NHL

3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 5/11/21

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS May 11th, 2021
Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins are in a good spot on Tuesday. What other high-salaried plays should we look to roster?

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.

Tuesday night gives us two games on the NHL DFS slate. Let's take a look at a few studs.

Patrice Bergeron, Center, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $8,000

Patrice Bergeron is healthy and this is the time of year that is essential for the Boston Bruins as they face a banged-up Washington Capitals team tonight.

Bergeron should have an easier than usual matchup against the Capitals as well. Also, the center is piling up shots like crazy with 23 in his last five games (five last night against the New York Islanders). That came along with four scoring chances. Many have talked about Washington's vulnerability down the middle. Considering the Capitals may rest some players tonight, Bergeron becomes a wiser choice.

Washington having a young goalie starting in Vitek Vanecek start only boosts Boston's outlook, and one could even look to the Bruins power play which is fifth in the league since the Taylor Hall trade. With playoff-like options tonight, picking the right stud is essential.

Mark Scheifele ($7,600) going against the Vancouver Canucks is a solid alternative. The Winnipeg Jets' center should have plenty of opportunities on Tuesday night.

Brad Marchand, Wing, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

The "Perfection Line" is kind of the way to go on this small slate and there may be some wrinkles to add in as well.

Brad Marchand has real-world points in three straight games with 10 shots on goal and 8 scoring chances. That translates to 20-plus FanDuel points in each contest. The only possible concern is whether Bruce Cassidy will manage the ice time a bit tonight. Considering this is a playoff preview, that exists as a possibility.

Boston is a stacked team now with three or maybe even four lines that can score at almost any time. For a team like Washington, the matchup problems here are going to mount even though Boston played on Monday night.

See if Alex Ovechkin ($8,400) plays first. Then, take a look at Kyle Connor ($6,300) from Winnipeg or even the aforementioned Taylor Hall ($6,600) to save a bit of salary.

Justin Schultz, Defenseman, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $4,400

The Washington Capitals may go with Justin Schultz on their first pairing again on Tuesday against Boston.

Schultz has 18-plus FanDuel points in two of his last three games. Do watch out for possible rest, but that may be for John Carlson again. This Washington lineup may honestly be in flux up until warmup. Over the weekend, they had to play just 11 forwards and 6 defensemen due to salary cap issues.

Schultz could eat up a good amount of minutes on Tuesday. He played 24 minutes on Saturday and had an assist, four shots, and four blocked shots.

If one is looking for a "safer" alternative -- Charlie McAvoy ($5,600) may be the pick from Boston as he had double-digit FanDuel points in three straight starts.


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.