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
Mike Smith ($8,000): The Calgary Flames are projected to start Smith against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. Calgary presents the best chance at getting a win on the slate against the league-worst Senators. Smith has been solid in four of his last five starts but only has two wins to show for it. One risk with Calgary is they do limit shot totals a bit too often. Smith has not seen 30-plus shots in seven starts and does not expect to in this game, either. The biggest dilemma is trying to find quick enough confirmations to make fast decisions. Also, look to see who starts for Carolina and Boston. They figure to represent a high probability of delivering a win on Thursday night.
High-Priced Skaters
Patrice Bergeron ($8,400): Bergeron draws a great matchup against a New Jersey Devils team more focused on draft position than anything else. New Jersey has allowed 21 goals in their last five games and look like they could easily allow 4-plus goals again on Thursday night. Their AHL-like lineup figures to not include Kyle Palmieri once again. The Devils are a team that just cannot stay remotely healthy. Bergeron has double-digit FanDuel points in 11 of his last 12 games and has been a Devils killer through the years. That includes several multiple point games in the last couple seasons. Connor McDavid ($9,100) is an easy cash play on Thursday, but Aleksander Barkov ($8,100) is a secondary tournament option even against the Arizona Coyotes.
Patrick Kane ($9,000): This is another game that should have plenty of scoring, as both Philadelphia and Chicago can pile up goals. The combined allowed goals is nearly 7 for this game as both teams approach 3.5 goals yielded in their home/road splits. The biggest risk for Kane, and any stacks, is both teams have hit the under in their last two contests. Despite that, the expectation is that the winger's speed will be too much for a Flyers team that looked stuck in neutral for long stretches against the Montreal Canadiens. Furthermore, the Flyers' penalty kill is less than 75% since January 1. Ouch! Brad Marchand ($8,500) is an easy choice for Boston, and do not forget John Gaudreau ($8,300) versus an Ottawa Senators team on the back end of a back to back.
Value Skaters
Oskar Sundqvist ($3,700): Sundqvist going up against a Detroit Red Wings team that gave up 40-plus shots to the New York Rangers on Tuesday night could be a nice value pick. Sundqvist can be an all-or-nothing player but does have two plus value performances in his previous three contests. The St. Louis Blues third line could be quite a surprise on this night and will be less than 1% owned. Sometimes it is okay to take risks against teams like Detroit who allow 3.56 goals per game on the road and frequently get beat by speed rushes. Tyson Jost ($3,600) is an intriguing but contrarian play for the Colorado Avalanche given his 18 shots on net over the past five games.
Kenny Agostino ($4,100): Agostino is a low-risk play on Thursday against Boston. The winger has exceeded value in three of his last four starts as New Jersey grasps at straws just to field a team. All kidding aside, Agostino has been very good at getting into good shooting positions with his speed and release. Boston may have a problem with containing him at times. That has been the one common trait with the Devils' top line. It is still dangerous, just in less sustained waves. Sean Kuraly ($3,600) presents a lower-tiered option to plug in as a one-off.
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