Spending up in any daily fantasy lineup is how to get the superstars and the highest upside players in your lineup. NHL DFS is different from NBA or NFL daily fantasy. Someone can be one of the highest-salaried players at his position and put up a total dud of a performance, and committing a ton of salary to him can be very costly. Let’s make sure we are going after the right high-salary players when building our lineups tonight.
Monday night gives us eight games on this NHL DFS slate. Let's find some studs!
Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $9,200
The Colorado Avalanche center plays one of his favorite teams in the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. Arizona comes off a tough 1-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. MacKinnon has eight real-world points in six meetings versus the Coyotes.
Colorado frequently produces 35+ shots versus Arizona and has dominated the flow of play over the season series. If Adin Hill has to start for the Coyotes, it could be a long night as he will be on the back end of a back-to-back.
There are quite a few stud centers on this slate for a Monday night but MacKinnon has the best matchup and greatest potential to surpass 20+ FanDuel points as he has done so in three of his last four outings.
Auston Matthews ($9,000) comes off a hat trick versus the Ottawa Senators and faces a reeling Montreal Canadiens team. Also, Sebastian Aho ($7,400) faces a Detroit Red Wings team that may be without Jonathan Bernier if he gets traded before Monday's 3:00 PM EDT deadline.
Alex DeBrincat, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks
FanDuel Salary: $7,000
The Chicago Blackhawks' winger has that shoot-first mentality when his confidence is high. He comes off a game where he had a goal, an assist, four shots on goal, and four scoring chances. The Columbus Blue Jackets have allowed over 34 shots per 60 in their last ten games. Chicago was able to easily rally for four straight goals over the weekend then hold on to win 4-3. Columbus had little answer for the Patrick Kane and DeBrincat duo once they got going.
Utilizing DeBrincat saves a bit of salary to use elsewhere among other studs, etc. Columbus just does not have much in the way to stop or slow down Chicago on Monday night or their seventh-ranked power play (24.1%) for that matter.
Max Pacioretty ($7,500) from the Vegas Golden Knights has a solid matchup against the Los Angeles Kings and even Evander Kane ($7,400) could make for a surprisingly good choice versus Anaheim on Monday night.
Dougie Hamilton, Defenseman, Carolina Hurricanes
FanDuel Salary: $6,400
Dougie Hamilton has one of the better matchups against the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night and enjoyed a Saturday night where he had a goal, assist, three shots, and two blocks against the very same team.
When going up against the Detroit Red Wings, Hamilton has real-world points in his last four meetings and multiple points in three of those four games. Hamilton remains a threat to fire at least five shots or more on goal. Also, the Detroit penalty kill ranks as one of the worst on the slate (27th overall at 75.4%).
Cale Makar ($5,700) is one alternative against the Arizona Coyotes and also do not forget Jeff Petry ($5,500) who may be more of a risk/reward pick on Monday against the Maple Leafs.
Connor Hellebuyck, Goalie, Winnipeg Jets
FanDuel Salary: $7,700
Connor Hellebuyck is facing the Ottawa Senators on Monday which carries some risk but Ottawa is also capable of hitting the 30-35 shot range against the Winnipeg Jets.
Combine that with Hellebuyck's lower salary tonight and the fact that he is playing well and there is a recipe for success. The Winnipeg goalie has one of the better win probabilities on the night going against an Ottawa team that allows the most goals per game on the slate at 3.76. Hellebuyck swept Montreal and posted a 19-save shutout on Saturday night to boot. He just beat Ottawa last Monday night.
Tonight's slate gives us some pause because of the trade deadline but Philipp Grubauer ($8,300) faces a team that he has won three straight times against in the Arizona Coyotes. He is confirmed to start on Monday.
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.