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.
Thursday night gives us six games on the NHL DFS slate. Let's look at a few studs.
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $9,300
The NHL schedule is inverted this week. With just six games on this Thursday slate, Connor McDavid sticks out like the obvious play that he is again.
McDavid did it again on Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks with two more assists and several quality chances. The Edmonton Oilers' center cannot be stopped by a team that allows the fourth-most unblocked shot attempts at home in the league.
McDavid now has nine real-world points in his last three games (six in the two games versus the Canucks) to give him 93 points (31 goals, 62 assists) on the season. The chances for the center to hit 100 points keep increasing. Expect another up-tempo game at home on Thursday night.
Also, Auston Matthews ($8,900) is on the slate tonight against a tired Montreal Canadiens team. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward is undoubtedly the second-best play on the slate. Sidney Crosby ($8,300) ranks not too far behind going against Buffalo.
Brad Marchand, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $7,700
The Brad Marchand streak ended unexpectedly on Tuesday night but he may just start a new one against an emotionally exhausted New York Rangers team on Thursday night.
Marchand and the Boston Bruins face a New York team that just allowed six goals to the Washington Capitals and do not have Artemi Panarin in the lineup along with several other regulars. It is possible that Igor Shesterkin does not start either.
New York has one of the younger teams in the league with an average age of 25.3. The Rangers have been allowing 30-plus shots with increasing regularity as well. Add in the fact that their President and General Manager were fired on Wednesday and this has the makings of being a one-sided Boston affair.
The slate features a couple of reasonable choices. Alex DeBrincat ($6,900) is a bit cheaper than most studs and scores goals more than assists. Also, Jake Guentzel ($7,600) versus the league-worst Buffalo Sabres is another prime matchup.
Kris Letang, Defenseman, Pittsburgh Penguins
FanDuel Salary: $6,200
The Pittsburgh Penguins may be one of the best stacks to try on Thursday night and Kris Letang expects to be a key piece.
Furthermore, there is less risk with this as Buffalo has allowed 35-plus shots in four of their last six games. Also, Pittsburgh will attempt to push the pace as they still battle with Boston and Washington for the division crown.
Letang has performed solidly for Pittsburgh and has four consecutive games with double-digit FanDuel point nights. His consistency of late is important on a slate that is a little shorter than usual.
Dougie Hamilton ($6,700) still has to be looked at from Carolina on Thursday, but do not sleep on Darnell Nurse ($5,600), who is enjoying a career year for the Oilers.
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.