NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 4/11/19

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

Braden Holtby ($8,800): Holtby has won his last five starts, and the Washington Capitals' goalie projects to be out there against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. There will be an electric atmosphere in Washington given all the memories from last year's run. Playoff hockey is a different animal, and it is something the Hurricanes have not seen in a decade. Furthermore, Holtby is beginning to look like the old Holtby at the right time. His ability to keep it together in the postseason was a big reason why Washington won the Stanley Cup. For a more risky tournament option, Petr Mrazek at just $7,700 is worth a shot, and Tuukka Rask ($8,600) has some potential to provide a surprising amount of points.

High-Priced Skaters

Sebastian Aho ($6,600): The forward is playing fairly well but hasn't been getting the results. He's averaged three-plus shots over the past 12 games but has zero goals to show for it. Aho has now failed to score a goal in just over a month. That means automatic risk, but with all the scoring chances, goals are bound to start occurring. The Capitals' defense is one of the most porous in the league. They allow 13.1 high-danger chances per 60, and their penalty kill has been around 77% since January 1st. Though Carolina ranks just 20th on the power play, they have shown some signs of improvement. Patrice Bergeron ($8,300) or one of the Toronto Maple Leafs' top centers can be considered as contrarian plays.

David Pastrnak ($8,200): Pastrnak is a Toronto killer in every way. At home, the winger has 48 real-world points in 33 games. Also, in four meetings, the right winger has six goals and nine points against the Maple Leafs. Toronto has not found a way to even slow Pastrnak down, and it's almost like Toronto just needs to minimize the damage he and the Bruins' top line does. Among other options, Alex Ovechkin ($9,100) and John Gaudreau ($8.000) are viable high-point plays on Thursday.

Value Skaters

Tyson Jost ($4,100): The Colorado Avalanche do not appear to have a huge chance in this series against the Calgary Flames. However, Colorado averages a good bit over three goals a game, so they are fantasy viable. Jost has real-world points in two of his last three games. Mark Jankowski ($4,000) is another sneaky play from the middle six.

Karson Kuhlman ($3,400): Kuhlman only sees second line ice time at even strength, and he sees little or no power play time and penalty kill time. However, he seems to show a knack for being in the right spots at the right time. Among other options, Carl Hagelin has double-digit FanDuel points in two of his last four games.

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