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.
Wednesday night gives us four playoff games. So, what values can we find?
Robert Thomas, Center, St. Louis Blues
FanDuel Salary: $3,600
On this four-game slate, Robert Thomas is a smooth yet cheap option from the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
He had three scoring chances in all and picked up an assist on the only St. Louis goal scored by Jordan Kyrou ($3,900). Thomas usually blocks about a shot a game to go with slightly more than one shot per game. Again, this value pick bears some serious risk.
Another high-risk play may just be Adam Lowry ($3,400) for Winnipeg Jets as he may see elevated amounts of ice time on Wednesday against Edmonton.
Joonas Donskoi, Wing, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $3,900
This player plays how many minutes? What? Yes, even as the salary Joonas Donskoi is at, he plays 16-17 minutes a night typically for the Colorado Avalanche.
There were a few games where Donskoi rested which may have thrown off some DFS players. He played 11 minutes or so last week in a game and that seemed to cause some panic with his salary. He does have 2 goals in his last 3 games with 14 shots on goal and 2 blocked shots as well.
The Avalanche shoot at a rate of 35.7 shots per 60 at home. They fired 50 shots on St. Louis in Game 1. Donskoi, oddly enough, had three scoring chances but missed the net at least three or four times.
You can dig deeper and take a peek at Erik Haula ($3,800) who has a couple of goals in his last two games for Nashville.
Ryan Ellis, Defenseman, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $4,500
Ryan Ellis is on the cusp of our salary limit this evening. He has performed better of late and that includes four assists in his previous four outings as the Nashville rearguard heats up.
This is a reasonable matchup as defense again has that nice floor. Carolina has a good chance of winding up with 35-plus shots again which means more blocked shot opportunities for Ellis and the other Predators' defensemen. He even has 20 blocked shots over his previous nine games while also averaging over two shots a contest on goal.
Keep an eye on Ryan Graves ($3,500) as he really is the only DFS viable minimum-salary defenseman. The Colorado blueliner is capable of exceeding value most nights.
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.