Spending up in any daily fantasy lineup is how to get the superstars and the highest upside players in your lineup. In NHL DFS, it’s different from paying up in sports like NBA or NFL. Someone can be one of the highest salaried players at his position and put up a total dud of a performance, and paying that much for him would be a huge mistake. Let’s make sure we are paying up in the right spots when building our lineups tonight.
Wednesday night has five contests on the main slate. Let's dive in.
Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
Nathan MacKinnon is a cheaper, high-scoring alternative to Auston Matthews on Wednesday night by $700, which sounds crazy but it is true. Colorado has arguably the better matchup against a defensively-strapped Minnesota Wild team. MacKinnon has nine real-world points in the previous six games. That includes three-plus shots and three-plus scoring chances in five of those six contests.
There is more than one way to utilize MacKinnon on Wednesday night. One can look at the Colorado Avalanche power play or even go down to a Devon Toews and form a center-wing-defense stack. These are the types of slates where it is okay to go a bit off the typical track.
Also, look down to Anze Kopitar ($7,400) against a St. Louis Blues team that is all over the place defensively. That cannot hurt. Furthermore, John Tavares might be in play from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
James van Riemsdyk, Wing, Philadelphia Flyers
FanDuel Salary: $6,600
So, one of the better lines in the league could carry a little risk. James van Riemsdyk has been on fire to start the season with 8 goals and 13 assists in 15 games. That is on 33 shots, which constitutes a shooting percentage of 24.1%. The winger has basically been the Philadelphia power play -- scoring six of those eight tallies on the man advantage. Can one expect this to continue long-term? No. Short-term? That's possible.
The Philadelphia Flyers have struggled offensively of late, and their man-advantage is middle of the pack (17th). It would be in the bottom-third if not for van Riemsdyk. While the top-line winger has been on a streak, he has been averaging way more scoring chances -- 3.2 per game -- without Claude Giroux in the lineup. It has been for the worse team-wise but for the better individual-wise.
Elsewhere, look at Mikko Rantanen ($7,700) from the Avalanche for Nathan MacKinnon exposure again. Finally, going back to Mitchell Marner ($8,400) is plausible after an off-night on Monday.
Drew Doughty, Defenseman, Los Angeles Kings
FanDuel Salary: $6,300
This features risk, but Drew Doughty has enjoyed a resurgence along with the Los Angeles Kings' top-line. There is the right mix of points, blocked shots, and even scoring chances generated. He had two or more shots again on Monday night despite missing a few opportunities.
The best news is again that floor. Doughty is increasing his shots and blocked shots the past few games and plays a St. Louis team that yielded three more goals on Monday night. The Blues are a team that cannot stay healthy with many marquee names out of their lineup. This should set up well for other plays with the Kings, as well.
Other choices might include Torey Krug ($5,300) from St. Louis and even Devon Toews ($5,000) from Colorado.
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/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.