NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 1/9/20
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
Jordan Binnington ($8,700): The St. Louis Blues goalie is likely to start on Thursday night versus the Buffalo Sabres. He has won seven of his last eight starts, including the previous two home games. Those two home wins produced 25-plus FanDuel points in each. There are a few alternatives on Thursday to consider, as well. See who starts for Vegas against a downtrodden Los Angeles Kings team that averages 2.3 goals per game on the road. Also, there is Henrik Lundqvist ($7,400), who could see a high number of shots against the New Jersey Devils.
High-Priced Skaters
Mika Zibanejad ($7,600): The center struck back after a couple of cold performances with a goal, assist, and three shots against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. He enjoys a prime matchup against a New Jersey team that allows 3.4 goals per contest. New Jersey is a team that has historically fared poorly versus the Rangers on the penalty kill. Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin have enjoyed playing the Devils in the early going this season. The center has two points in two games with 11 shots versus New Jersey with nine scoring chances. Expect plenty of chances in this tilt. Patrice Bergeron ($7,900) against a tired Winnipeg Jets team could also be a winning proposition on Thursday night.
David Pastrnak ($8,800): Pastrnak is on one of his scoring runs with 16 real-world points in his previous 11 games. He has five-plus shots on goal and three-plus scoring chances in four of those past five outings. The winger finds ways to get open in prime areas to shoot. He did that just 96 seconds into his last game versus Nashville. His consistency lies in the fact that he has 18-plus FanDuel points in each of his last four games. Playing Winnipeg presents an opportunity for a big breakout night against an expected backup goaltender. Patrick Kane ($8,400) against the Predators is another solid GPP play tonight, too.
Value Skaters
Noel Acciari ($4,000): Acciari is always a risk because he only scores goals for the most part. His goals to assist ratio is 5 to 1 (15 goals overall on the season). However, the forward is playing top-six minutes with 15-plus minutes played in 10 consecutive starts. He has three goals in his past six games. The Vancouver Canucks just allowed nine goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning and yield 3.48 goals per game on the road. Acciari's speed could cause the Canucks a ton of fits with their less-than-mobile defense. Ilya Kovalchuk ($4,000) has three points in his first two games for Montreal. Can he keep it up?
Connor Murphy ($3,900): Murphy has played like a cheaper version of Alexander Edler of late, and that is never a bad thing. The Chicago Blackhawks defender has 15 blocked shots in his last five games with three assists and 11 shots. That is a solid floor for a player who is below $4,000. Jakob Chychrun ($3,800) is another value floor play on Thursday on the road against the high-scoring Lightning.
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.
