NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 12/4/19

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Dec 4th, 2019
Nathan MacKinnon is a headliner as usual, taking on a Toronto Maple Leafs team on the second night of a back-to-back. Who else can you trust in NHL DFS?

A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion of you 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.

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

Mikko Koskinen ($8,400): The Edmonton Oilers will start Koskinen on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators. Koskinen has topped 20 FanDuel points in three straight games and that includes a 50-shot barrage from the Colorado Avalanche. The goalie started off hot last year, but the addition of Mike Smith in net seems to have grounded the Finnish netminder. He does not get too high or too low in his demeanor. The result is 10 wins in 16 games played and only 4 losses in regulation. Also, Jonathan Quick ($7,200) is a high-risk play against a Washington Capitals team on the back end of a back-to-back, due to a low number of shots faced.

High-Priced Skaters

Nathan MacKinnon ($9,200): MacKinnon is just automatic points at this juncture. He has topped 35 FanDuel points in three straight games and faces the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are on the back end of a back-to-back tonight. Also, they are starting Michael Hutchinson, who has allowed four-plus goals in five straight games. If there was a perfect storm of happenstance, this would be it. Connor McDavid ($9,000) against the Ottawa Senators is basically the same thing -- Ottawa allows 3.69 goals per game on the road.

Leon Draisaitl ($8,400): Draisaitl just cannot stop producing. He has 50 real-world points in 29 games. Some expect big regression, but that has not occurred yet. Draisaitl has 18 goals on 92 shots (19.6%). His shot average is 3.17 shots per contest, which is not elite but still good. Again, Ottawa is one of those teams that can give him some crooked goal totals on the road and also played last night. Mikko Rantanen ($7,600) could be a solid option as MacKinnon's wingman on Wednesday night, especially against Toronto.

Value Skaters

Alex Chiasson ($3,600): Chiasson got the bump up due to the injury to Zack Kassian (back) and responded with a couple assists playing with Draisaitl. Expect more of that on Wednesday against an Ottawa penalty kill that's only 79% on the road. There is not a lot of value on the short slate, but Chiasson could be it. Valeri Nichushkin ($3,600) has points in three of his last four games and could be on the radar tonight, as well.

Ryan Graves ($3,800): Graves is behind Cale Makar but quietly producing steady DFS points from Colorado. He has 15-plus FanDuel points in each of his previous three outings, and again, Toronto is one of the five best teams to score DFS points on (they allow 2.93 goals per game at home). Graves and his low price can be a bit risky but feature a higher reward, as well. Darnell Nurse ($4,000) is at a higher price but is great at peripherals (5.2 shots and blocked shots combined per contest).

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.