NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 1/23/19
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 ($7,600): The Anaheim Ducks are projected to start Gibson against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. Gibson has pulled off two straight wins and made 68 saves in those victories. St. Louis plays better on the road, though, which increases risk. Both teams have yielded fewer than three goals per game over their last five contests. Gibson should see a moderately high save count, and his price is a value on a night where Marc-Andre Fleury is $9,100 against Nashville. As always, wait for morning skates for more confirmations. Watch out with Anaheim as Randy Carlyle is famous for waiting until after lock to announce his starting goalie. Carey Price ($8,600) could be highly owned against an Arizona team that is banged up and played last night.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($8,400): MacKinnon's price dropped $200 more for Wednesday night. Part of the reason is the center has had a few off nights of late. Carrying a team is not easy and the Colorado Avalanche first line has been one of the best at it all season. Minnesota has yielded 15 goals in their last five contests, and Devan Dubnyk has been hit or miss in net for Minnesota -- two starts of five goals allowed and two quality starts in the previous four games. Colorado still has one of the more dangerous power plays in the league at 24.9%, and a big reason for that is MacKinnon. Auston Matthews ($8,000) could have a slump breaking night against a Washington Capitals team that has allowed 24 goals in their last four contests.
Alex Ovechkin ($8,200): Ovechkin is a Russian machine that keeps on rolling. His hat trick last night gave him 36 goals on the season. Also, there were the several hits, five shots on net, and three blocks. Washington has to score goals to win and is on the back end of a back-to-back against a high-paced Toronto Maple Leafs team. Combined shot totals could easily be in the 65-70 range or higher, and Ovechkin should have no problem topping 5-plus shots on this night. With the slate the way it is, plenty of other options do exist, including Viktor Arvidsson ($7,800), Mitchell Marner ($8,400), and Max Pacioretty ($6,600). Pacioretty is a cheaper alternative producing like the higher-priced players of late, topping 12 FanDuel points in four straight starts.
Value Skaters
Brandon Pirri ($4,100): Pirri simply remains well below market price on FanDuel, so why not keep playing him? Two less than stellar games should never dissuade anyone, considering he hits the net at a 3.4 shots per game clip. A good matchup against Nashville, who has a 78% penalty kill over their last 15 games is a reasonable one to take advantage of. With both teams giving up three-plus goals a game in their last half-dozen games, scoring and pace could be elevated tonight as well. Vincent Hinostroza ($3,700) also presents some value against Montreal on Wednesday night.
Devin Shore ($3,200): Shore is as high-risk as they come against St. Louis, but the Anaheim forward has basically been playing on the top line in the last three games. Even if he is bumped down to the second line, Shore expects to see around 15-16 minutes of ice time. As low as his price is, the winger is worth at least a punt in a few lineups because of the ample opportunities he has been shown. Matt Calvert ($3,400) is another viable option from Colorado. Colorado's second line has dipped so low in price that they could be a punt line stack on Wednesday night (under $10,000).
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.
