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.
Friday night features four games on the NHL DFS slate. Let's present a few studs.
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $9,300
The NHL schedule is inverted this week. With just a few games tonight on this Tuesday slate, Connor McDavid sticks out like the obvious play that he is.
McDavid scored early and often against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. He had two goals and two assists with just two shots on goal. Since March 1st, Vancouver is the North Division's worst when it comes to defense, unblocked shot attempts, and goals allowed.
McDavid now has 14 real-world points in his last five games to give him 91 (31 goals, 60 assists) on the season. He has a realistic shot at getting to 100 points before the year is over. Vancouver may provide little resistance toward stopping that from happening. Expect another high-tempo game on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, there is Sidney Crosby ($8,100), who has struggled a bit defensively ($8,100) and was a disastrous -4 last night versus the Philadelphia Flyers. Do not expect that to happen again from the Pittsburgh Penguins' center.
Brad Marchand, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $7,800
The Brad Marchand real-world point streak hit four on Monday night after two more assists and six more shots. He plays New Jersey one more time on Tuesday night.
Marchand and the Boston Bruins face the league's worst penalty kill (70.6%). There should be some plenty of opportunities as New Jersey has also allowed 32.9 shots per game since March 1st. Boston has scored three or more goals against New Jersey in consecutive contests. Maybe the Bruins have finally figured out the Devils this season.
New Jersey is also the youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 24.3. It is an area the "perfection line" attacked on Monday and will likely exploit again on Tuesday.
The slate features some other intriguing choices. Alex DeBrincat ($6,800) is a bit cheaper than most studs and can score goals at a great pace. Also, Claude Giroux often saves his best for Pittsburgh and had 38.9 FanDuel points on Monday night.
Dougie Hamilton, Defenseman, Carolina Hurricanes
FanDuel Salary: $6,700
It is fine to trust Dougie Hamilton one more time on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Furthermore, there is a little less risk, as well. The Blackhawks allow 33.4 shots per goal, but that number climbs to 35.2 shots allowed per game since April 1st. The Carolina defenseman has 19 shot attempts, 10 shots on goal, two goals and an assist in his last two contests.
Chicago's Patrick Kane line will be the one to attack as they play at a pace that invites a good transition game. Hamilton is one of the best puck-moving defensemen in the league, which sets him up for success on Tuesday night.
Ivan Provorov and Kris Letang from the "Battle Of Pennsylvania" are ideal targets on Tuesday night. The Flyers and Penguins could feature a good deal of scoring.
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.