NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 12/23/19

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Dec 23rd, 2019
The Christmas push is tonight with 13 games on Monday night before the break. So, who 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

Corey Crawford ($7,400): Crawford expects to start for the Chicago Blackhawks against a down-trodden New Jersey Devils team who scores less than two goals per game on the road. This is in spite of averaging over 31 shots per game away from home. Chicago yields a league-worst 35.9 shots per game, which should help boost New Jersey's totals. The Devils' shooting percentage is third-worst in the league at 7.9% and plummeting. New Jersey is one of the worst teams in the league for a reason, and Crawford is cheap enough to take advantage. See if Henrik Lundqvist ($7,200) starts tonight. This could be a risky contrarian pick with high save potential.

High-Priced Skaters

Jack Eichel ($8,800): While Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid both play tonight, it is Eichel who arguably has the best matchup versus the Ottawa Senators. Eichel is on a 15-game point streak, and still had an assist, two shots, and four blocks on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. Ottawa is one of those teams that can easily give up 3-4 goals very quickly, and Eichel has exceeded a point-a-game in his career versus the Senators. Ottawa allows 3.24 goals per game and 32.8 shots per game, all of which should be good for Eichel owners. MacKinnon ($9,000) does see a non-rested Vegas Golden Knights team on Monday, which may make for a viable alternative to Eichel.

Patrick Kane ($8,500): Chicago faces one of the worst teams in the league in New Jersey who give up 3.51 goals per game (3.71 per contest on the road). Kane has ten real-world points in his last five games, including a recent hat trick against the Minnesota Wild. The Chicago Blackhawks forward is gifted a matchup against a team that is 29th on the penalty kill over the last month and still plays the same, basic system. Kane's line should be able to rush the puck up the ice with ease and generate plenty of scoring chances. Alex Ovechkin ($8,300) is intriguing with 18 shots on net in his last three games, going against a Boston Bruins squad tonight.

Value Skaters

Noel Acciari ($3,800): Play the Florida Panthers forward until he stops scoring. It is that simple. He has goals in three straight games (seven in all), and draws a Tampa Bay Lightning team that has not figured it out defensively just yet. Both teams give up well over three goals a game, and if this was not a 13-game slate, this would be a game to stack. Acciari is still priced cheap, which means take advantage of it while one can. He averages three shots and two-plus blocks a game during this stretch, so ride the wave. Matt Calvert ($3,900) is another player to look at coming off a two-goal performance over the weekend, with five shots on net.

Connor Murphy ($3,600): While there are plenty of good, value options on Monday night, Chicago players carry a ton of value. One of those is Murphy, who has 12 blocks in his last three games along with five shots on net. That is a decent floor to build off of, and he could get a point against perhaps one of the worst road teams in the league (New Jersey). Ryan Graves and Neal Pionk are both $3,800 and are viable possibilities tonight in games where scoring could also be very high.


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.