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.
Thursday night has nine games, so let's see what we can find at the top end of the player pool.
Aleksander Barkov, Center, Florida Panthers
FanDuel Salary: $8,200
The Florida Panthers have a blockbuster matchup against the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
Aleksander Barkov is one of the main studs to look at on this slate. He has 10 real-world points in nine games. That includes five goals and five assists on 24 shots and 25 scoring chances. Barkov has averaged 3.25 scoring chances per contest over the last four games.
The center is anchoring one of the better lines in hockey and faces a Washington team we project to allow 3.33 goals tonight.
With Florida's immense depth, there are some stacking options who can be used alongside Barkov to mitigate salary concerns.
Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals
FanDuel Salary: $9,500
Alex Ovechkin gets a decent matchup against the Panthers. Washington is projected to score 3.28 goals, and the Panthers still do allow goals against very good to elite teams.
The winger is in his late 30s, but no one would know it by watching him play. Ovechkin had six shots and five scoring chances on Monday night in Tampa Bay. The Lightning did not stop him. It was only some amazing Andrei Vasilevskiy saves that kept the Russian winger off the scoreboard.
Ovechkin can be stacked with Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov to utilize a center-wing-defenseman alignment.
Miro Heiskanen, Defenseman, Dallas Stars
FanDuel Salary: $6,200
Miro Heiskanen may not be a recognizable stud, but he is one nonetheless for the Dallas Stars. His floor and salary have been dampened because of his last two games. Overall, Heiskanen still is averaging more than 2.5 shots on goal per game and 1.5 blocked shots.
Heiskanen's floor is always there. He has seven real-world points in nine games, and though it is fair to be a bit concerned after his clunker against Winnipeg (one shot, one blocked shot), the Dallas defenseman could bounce back in Calgary on Thursday night.
Facing a high-paced top line, Heiskanen should have chances to block shots and get offensive opportunities with shots of his own.
Ilya Sorokin, Goalie, New York Islanders
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
Ilya Sorokin is a risky play on the road against the Montreal Canadiens, but he should see shot volume and has been rested since Saturday afternoon's game against the Nashville Predators. He stopped 21 of 23 shots in that overtime loss.
The Canadiens have had issues scoring goals far too often this season. They are projected to tally just 2.49 goals on Thursday night, which is the lowest projection for a home team on the slate. They should fire off a good amount of shots, though, which gives Sorokin a chance to rack up fantasy points. A win would only add to 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.