NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 8/13/20
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 a goalie, some high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,000): The Tampa Bay Lightning will start Vasilevskiy in Game 2 after the five-overtime marathon on Tuesday. Though Vasilevskiy did not see the shot volume that Joonas Korpisalo did (88 shots, 85 saves), the Lightning goalie was brilliant, stopping several key high-danger chances from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Overall, he made 61 saves in the fourth-longest game in NHL history. Columbus has well-documented problems scoring, and Vasilevskiy is worth the start. See if Robin Lehner ($8,400) starts for the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. He should be well rested (20 saves, 19 shots).
High-Priced Skaters
Brayden Point ($7,700): Point was skating around and creating havoc in Game 1. Some argued he should have had a hat trick with all the chances he enjoyed (seven overall -- four in regulation). The center did score two goals, including the game-winner. The one eye-popping number was he played 46 minutes and did not look the least bit exhausted while everyone around him seemed to be. How will Columbus contain him as the series goes on is a valid question. The longer Steven Stamkos remains out or limited, the more viable of a fantasy play Point becomes. Elsewhere, Patrice Bergeron is still a bargain at just $7,300 from the Boston Bruins.
Andrei Svechnikov ($6,600): Svechnikov is not super high-priced, but he's upper tier enough given the playoff format. Svechnikov was just okay in Game 1, but even then he had a couple chances that made one open their mouths a bit. He played 21 minutes, and it showed (he had not played 18 in any game versus the New York Rangers in the last series). He could be in for a bounce-back game. Jon Audy-Marchessault ($7,000) is a possibility from Vegas in about this same bracket.
Value Skaters
Milan Lucic ($3,500): Lucic did it again for the Calgary Flames in Game 1. He has points in three consecutive games for the first time in what feels like forever. The winger was solid in Game 1 against the Dallas Stars with an assist and several chances. If he continues to play like this, he is a must play. We could always go with Ondrej Kase, who ate up some nice minutes for the Boston Bruins late in Game 1. He is $3,400 and had five shots in the first game.
David Savard ($3,900): The Columbus defenseman is another good floor play on Thursday against Tampa. Will we see five overtimes again? Probably not, obviously. For better or for worse, things tend to happen when Savard is on the ice. He had seven shots and 11 blocked shots in Game 1. Even if one halves that for the sake of argument, that is still exceeding value. The Tampa Bay offense is picking on the Savard pairing, and that is no secret. Combine that with Savard's ability to hit the net on offense, and one has the recipe for a value pick who saves a little money. Noah Hanifin ($3,900) may be worth a look from the Flames as well as Erik Cernak ($3,700) from Tampa Bay.
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.
