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.
Friday night brings us two more games on the NHL DFS playoff slate. Let's take a look at a few studs.
Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $8,900
The Colorado Avalanche center is just a freak of nature. In six games, Nathan MacKinnon has 13 real-world points with 8 goals and 5 assists. Vegas did slow him down a bit in Game 2 but even then, MacKinnon still has three shots and three scoring chances. That was despite the ice being heavily tilted for the Golden Knights at even-strength.
MacKinnon does not need much time or space to create, as he illustrated on the Mikko Rantanen overtime goal on Wednesday. It is just one of those things. On a night where he is the only stud above $6,000, options are no doubt limited.
Nick Suzuki ($5,900) carries some risk for Montreal but he has real-world points in four consecutive games.
Max Pacioretty, Wing, Vegas Golden Knights
FanDuel Salary: $7,200
The contention is that Max Pacioretty appears 100% after three games of play for Vegas. He has a goal and two assists along with nine scoring chances and shots. His thumb is fully healed and the zip on his shot release appears about as normal as it gets. Vegas controlled large stretches of even-strength play on Wednesday and that expects to continue on Friday. That should lead to more chances for the winger.
Also, Vegas may wind up with 35-40-plus shots again, which benefits Pacioretty. Expect him to come close to five shots. At the very least, 6-10 shot attempts are not out of the question. Mark Stone and Pacioretty expect to wreak havoc with last line change at home.
Mikko Rantanen ($8,200) has two game-winning goals for Colorado and is a threat any time there is a power-play for the Avalanche.
Cale Makar, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $6,200
This could be a dangerous stud pick because of the chance that Vegas keeps Colorado's shots down again, but... Cale Makar still had an assist in Game 2 along with a couple of good scoring chances.
The slight concern was he only attempted a couple of shots on net with one hitting Marc-Andre Fleury. The Colorado defenseman is their best option for DFS points on Friday. Their power-play unit is one of the best in the league and can strike at any time. Makar has to be rostered at least in a few lineups.
Elsewhere, instead of the top two defensemen, maybe Alec Martinez ($4,600) has one of the best floors on the slate for shots and blocked shots. Martinez also possesses a nice shot and quick release. Most forget that.
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.