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 spending 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 spending salary in the right spots when building our lineups tonight.

Monday night has three games. It is time to look at a few studs.

Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $10,400

This game against the Seattle Kraken figures to be interesting because they allow few opportunities but give up 3.67 goals per game along with just a 76.2% road penalty kill

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal in his last game and, oh, 12 shots on goal with 10 scoring chances. He has real-world points in each of his four goals this month and has 28 shots on goal. The center also has goals in consecutive games. Is a multiple-goal game coming against former Colorado Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer?

MacKinnon has even blocked six shots in his previous six games. This has only helped his ridiculous DFS floor of late.

You could also roster a number of other players here, but Andre Burakovsky and even Devon Toews are a hair off the typical path and could work on Monday.

Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $10,200

Alex Ovechkin is still having fun out there and has a home matchup with the Boston Bruins tonight.

All the Washington Capitals' winger does is hit the net with shots. He leads the league once again with 166 in 36 games. The winger has 51 points (24 goals) this season. In his last 10 games, he has 51 shots on goal and 57 scoring chances.

Ovechkin faces a Boston team that he tends to have success against from a personal standpoint. He is a player who can break out at any time against any team.

Cale Makar, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $7,200

The Colorado Avalanche defenseman is already being called a generational defenseman. He is earning that title. Consider that Cale Makar already has 15 goals in just 27 games. He is just 23 years old but has already started to put things together. The scary thing for the hockey world is that Makar is far from done growing as a player.

Makar again has 15 goals and 15 assists this season. He had 20 goals in a combined 101 games over his first two seasons. About the only concern may be injuries. He has the speed to overcome most of the mistakes he has, and his ability to possess the puck creates countless chances for him.

He is facing a Seattle team that is game defensively but has a goaltender in Grubauer that he knows well. Makar is the type of player, at this age already, who loves to exploit weaknesses repeatedly.

Some may take a brief glance at Drew Doughty but Makar is the top stud from the blueline tonight.

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.