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 of risk, too. The right low-salary plays can give you good production while affording you more chances to roster high-salary studs.
Thursday night checks in with nine games. Let's find some values!
Jacob Peterson, Center, Dallas Stars
FanDuel Salary: $3,900
For all that is good, hopefully, Jacob Peterson sticks in this current top-six deployment for the Dallas Stars.
The center has a great matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, and the pivot comes off a game where he played over 19 minutes, scored a goal, and had four shots on goal.
The Sabres rank 27th in the league allowing 3.41 goals per game. Peterson has six goals on the season and even can block some shots occasionally. He did have six blocks versus Florida last week.
Dallas on the road is not a typical option, but Thursday features several unusual matchups on the slate.
Calle Jarnkrok, Wing, Seattle Kraken
FanDuel Salary: $3,500
Calle Jarnkrok struggled to score goals (or do much of anything) the first couple of months of the season. Recently, the clouds have parted and the real-world points have come.
With the Seattle Kraken forward seeing some solid top-six ice time, he has responded with three goals and four assists in his last eight games. Furthermore, he has at least three shots and three scoring chances on three separate occasions. That is progress given he was struggling with shot generation earlier this season.
There is no doubt some risk, but San Jose does allow 3.03 goals per game on the season. Jarnkrok's lower salary is also hard to overlook.
Ice time, opportunity, and a potential Sharks' letdown make this is a viable value play.
Justin Schultz, Defenseman, Washington Capitals
FanDuel Salary: $3,800
With John Carlson still on COVID protocol, Justin Schultz still has to be considered on Thursday.
He has two or more shots in five of his previous six games and is seeing more ice time on the Washington power play. The result has been good with assists in consecutive contests.
He played more than 18 minutes in each of the past six games, and that means he will not be taxed by Peter Laviolette and the coaching staff. He will just be deployed in situations set up more for offense.
Carter Hart, Goalie, Philadelphia Flyers
FanDuel Salary: $7,400
The pickings always start to get dangerous with value goalies, and occasionally we do get burned.
But, Carter Hart has been much better than the team in front of him. Philadelphia allows 35-plus shots with regularity; he is seeing 35.5 shots per 60 minutes currently (31st among starting goalies). Only Columbus has seen a worse rate.
This game could feature more than 70 shots combined between the two teams, so defense is somewhat of a last resort. Other than the Pittsburgh debacle, Hart has allowed three or fewer goals in six of his last seven starts.
The goaltender has given his team a chance to win, and the Philadelphia Flyers have a 62.5% chance of victory according to our model on Thursday.
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.