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.
Monday night features a seven-game main NHL DFS slate. Let's hunt for some studs!
Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $9,100
It is a slate that features Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid. Both have good matchups but MacKinnon has the slightly hotter hand. He has 30+ FanDuel points against the St. Louis Blues and has one more game tonight against their 29th-ranked penalty kill (75% at home).
The center has 24 real-world points in his last 13 games and has 3 or more shots along with 5 or more shot attempts in 10 of his last 13 contests. The Colorado Avalanche center has created three or more scoring chances in all of those games as well.
St. Louis is three games under .500 at home and allows 3.08 goals per game on the season. Their consistent inconsistency helps since MacKinnon had two goals and four assists in the first two games of the miniseries where the center was permitted to skate downhill as the Blues' defense kept sitting back. If they continue to do so, why stop playing MacKinnon at this point?
Monday carries a little extra intrigue as Aleksander Barkov ($7,900) should get plenty of scoring chances against Nashville. It comes down to converting those chances for the Florida center. Also, there is Roope Hintz ($6,400) watch. If he plays, lookout.
Brock Boeser, Wing, Vancouver Canucks
FanDuel Salary: $7,200
The Vancouver Canucks continue their series against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night as they try to gain ground in the playoff race. Brock Boeser has real-world points in four of his last five outings. Those his shot volume has been somewhat erratic. He does have three or more shots on goal in three of those last five contests.
Quietly, Ottawa has improved their play but has still been vulnerable to giving up goals at inopportune times. The 4-2 loss over the weekend illustrated that as Boeser scored off a horrible turnover that typically only happens in the minors. There is a reason why the Senators allow a league-worst 3.52 goals per game.
The Vancouver forward should get his opportunities on Monday. Ottawa gives up the fourth-most shots in the league at 32.4 per game. Also, their 9.2 penalty minutes rank eighth-worst and mean a few extra power-play chances as well.
The medium-sized main slate features some nice alternatives. Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,400) is one possibility from Florida and the Kyle Connor - Nikolaj Ehlers combination could be stacked from Winnipeg.
Dougie Hamilton, Defenseman, Carolina Hurricanes
FanDuel Salary: $6,800
The slate is a bit of an odd one but Dougie Hamilton had a dozen shots on goal and eight scoring chances in the last miniseries against the Dallas Stars. He seems to have a knack of getting more shots on goal than most defensemen against Dallas. He is among the best options for that reason alone.
With two goals and five shots in his last game against Florida, Hamilton put to rest any injury speculation after the no-shot effort last Thursday night. Hamilton has been averaging over three shots a game and well over two blocks a contest this season. He might block a few more shots even tonight as well.
Cale Makar ($5,800) of the Colorado Avalanche expects to have another wild night roaming the St. Louis zone. He has double-digit FanDuel points in three straight games and comes off a one-goal, two-assist effort over the weekend in St. Louis.
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.