3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 4/21/21

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 heats up the ice with a four-game NHL DFS slate. Let's hunt for some studs!

Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers

FanDuel Salary: $9,100

Connor McDavid was fired up versus the Montreal Canadiens but it took a couple of periods for the real-world points to come. The third period on Monday night in Edmonton saw the center tally a goal and two assists as Edmonton swooped in for a 4-1 victory. It was more encouraging to see the five scoring chances created even if McDavid only hit the net four times.

The center has three games of four-plus shots on goal in his last five starts. He also has 10 real-world points in his last five games. Montreal will be starting Jake Allen in goal again and that alone should bolster McDavid and his Edmonton linemates.

Montreal is just not the same team without Brendan Gallagher in the lineup. They can be attacked by a dynamic offensive threat like McDavid. It does not matter if the Edmonton Oilers center plays 27+ minutes, the Canadiens just do not have that shutdown defensive pairing right now. If McDavid is engaged early then look out!

Wednesday features quite a drop in salary but Tomas Hertl ($6,200) is the best of the alternatives from the San Jose Sharks.

Max Pacioretty, Wing, Vegas Golden Knights

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

Max Pacioretty plays the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. San Jose ranks as the worst defensively when it comes to allowing DFS points to wingers. Pacioretty comes in with eight real-world points in his last five games. Also, he has not dipped below two shots in any game during that span and has added a couple of blocked shots too.

Quietly, Pacioretty has been rested in this latest stretch a little bit. He played less than 17 minutes in three straight games before Monday night's 21-plus minute allotment. With the compressed schedule, Peter DeBoer saw opportunities to rest both him and Mark Stone. It could pay dividends tonight as every game is vital with the Colorado Avalanche chasing Vegas.

Pacioretty expects to have plenty of chances in this game. San Jose has little to play for and Martin Jones is projected to be in net for the Sharks. Jones has allowed. He yielded 16 goals before a 38-save gem in Vegas on Monday. The probability of that occurring again is low.

The small slate has a few other options including Alex DeBrincat ($7,100) from the Chicago Blackhawks against a bottom-five penalty kill in the Nashville Predators. Also, Kirill Kaprizov and the red-hot Minnesota Wild power-play is a viable choice on Wednesday night.

Jakob Chychrun, Defenseman, Arizona Coyotes

FanDuel Salary: $5,100

The time to take some risks is now on these shorter slates as the playoffs approach. Jakob Chychrun is one of the more consistent DFS performers from the blueline that still has a reasonable salary.

With the Arizona Coyotes battling for their playoff lives, Chychrun has been a mainstay all season blocking shots, racking up scoring chances and shots on goal, plus adding real-world points. He has 13 goals and 19 assists in 46 games this year. He also has 12 blocks in his previous five outings which are above his 1.6 blocks per game.

Shea Theodore ($6,600) has the better matchup against the San Jose Sharks but again Peter DeBoer could be monitoring his minutes.

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.