NHL

3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 10/12/21

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Oct 12th, 2021
The Lightning have the highest implied total on Tuesday's slate, and Brayden Point is usually a component of any Tampa offensive outburst. Which other studs are worth targeting on the 2021-22 NHL opening slate?

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 has two more games to welcome the 2021-22 NHL DFS season. Let's take a look at a few studs to build around.

Braydon Point, Center, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $7,600

The Tampa Bay Lightning center is in the spotlight on Tuesday night. The center is healthy which is something several Tampa players, including Point, could not say at the start of last season.

Tampa has some history on its side. They have won seven straight season openers and are 19-7-2 overall in their franchise history.

Furthermore, the Lightning is projected to score 3.51 goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh's projected goalie Tristan Jarry ceded 30.7 shots per game last year, which was above average, as well. They could easily score four or more goals in the contest, and Point should figure prominently in the scoring.

Nikita Kucherov, Wing, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $8,600

Nikita Kucherov was one of the best players during the playoffs for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the summer. He posted a league-high 32 points and 24 assists. It was incredibly impressive keeping in mind this was a player coming off a surgery that kept him out for an entire regular season.

The best news? The Lightning have a healthy Kucherov for their season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

This should be the better game to target of the two, as both teams have the potential to top 30 shots on goal. The pace of this game should favor Kucherov and Tampa Bay given Pittsburgh is missing Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Zach Aston-Reese along with Evgeni Malkin.

Stacking the Bolts' top linemates is a popular, but potentially ideal, strategy for Tuesday's opening slate.

Alex Pietrangelo, Defenseman, Vegas Golden Knights

FanDuel Salary: $6,400

Alex Pietrangelo could be the safest stud to play on the board. He may see a lion's share of the Vegas key scoring opportunities if Shea Theodore cannot play. Theodore is currently day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

The matchup here may not be ideal, as Seattle is expected to be a strong defensive team. However, Pietrangelo should still get plenty of opportunities to fire pucks on the net. He is projected for 2.13 shots on Tuesday per numberFire.

Pietrangelo's salary is not cumbersome to reach, so the key strategy to spending on Tuesday's main slate may be forwards from the early game, and running it back with Pietrangelo and Victor Hedman at the defense spots.


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.