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 a goalie, some high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Joonas Korpisalo ($7,600): The Columbus Blue Jackets will start Korpisalo on Friday night against Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota comes in after drubbing the Detroit Red Wings, 7-1, on Thursday night. The back end of back-to-back games can be adventurous. Columbus is 19-11-4 at home while yielding just 2.18 goals per game. Korpisalo returned from injury Monday and saved the day for Columbus, stopping 14 of 15 shots in a win versus Ottawa Senators. Carter Hart and Alexandar Georgiev are a total coin flip, so look to see who starts for Vegas tonight perhaps.
High-Priced Skaters
Mika Zibanejad ($8,200): The motto is keep playing him and damn the consequences. Zibanejad has goals in seven straight games and has an identical floor of a goal and four shots/blocks in his previous three contests. The consistency is a good way to gain a footing tonight in DFS. For what it is worth, games between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers can be high-scoring. At the very least, expect plenty of scoring chances from both sides. If one feels a little iffy with Zibanejad, then look at Sean Couturier ($7,300) against a team that allows 35-plus shots per 60 on the road.
Max Pacioretty ($8,400): Pacioretty with Mark Stone is a frightening duo to say the least, and it looks like Buffalo may have some issues with Jack Eichel, as well. What matters is this: Pacioretty has nine goals and 14 points in his last 10 games. This includes 45 shots on goal and a ridiculous 31 scoring chances. Stone and William Karlsson help Pacioretty gain the space needed to fire shots on net with plenty of accuracy. There is a reason why the left-winger is the highest-priced winger on the night. His previous 10-game stretch had him shooting at less than 5%. Now, that number is 20%. Travis Konecny ($6,800) is a higher-risk option but has 13 goals and 31 points in 31 home games for Philadelphia,
Value Skaters
Conor Sheary ($3,800): This did not work out against the Los Angeles Kings. but Sheary had two scoring chances and one shot on net in 18 minutes of action. That 18 minutes is significant. If he gets close to that kind of time again, expect him to get a few shots on net and maybe hit value. That low price helps, and, yes, the Anaheim Ducks have issues at home, yielding three goals a game at Honda Center. Elsewhere, Joonas Donskoi ($3,800) garners some top-six time due to injuries for Colorado.
Mathew Dumba ($3,700): The Minnesota defenseman is a high-risk play, but he did score twice against Detroit to break a long cold stretch where he had just one goal since November 12th. Maybe this was the spark needed to get him going. Either way, the Wild need Dumba to produce points at a more regular rate if they want to make the playoffs. His price stayed the same even after the performance in Detroit, which makes him an option few may consider just because of Columbus and their excellent home defense. Adam Fox ($3.800) should have an easier matchup on Friday and may avoid the Flyers' top line most of the time.
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.