NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 10/18/18
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, because it's a ton of fun. And our analysis and projections can help you win.
To help, let's take a look at some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Jack Campbell ($8,100): The Los Angeles Kings may be a moderate risk against the New York Islanders, but Campbell has faced over 30 shots per game this season and is well-rested, which is important in the early going. Los Angeles does carry some danger because New York is not rested and could generate low shot volume. As far as tournament plays, this may be a lower-owned choice (below 10%). There are a few other options -- like Keith Kinkaid (for tournaments) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (stronger in cash games) -- but there will be more clarity on the slate's goalies once the starters are all confirmed.
High-Priced Skaters
Auston Matthews ($8,600): The Toronto Maple Leafs' forward is in a great spot against a Pittsburgh Penguins team that is yielding 3.8 goals per game. Matthews has 4 power-play goals on the season (10 goals overall), and he ranks top 10 in the league in scoring chances. Furthermore, the forward created several High-Danger opportunities against the Kings on Monday. The total cost of the Toronto top line is around $19,000, which is a bit expensive but not-cost prohibitive. There is a way of sneaking in a power-play stack to save a little bit of money, but Toronto's top line one is not a bad target. Other highly-owned Maple Leaf players will include John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.
Nikita Kucherov ($7,900): Kucherov is another top choice on Thursday, with the Detroit Red Wings tending to give up a high rate of High-Danger chances and 4.83 goals per game. Lost in the hype of certain players is the fact that "the triplets" have been reunited (Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson). Kucherov has not topped 25 FanDuel points yet this season, but this may be his best chance yet. The Lightning' second-line forward will have an excellent chance to extend his point run tonight as Detroit struggles against teams who can carry speed through the neutral zone. Detroit will have to attack, which makes them vulnerable to being attacked on the other end. However, don't sleep on the Red Wings. Dylan Larkin and Dennis Cholowski are decent one-off options.
Value Skaters
Dominik Kahun ($3,600): Kahun was promoted to the Chicago Blackhawks' first line a few games ago at even strength. This Chicago team is as it gets when it comes to scoring chances (on a top five pace). Kahun sees minimal power play ice time, which does raise some risk. However, consider that Chicago is scoring around four goals a night and that scoring chances are up nearly 15% from the start of the 2017-18 campaign. Other inexpensive wing options include Jordan Weal ($3,100), who was promoted to the Philadelphia's second line on Tuesday, and Anthony Duclair ($3,200), who is getting an extended look in the Columbus Blue Jackets' top six.
Filip Hronek ($3,500): Hronek has been decent in creating chances and does have 13 shots on net in 6 contests. His floor is a bit risky, but when looking for value defensemen, this may be a different route to explore. His shot is above average, and there is the possibility of more man advantage time. Henri Jokiharju ($3,900) and even Ryan Murray ($3,700) present themselves as low-risk punt options on Thursday night. As always, watch for late injury news and last-minute line shifts for potential high-value options. Shifts are expected by morning skate in most cases, save for teams on no rest like the Boston Bruins.
Chris Wassel is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Chris Wassel also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username chriswassel. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
