attempts, three scoring chances, and posted an assist. The numbers weren't spectacular, but much better than we had seen when he had been buried on the fourth line. Athanasiou, when given solid ice time, is one of the highest volume shooters in the NHL, so $3,500 is a steal on FanDuel. Lock in this exciting young player in cash games or tournaments until his price starts to rise significantly.


Jake Hari is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jake Hari also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tommienation1. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.