NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 1/9/19

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Jan 9th, 2019
Johnny Gaudreau's upside is tough to ignore on tonight's three-game slate. Who else can you trust in NHL DFS?

A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, 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 ($7,900): The Anaheim Ducks are projected to start Gibson at home against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night. Anaheim has lost eight straight games, but so has Ottawa. Something has got to give here. The Senators allow a whopping 4.89 goals per game on the road. Their penalty kill is a woeful 72% on the road as well. Furthermore, they may shoot more than usual as Anaheim allows 34.6 shots per game. Gibson's price has dropped down to leave him as a nice value on Wednesday night. The problem is everyone else will think that as well, so ownership should be high. Collin Delia ($7,900) is very risky, but so far he is averaging almost 30 FanDuel points per day, and he could see significantly lower ownership than Gibson.

High-Priced Skaters

Ryan Getzlaf ($6,600): Saving some money here is a challenge because of how high the Nathan MacKinnon ceiling is when it comes to the Colorado offense. Getzlaf has struggled of late with zero points in his last seven contests. A few games have seen the center creating and being active. However, too many times Getzlaf passes up on wide open shots or is just a half second too slow on passes. Thankfully Ottawa gives up over 37 shots a game, which is the most in the NHL. There should be more power plays than usual for Anaheim as well. Ottawa's penalty kill and 5-on-5 play have both been downright awful. Sean Monahan ($8,000) and Jonathan Toews ($6,800) are also solid options on a short Wednesday night slate. Check Getzlaf's linemates for a cheap stacking option as well.

Johnny Gaudreau ($8,900): The hottest player in the NHL not named Nikita Kucherov is none other than "Johnny Hockey". Gaudreau is on a five-game goal streak (seven goals in that time) and is facing a Colorado team which is not rested. Calgary can be a weird team to figure out but that top line has been so consistent all season, Lately, Gaudreau has been firing 3-plus shots with increasing frequency (14 of last 15 contests). He will be the highest owned forward on this night but there are ways to differentiate to brings costs down a bit. Among the other higher priced options at wing, Filip Forsberg ($6,800) is a risk/reward pick who averages over a point a game against Chicago.

Value Skaters

Mark Jankowski ($3,700): Jankowski represents a reasonable home punt option Wednesday night against a fatigued Colorado team. Bottom-six forwards are not usually players we want to target, but options are limited tonight. Jankowski scores just often enough to consider him. The risk is the last two games have been brutal from a fantasy standpoint (fewer than 5 FanDuel points in each). That will only further deflect ownership off the speedy center. Nick Bonino ($3,900) has some bottom-six potential as well against the Blackhawks.

Dominik Kahun ($3,900): Limited choices lead us to Kahun on Wednesday night. He has averaged 2.6 shots per game over the past five starts. That may not sound like much but this is nearly double his season average. Kahun likely will draw bottom-six matchups against Nashville. The winger played 15-plus minutes in 6 of his previous 8 games and even saw some power play time as well. Among other options. Rocco Grimaldi ($3,200) may be worth a dart along with Drake Batherson ($3,500). The Ottawa forward shook off the cobwebs with an assist on two shots and a blocked shot. His low minutes are a risk but his utilization is set up for more offensive zone starts (nearly 60%).


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.