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.
Friday night brings eight games on the schedule. It is time to take a closer look at options that can save a little salary.
Johan Larsson, Center, Arizona Coyotes
FanDuel Salary: $4,200
The Arizona Coyotes are 5-4-2 in their last 11 games. That is not bad.
Johan Larsson has looked more comfortable of late with three goals and an assist in his last four games. That includes six shots and six blocked shots during that timeframe.
The center has a tougher matchup against the New York Islanders but his role outweighs that slight downgrade. Larsson struggled a bit early in the season but is now up to a respectable six goals and nine assists in 26 games. All six of his goals have come in the past seven contests as Larsson is shooting more.
Arizona normally is not a great road choice, but they will always have value in their forwards and defensemen.
Zach Parise, Wing, New York Islanders
FanDuel Salary: $3,800
Zach Parise is a high-risk option on Friday night. The winger can still create scoring chances, but can he finish them? It's a valid question. He is seeing more ice time of late with 14:23 average on-ice time in January. In that span, Parise has three assists and several high-quality scoring chances. The winger also does have six blocked shots in that time.
With Arizona on top, this should be an excellent matchup for the forward who still can turn on the speed every so often. He just has to shoot the puck on a more consistent basis. Parise had four shots on Tuesday night and zero on Wednesday. That has happened too often this season.
There is plenty of danger here, but Arizona expects to give up 3.18 goals on Friday night on Long Island.
Ice time increase -- and some possible power-play time -- lifts the intrigue to roster Parise in this tilt.
Andrew Peeke, Defenseman, Columbus Blue Jackets
FanDuel Salary: $3,900
With injuries and inconsistency, the Columbus Blue Jackets have turned to Andrew Peeke, and he has delivered in consecutive games for the Blue Jackets.
He played over 26 minutes on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers and blocked six shots on the night. Peeke delivered several hits, but he just missed on two or three scoring chances.
Peeke has delivered 23 hits over the past six games. In short, he lowers the lumber to set up some offense. Columbus needs more of that considering they allow 34.8 shots per game on the season.
With Columbus and Pittsburgh on the back end of a back-to-back, Peeke could find himself in a few more offensive situations than usual. After all, the Penguins continue to struggle and gave up four goals on Thursday.
Karel Vejmelka, Goalie, Arizona Coyotes
FanDuel Salary: $6,800
Goaltending is quite an inexact science sometimes. Karel Vejmelka has played quite well this season. The Czech goaltender is coming off a 35-save performance in New Jersey on Wednesday night. Vejmelka does have three wins in his last four starts.
But, this could be a dangerous play as the Islanders starting to find themselves.
This game could be a bit lower-scoring than expected if both goalies are in a rhythm early. Vejmelka is used to finding one; he has seen 30 or more shots in five of his last seven starts.
The goaltender keeps Arizona in games much like Scott Wedgewood did earlier in the season. Alex Nedeljkovic could also be a possibility from the Detroit Red Wings as well.
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.