Spending lower in any daily fantasy lineup is a way to incorporate some diversity into your roster. In NHL DFS, there is typically more value in this strategy but also a good deal more risk. This is especially true on tonight's slate, where there are lots of lower-salaried plays. Plugging in these options will afford you more chances to play some studs, as well.
Wednesday night has three contests on the slate. Let's take a closer look at some values.
Frederick Gaudreau, Center, Minnesota Wild
FanDuel Salary: $3,700
The Minnesota Wild center got moved up to the top line a few games ago. Frederick Gaudreau has averaged more than 18 minutes of playing time in his last four games. Inside of them, he has posted a couple of assists and eight shots on goal.
Gaudreau keeps seeing more and more chances -- even on the Minnesota power-play. Gaudreau has been excellent at creating space for players like Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.
This is an excellent value option and makes a top-line Minnesota stack reasonable salary-wise and allows for spending up other ways.
Eeli Tolvanen, Wing, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $4,100
With the smaller slate, there are some positions to exploit, and wing seems to be an ideal place to attack. Eeli Tolvanen was in the middle-six the past few games, but there is always the chance that Tolvanen winds up on the top line in Nashville at any time.
The forward has 11 shots on goal in his last three games despite seeing less than 15 minutes a night in that span. He is seeing occasional power-play time despite generating 12 scoring chances -- and even hitting a couple of posts -- in the previous several contests.
The Finnish winger could be an under-the-radar option on Wednesday night against the Dallas Stars; Nashville has played better on the road.
Alexandre Carrier, Defenseman, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $3,900
Alexandre Carrier is slowly rising salary-wise, but his valuable floor still exists.
Though Carrier only has three real-world points in his previous six contests, the Nashville blueliner has 15 blocked shots in that span with four double-digit FanDuel point outputs.
It can be a challenge to try and roster a floor-driven option that has volatility like Carrier. However, he is playing 21-plus minutes a night for the Predators in an increasing penalty-killing role. That increases his floor and blocked shots potential.
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.