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
Jacob Markstrom ($7,900): The Vancouver Canucks are projected to start Markstrom against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night. San Jose has won five straight games while scoring 23 goals in that span. However, their defense has allowed 14 goals and is yielding 20% more scoring chances without Erik Karlsson; Markstrom turned in a 44-save gem of a performance against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. San Jose figures to shoot on net almost as much as Calgary. Carter Hart gets the start on Monday night for Philadelphia and is priced at $8,800, offering some appeal despite a risky matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's also worth checking to see who winds up starting for Washington as they face the Los Angeles Kings, who average just 2.1 goals per game on the road.
High-Priced Skaters
Claude Giroux ($7,300): Giroux and the Philadelphia Flyers enjoy a pretty good matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. Giroux has 15 career goals in 46 games against Pittsburgh (2nd most against any team). He averages nearly three shots per game now and will cause havoc against Pittsburgh's defense. The Penguins have yielded 18 goals in their last five games and typically these meetings are high-scoring. This game has high-event outcomes written all over it. Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,600) is one solid option tonight for the Capitals. He has 11 real-world points over his last seven contests.
Alex Ovechkin ($8,700): Ovechkin is a good tournament play against a bad Los Angeles penalty kill (74% on the road). Despite a 3-1-1 record in their last five contests, the Kings still have yielded 15 goals over that time period. As Los Angeles has opened their offense up, their defense has too. Ovechkin from the slot on the power-play could strike gold tonight. Los Angeles is in the bottom third in allowing passes to the slot on their penalty kill. Evander Kane ($7,500) is a GPP option on Monday against Vancouver, and Phil Kessel ($7,400) could be as well given Philadelphia's 76.2% penalty kill.
Value Skaters
Adrian Kempe ($4,200): This is a reasonable value play, given how Kempe now has points in four straight games. Shot volume is excellent here, and Kempe has hit the net an average of three times over the last five starts. Washington is allowing around three goals per game at home in January and February. The winger could make an impact given his increased ice time (15 or more minutes in four straight games). Jared McCann ($3,600) is an intriguing value option on Monday due to a favorable matchup against Philadelphia's depth lines.
Josh Leivo ($3,600): Leivo has enjoyed modest success since being traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now on Vancouver's top line, he has six real-world points in his last six games. Shot and chance volume can be a little inconsistent but opportunities may be there tonight against San Jose. His ice time is now up to 16-17 minutes a night and he is seeing power-play time as well. His price and deployment combined indicate good value on a small Monday night slate. Kevin Labanc ($4,000) and Oskar Lindblom ($4,100) present as solid value choices on this slate.
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.