NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 12/5/18

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Dec 5th, 2018
John Gibson is in a good spot on Wednesday night. Who are some other plays to consider on Wednesday night?

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

John Gibson ($8,600): The Anaheim Ducks are projected to start Gibson against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Gibson faces 36.0 shots per 60 in his starts, and Chicago averages 31.9 shots per game. So it's certainly possible that he sees 30 to 35 shots tonight. The goalie produced two gems resulting in 30-plus FanDuel points before the dud against Washington on Sunday, when he was pulled after allowing 3 goals on 11 shots. Typically, Anaheim-Chicago games are lower scoring, which is why their combined projected total is just 5.12. If there is any hesitation on Gibson, wait until further confirmations trickle in regarding his starting status.

High-Priced Skaters

Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,300): Tarasenko against Edmonton's depth defenseman is a matchup everyone should be salivating over. The risk is that the Russian winger has not had a multi-point game since November 16 and has not broken 25 FanDuel points since October 27 against Chicago. Shot volume and chances have been pretty good, but this comes down to production. Goals in three of his last four games have led to a lot of chatter around Tarasenko, but ownership should play a big factor. The Oilers' penalty kill has improved, and they are still just over 73% on the road. Watch for the status of Timo Meier ($5,600), as he looks likely to return tonight against Carolina. Among the higher-priced wingers, Patrick Kane ($8,200) has been averaging just 9.6 FanDuel points per night over the previous four games. If you believe in a breakout, feel free to pivot there.

Connor McDavid ($9,100): McDavid gets a good matchup against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, as St. Louis allows 3.57 goals per game at home. The Edmonton center was practicing on Tuesday (illness), and all signs point toward him starting tonight. McDavid would boost the fortunes of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl as well, so Edmonton may be a pretty popular mini-stack because of the slate and how uncertain the other games are as far as scoring. McDavid provides ample potential for scoring chances given the Blues have yielded 22 goals over their last 5 contests. Ryan O'Reilly ($6,900) is a good pivot option along with Ryan Getzlaf ($7,100).

Value Skaters

Pontus Aberg ($3,700): Aberg keeps on keeping on as a must play on Wednesday night against Chicago. He has three goals and an assist in his last two games while producing 18-plus FanDuel points in three of his last four outings. Shot volume has been fairly high at 2.75 shots on net per contest in that span. His minutes are down to around 14 to 15 a night, which is a bit of a concern, however, he is being deployed more at home in the offensive zone (59.1% overall -- 61% at home). His value exceeds his price almost every night because his FanDuel price has remained fairly stagnant all season. Ondrej Kase ($3,900) is another possibility, along with Alex Chiasson ($3,600). Again, Chiasson is a bit more high-risk given the uncertainty in line shifts with Edmonton.

Vince Dunn ($3,600): Dunn is a high-risk play on Wednesday as value plays are few and far between on Wednesday. The Blues' defenseman has just 2 assists in his last 10 games. He is averaging two shots a game and just under a block a contest -- a decent but not great floor for a defenseman. The hope is that Dunn can do something on the man advantage. Five of his nine points have come on the power play. Henri Jokiharju ($3,800) is an even more risky play for Chicago, and you could also try St. Louis' Chris Butler ($3,500).


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.