NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 3/22/19

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 ($7,700): The Anaheim Ducks are projected to start Gibson against the San Jose Sharks on Friday night. Anaheim presents the goalie with the highest chance of facing 30-plus shots and getting a win on this slate. Gibson has been excellent in four of his last five starts and has wins in those four quality starts. One risk with Anaheim is they can throw a dud in there like they did versus Winnipeg. Gibson against the Sharks is almost a guarantee high-shot scenario considering eight of the last ten meetings have seen Gibson face more than the league average of shots on goal. Braden Holtby ($8.800) is a risky start but has the next highest chance of a win on the slate.

High-Priced Skaters

Evander Kane ($6,900): Kane carries quite a bit of risk as he has no goals, no points, and just 13 shots in his last six games. It is not a secret that he is struggling currently. However, with the flu going around San Jose, so far he is one of the few top-six players that seems to be unaffected. Kane historically has fared well against Anaheim from a shot and scoring chances standpoint (12 shots, 11 chances this year). It will be crucial to see who plays for San Jose and who does not. Remember, Joe Pavelski has missed a few games as well. Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,600), along with the top Washington Capitals line, should be the highest owned trio on the slate.

Alex Ovechkin ($9,100): This is another game that should have plenty of scoring, as both Minnesota and Washington can yield some goals. The combined allowed goals are nearly seven for this game. The biggest risk for Ovechkin, and any stacks, is both teams have played flashes of good defense occasionally. Despite that, the expectation is that the winger's office will be open at least a few times at even-strength and on the power play. Furthermore, the left winger came off of one of his worst performances of the season against New Jersey with an 11-shot effort against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ovechkin hit a crossbar as well and attempted 15-plus shots! Zach Parise ($6,600) is a good play on Friday against a softer than usual Capitals defense.

Value Skaters

Luke Kunin ($3,200): As long as Kunin keeps getting top-line minutes, he is well worth the price. The pivot is generating quality scoring chances, but none are going in of late. Slumps happen, but Washington offers hope in the form of a sub-par penalty kill (77.5% since February 1), and they have allowed 3.8 goals per game over the last five games, along with yielding the most high-danger chances per 60 in that span. Yes, Washington can score a ton of goals, but their defense leaves much to be desired sometimes. Ryan Donato ($3,800) offers a cute way to stack cheaply in a Minnesota-Washington game stack scenario. Also, Devin Shore ($3,700) may be worth a flier for Anaheim.

Nick Ritchie ($3,600): Ritchie, amusingly enough, is almost a safe value play on Friday night against San Jose. He usually gets a floor close enough to value and is in a good spot against San Jose's depth lines. It will be a bit tough to gauge things with San Jose unless the status of Joe Pavelski is determined early like it was on Thursday. Ritchie, by the way, has exceeded value in three of his last four starts. The real-world points may not always come, but at this price, the winger is a good enough play. There are some additional options like Daniel Sprong ($4,000), Marcus Sorensen ($3,800), and the above mentioned Ryan Donato.

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