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
Frederik Andersen ($9,000): The Toronto Maple Leafs' goalie will likely be the highest-owned net-minder of the night, as San Jose is on zero rest and played into overtime as well. No goalies have been confirmed yet as of press time, however, Andersen seems the most likely of projected goalies to start. Toronto features the lowest projected total and has a 62% chance of winning, according to our models. The problem with trusting so little on an already smaller slate is the fact that options become scarce. If you do want to take more risk, Jimmy Howard ($8,600) against a below average St. Louis Blues team is not a bad place to start.
High-Priced Skaters
Mike Hoffman ($6,300): Hoffman will go lower owned than usual because of the potential star power on this slate. For starters, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Colorado are all on this schedule, so Florida will fall to secondary and tertiary options in all likelihood. The forward looked like he might be held off the box score in his last game but then delivered a clutch overtime goal, which increased his fantasy production to nearly 25 FanDuel points on the night. The Anaheim Ducks are not rested after playing in Tampa on Tuesday night and expect to face 35-plus shots. Hoffman fired seven shots on net (30 in his last 6 contests). His floor is so high right now and yet his price is reasonable. Alexander Radulov ($6,600) and Jake Guentzel ($6,700) provide other viable alternatives on this slate. .
Nathan MacKinnon ($9,000): Okay, the Colorado Avalanche center has become a plug-and-play option again on Wednesday night. He has 17 goals on 106 shots in just 24 games. Furthermore, he still anchors the most expensive first line on the slate ($24,500), and yet there should be some ownership on them anyway. He can be used as a one-off play or part of a line or mini-stack. Just be mindful of salary relief options like Samuel Girard, because any price refuge helps on a short slate like this. Colorado has the second-highest projected goal total at 3.25. Watch for the status of Auston Matthews ($7,500). If the Toronto Maple Leafs forward gets activated in time for tonight's game, then could roster him at lower ownership. Sean Monahan ($7,800) is another solid option against what could be a third-string goalie starting for the Dallas Stars.
Value Skaters
Ondrej Kase ($3,900): The Anaheim forward plays on the second line at even strength and is priced cheap on Wednesday night. And it's punt plays like this are hard to come by. The only risk is that his playing time has been a little erratic for the forward since his return from a concussion. Was he being rested a bit last night (13 minutes time on ice)? That's a great question. If there is even a bit of hesitation, consider Tyson Jost ($4,000), who gets about the same minutes and has as good of a matchup against Pittsburgh.
Vince Dunn ($3,700): Dunn provides a halfway decent floor (2.25 shots per game and one block per night) and still is at a value because of a five-game point drought. The hope lies in the fact that Detroit yields 2.92 goals per game at home. Dunn still garners top ice time on the power play, and St. Louis is converting at a 22.4% clip on the season. This is a dangerous play, and the same goes for Dennis Cholowski ($3,700). The previously mentioned Sam Girard did see 2:24 of power play time against Nashville and could be in play, even at $4,000.
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.