NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 1/3/20

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Jan 3rd, 2020
Friday night brings us just two games on the schedule, but Ben Bishop has been fantastic lately. Who else can you trust in NHL DFS tonight?

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

Ben Bishop ($8,800): The options are limited, but Bishop is expected to start on Friday night for the Dallas Stars versus the Detroit Red Wings. Bishop's previous two starts have been nothing short of masterful, stopping 72 of his last 76 shots in wins over Colorado and Nashville. After a slow start, Bishop has rebounded to where his goals saved above average is among the top-five in the league at 14.68. This means he keeps an extra 15 pucks out of the net above average. That adds up over the course of a season. Additionally, Ilya Samsonov ($8,100) could be a backdoor play for the Washington Capitals against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight.

High-Priced Skaters

Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,800): The chalk is with Tyler Seguin, and while that ownership won't be as high as Bishop's, it will be significant on this two-game slate. Kuznetsov has three goals in his last two games as he's started firing more pucks on net. He has three-plus shots on net in three of his last five contests. Carolina expects to start Petr Mrazek in net, and goals could be plentiful. The last four meetings between these two teams have produced a total of 29 goals. Old Southeast Division rivalries are often buoyed by high-event games and higher-scoring outcomes. Nicklas Backstrom ($6,600) is a choice who could be used for a slightly lower-cost alternative in tonight's upper tier.

Alexander Radulov ($7,200): Radulov has had a bit of an uneven season, with some healthy scratches and poor play, but despite that, he does have points in his last three outings. Overall, he is on a nine-game point streak (12 points) as the only thing which has derailed him is taking some dumb penalties. As long as he stays on the top line and top power-play unit, this is an easy choice to make given Detroit's woeful penalty kill, which is 30th in the league (73%). Most will gravitate toward Seguin and forget Radulov on this slate. Alex Ovechkin ($8,500) is the only other viable high-priced target on Friday night.

Value Skaters

Martin Necas ($3,500): Necas suffers from up and down shot volume as most young rookies sometimes do at this juncture of the season. Though he has five real-world points in his last four games, he has eight shots on goal. Before that, it was a lot of zero and one shot outputs. He did perform well in his last game against Washington, scoring a goal and blocking a shot. Necas had three scoring chances in just 12-plus minutes of action. The winger will have to flash more of his speed against Washington's depth much like he did last week. Denis Gurianov ($3,500) is the other option from Dallas, and he has real-world points in four of his previous five games.

Brett Pesce ($3,600): Pesce has not been great floor-wise but has produced a little offensively of late. He has three points in his last four games, including a goal and a short-handed assist. Furthermore, he has fired nine shots on net in that time. The only drawback is the one blocked shot, and Pesce's blocked shots have gone down from previous seasons. He is averaging over 1.5 blocks per night this year, but over the past half-dozen outings, that average dips to 0.33. Among other value defensemen, Michal Kempny ($3,600) of Washington could be worth a look.


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.