In any daily fantasy lineup, 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 more games on the NHL DFS playoff slate. Let's take a look at a few studs.
Sebastian Aho, Center, Carolina Hurricanes
FanDuel Salary: $8,000
It has been a solid postseason so far for Sebastian Aho, to say the least. He has four or more shots on goal in every single game of the series to go along with five real-world points. That includes three goals as well as a goal on the power play.
The center of the Carolina Hurricanes is also blocking a shot or even two in each game. It is that additional floor that provides a bit of a cushion when things do not go quite as well on the scoresheet. Aho has also generated three or more scoring chances in every single contest.
Nashville has not been able to contain Aho fully, or his linemates for that matter. It has been Juuse Saros who stonewalled Aho several times in Game 4. If the Carolina center can get back to that Game 2 form, then look out.
Auston Matthews ($8,900) gets to play the Montreal Canadiens on the back end of a back-to-back scenario. Finally, Vincent Trocheck ($6,300) is a sneaky alternative for Carolina against the Nashville middle-six.
William Nylander, Wing, Toronto Maple Leafs
FanDuel Salary: $6,600
William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs allows one to save a bit of salary from the top studs and he is one himself. The winger has goals in every game this series (three) on 10 shots on goal. Nylander has attempted 18 shots and generated 9 scoring chances. It has been his ability to take advantage of opportunities and jumping into plays that have drawn notice.
That goal in Game 3 opened the scoring and his vision to find Matthews to put sustained pressure on Montreal had an effect as well. When Shea Weber iced the puck, that led to Toronto's second goal. Sometimes a play has a delayed or consequential effect. With Nylander on a roll, it is hard not to roster him somewhere on this short playoff slate.
There are not many impactful game-time decisions except for maybe Jaccob Slavin (Nashville winger impact). Andrei Svechnikov ($7,100) is primed to pounce on scoring opportunities on Tuesday night for Carolina.
Morgan Rielly, Defenseman, Toronto Maple Leafs
FanDuel Salary: $5,600
The risk is not as high on Morgan Rielly Tuesday night, as Montreal allows far too many unblocked shot attempts from the blueline.
While Rielly has not had any super-dominant games in their Round 1 series, the Toronto defenseman has been consistent with four straight double-digit FanDuel point performances. That includes 11 shots on goal (19 attempts) and 4 blocked shots. With that kind of floor in place, it is no wonder Rielly is a safer option than even Dougie Hamilton ($6,400) tonight.
Roman Josi ($6,600) expects to attempt double-digit shots again on Tuesday night which will help his floor for Nashville. Ryan Ellis ($4,500) may be a cheaper risk that can produce stud-like totals for the Predators.
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.