NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 4/4/19

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

Joey Daccord ($7,100): The Ottawa Senators' goalie is expected to face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Daccord was called up simply to see what he could do in a spot start situation. Ottawa is not rested, but the Buffalo Sabres have lost eight straight games. They have scored just seven goals over the last five games despite some higher shot totals. That bodes well for the Daccord as a punt play on Thursday night. The best bet is to watch morning skates intently to see who is starting or may start. With teams resting players and others playing the youth, it is best to wait a bit. Taking a look at whoever starts for the Carolina Hurricanes in particular may be a solid option.

High-Priced Skaters

Connor McDavid ($9,200): The forward plays well when he is angry. He had a multiple-point effort after coming back from a suspension earlier in the season. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl make for one prolific scoring tandem and though they are expensive (217 points is impressive), the duo is worth it. San Jose struggling mightily helps here as they have lost eight of nine games and allowed nearly four goals a game in that span. It matters little if Martin Jones or Aaron Dell is in net -- the Sharks give up so many chances and goals in bunches. No defensive pairing can slow down the top Edmonton Oilers line very much. Watch for the status of Evgeni Malkin ($8,500) as he is now a game-time decision versus Detroit.

Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,700): Tarasenko enjoys a home matchup against a Philadelphia Flyers team that is playing out the string. The St. Louis Blues still have a chance to win the Central Division, and the Russian winger is heating up with points in consecutive games and three of his last four. The Flyers' penalty kill is just 77% on the road, and though Brian Elliott is getting the start, even Philadelphia may continue resting some of their players. Watch to see who is playing for them Thursday night. Tarasenko, however, will play, and has 16 shots on 27 attempts in his last four contests. Plus, he generated 12 scoring chances. Viktor Arvidsson ($7,600) and Gabriel Landeskog ($7,600) also present reasonable GPP choices against Vancouver and Winnipeg, respectively.

Value Skaters

Joel Eriksson Ek ($3,500): With players resting and injured for Minnesota, Eriksson Ek again gets an extended look in the top six. He scored a goal in his last game, and his speed is a major asset against Boston on Thursday. He may play with Ryan Donato, who is also a value power option at home against his former team. As for the Swede, he had three shots on goal on Tuesday during the 5-1 home win. Winnipeg had problems all night containing his speed rush, and the result was several quality scoring chances. Again, stacking cheaply is wise on a night where the cheaper choices may pay bigger dividends. Evan Rodrigues ($3,700) still is priced nicely for top-six minutes and had multiple points in his last game.

Victor Olofsson ($3,500): Olofsson continues to play with Jack Eichel and not look out of place. He fired three shots on net along with creating three scoring chances in yet another Buffalo loss. At least Ottawa still allows 35-plus shots per game, so he should build towards value. Ottawa's penalty kill has improved to nearly 80%, but their 5-on-5 play is still among the five worst in high-danger chances allowed per 60. If Olofsson is not safe enough, there is always Taro Hirose ($3,500) and Colin Wilson ($3,400).

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