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
Laurent Brossoit ($7,400): The Winnipeg Jets' goaltender is one of the early confirmations for Friday night. He has only started 3 games but has faced 116 shots in those starts. Winnipeg has outscored its opponents by 1.09 goals per game at home (8-2-1 record), and when it comes to the opposing Buffalo Sabres, they are just not last year's team, averaging only 32.4 shots per game. John Gibson ($8,300) could be a high-risk play on Friday as the Anaheim Ducks yield nearly 36 shots per game and often are out-chanced against non-rested teams. Check back later for other goalie confirmations.
High-Priced Skaters
Mitchell Marner ($7,400): Marner has tallied a point in the last two contests. One encouraging thing is the fact that Marner's shot volume has returned (seven straight games of three-plus shots) as well. He has points in five of those games. As long as Marner garners top-line and power play ice time, he becomes a worthwhile option. Anaheim is just not a tough team to play against. There will be chances (Anaheim has a -77 high-danger chance differential), so it just comes down to execution on Marner and the Maple Leafs' part. Patrick Kane ($8,400) is an excellent play against a slow and plodding Los Angeles Kings team that's lost its way.
Nathan MacKinnon ($8,600): So, MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche may not even face Braden Holtby on Friday night. An upper-body injury has sidelined the goalie and his status is day-to-day, which tells us that he's questionable for tonight. The Washington Capitals give up 4.12 goals per game on the road and feature one of the league's worst penalty kills (72.5% in the early going). MacKinnon has topped 20 FanDuel points in his previous 2 games after a down performance last weekend. Ryan O'Reilly ($6,700) and Tyler Seguin ($7,900) are solid choices as secondary options.
Value Skaters
David Kampf ($3,000): Kampf played over 15 minutes in the last 2 games for the Chicago Blackhawks. At minimum price on FanDuel, the forward is worth a dart in your lineups. Though he only has four real-world points in nine games, the young forward has shown an ability to create chances. Chicago has a couple value plays, and one is Dominik Kahun ($3,600), so keep that in mind in roster filling. Other choices may feature Kasperi Kapanen ($3,900) and even Tyson Jost ($3,600) as they face somewhat slower line matchups.
Julius Honka ($3,500): Honka is a high-risk choice tonight against the Boston Bruins. The thought process behind him though is seeing top-pairing minutes, and the expectation is a better floor because of it. He fired three shots on net and blocked five more shots against the Columbus Blue Jackets en route to 10-plus FanDuel points against the Nashville Predators. Chances have been moderately high and eventually points should follow. Either way, if he can come close to a FanDuel points for every $400, then value has been hit. Money can be spent elsewhere on the slate though. Samuel Girard and Dmitry Orlov ($3,800) are also reasonable floor choices and will again aid in lineup construction on Friday night.
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.