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 features five games on the NHL main slate. Let's pick those studs!
Leon Draisaitl, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $9,600
Leon Draisaitl scored two goals again on Wednesday night as the Edmonton Oilers rolled again to victory. Draisaitl now has 9 goals and 11 assists in just nine games. The German scorer has 31 shots on goal already this season.
Draisaitl and McDavid are still averaging over two real-world points a game. The Oilers will face a rested New York Rangers team that does tend to give up a lot of scoring chances.
The matchup is a pretty solid one, and Vegas seems to think so, too. Edmonton is expected to score 3.21 goals, while New York is at 2.95.
Edmonton should be one of the top stacks tonight, but it is again about moving parts like Ethan Bear, Darnell Nurse, and even Evan Bouchard.
Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
The Chicago Blackhawks' forward is in great form. On Monday and Wednesday, Patrick Kane notched a combined 4 goals and 2 assists on 14 shots.
Chicago has only a projected goal total of 2.66 against the Winnipeg Jets, per our model. This could be low, as Chicago likes to push the pace at the cost of defense. It is likely that they regret it.
Look to see who may be playing with Kane at even-strength or try Seth Jones in a boom-or-bust scenario. He has been on the ice for most of the goals for and against.
Neal Pionk, Defenseman, Winnipeg Jets
FanDuel Salary: $5,000
The Winnipeg Jets' blueliner is racking up assists to nearly one per contest. While it has not been easy, Neal Pionk does not have to play all that well defensively, but his possession metrics are still excellent. Pionk expects to have a nice and high regardless. Winnipeg and Chicago could easily go over seven goals combined on Friday.
Pionk, by the way, has five assists in his last five games, and he has seven shots on goal and three other total "blocked shots." For his floor alone, Pionk is worth the usage on Friday night.
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.