NHL

3 NHL FanDuel Values to Target on Tuesday 5/4/21

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS May 4th, 2021
Values are a challenge to find on this five-game NHL DFS slate. What low-salaried players should we focus on?

Spending lower in any daily fantasy lineup is a way to incorporate some diversity into your roster. In NHL DFS, there is typically more value in this strategy but also a good deal more risk. This is especially true on tonight's slate, where there are lots of lower-salaried plays. Plugging in these options will afford you more chances to play some studs, as well.

Tuesday night features five games on the NHL schedule. What values may we find?

Michael McLeod, Center, New Jersey Devils

FanDuel Salary: $3,200

The danger of playing Michael McLeod is that New Jersey could lay an offensive egg as they did in the first 40 minutes on Monday night. They had nine shots on goal and few scoring chances.

Yes, the hope and the only hope is that the Boston Bruins are a little tired from such a dominating effort on Monday. This could allow McLeod and the New Jersey Devils a few more opportunities on Tuesday night. The center did play over 16 minutes and had a couple of decent scoring chances.

With his rock-bottom salary, this allows one to spend up everywhere else, and yes, on all of those stud plays.

Kirby Dach ($3,900) is one of the few centers that one could look at as a viable alternative from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Nick Ritchie, Wing, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $3,600

Is Nick Ritchie worth a play on Tuesday night? At this juncture, anyone that can deliver double-digit FanDuel point potential is a plus. A bigger plus is that Ritchie is hard to move and New Jersey has few defensemen that can actually move the big, burly forward.

With two goals, an assist, four shots, and two blocks in the last couple of games, Ritchie is at least a possible middle-six option to utilize on Tuesday against New Jersey once again. The fact that he is playing 16-plus minutes a night is a bonus.

Now comes the hard part. Jesper Fast is another higher-risk middle-six forward from the Carolina Hurricanes and is just $3,500 on Tuesday night.

Nate Schmidt, Defenseman, Vancouver Canucks

FanDuel Salary: $3,800

Nate Schmidt is a little bit of an upgrade over Tyler Myers on Tuesday night. The key is "a little" and honestly, both might be useful because they can average several blocked shots against the Edmonton Oilers again on Tuesday night.

The matchup is decent. Schmidt also can shoot a little more accurately than most defenders. He has just five shots on goal but only eight shot attempts in the last four games. The good news is that he is averaging 2.5 blocked shots per game in that span. Also, he has topped 20 minutes in three of his last four appearances.

One huge question in these back-to-back games is always game flow. No one quite knows but do not be surprised if Schmidt sees some more power-play time on Tuesday.

Reliable value defensemen are few and far between on this shorter than usual Tuesday night slate. However, an extreme risk could be Shayne Gostisbehere ($3,700) going against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman has plenty to play for as far as next year is concerned and has four real-world points in his last four contests.

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.