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.
Thursday night beckons with ten games on the schedule. Let's take a look at some more studs.
Mika Zibanejad, Center, New York Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $7,000
The New York Rangers face an unrested team in the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
Columbus just allowed 62 shots on goal and six goals to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, and the Blue Jackets are giving up more than 35 shots on a nightly basis.
Mika Zibanejad has 15 goals and 27 assists in 43 games this season. He also had six straight games where he produced 15-plus FanDuel points up until the contest versus the Los Angeles Kings.
This could very well be a bounce-back spot for Zibanejad and the Rangers. The center also has three or more shots in four of his last six contests.
The Rangers' center is projected to score 17 DFS points per our model. That ranks fifth among centers and screams "stud" potential.
Like their games against Carolina and Toronto, goals aplenty could be expected here.
Kyle Connor, Wing, Winnipeg Jets
FanDuel Salary: $9,600
So, there is a natural-born goal scorer with an excellent one-timer. His name is Kyle Connor.
He draws the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Vancouver has the worst penalty kill in the NHL -- and it is not all that close (67.8%). Connor has only four power-play goals on the season, which is shocking considering how many scoring chances he generates on the man advantage.
Despite that, the Winnipeg Jets' winger does have 23 goals on the season and a whopping 175 shots on goal (4.5 shots per game). He has seven-plus shots in five of his last seven games and multiple high-danger scoring chances in six of his previous seven starts.
Connor is shooting at just 13.1%. Considering his career shooting percentage is at 15.1%, there may be a power-play goal in his future -- perhaps against an equally-depleted Vancouver squad.
Roman Josi, Defenseman, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $7,400
The Nashville Predators are going up against an Edmonton Oilers team that still looks shaky to their defensive and goaltending core.
That is the reality as Roman Josi comes to town. Nashville's top defenseman has just four assists in his previous five games and a poor shot floor. That is unlike him. The Oilers have allowed the most FanDuel points to defensemen over the past 15 games. They yielded a whopping 38 goals in their last nine contests, too.
Those are numbers that are hard to ignore on Thursday. Nashville is 14-7-3 on the road and, arguably, still plays better away from home. Josi is poised to go on a bit of a run. He had four scoring chances in his last game against Seattle. With both teams so volatile, that only heightens the DFS potential of Josi for shots, blocked shots as well as goals and assists.
Igor Shesterkin, Goalie, New York Rangers
There are three Russian goaltenders to choose from. Which one to go with tonight in DFS NHL?
All three have very good to excellent matchups. However, it's worth considering the only one on the road -- Igor Shesterkin. Yes, Columbus allows a ton of shots, but the Rangers can allow a few themselves. Shesterkin comes off a win on Tuesday against the Kings where he stopped 34 of 36 shots in the win.
There is always a bit of risk selecting a goaltender on the road, but again, Columbus is not rested and will want to come out with more urgency on Thursday. Do the Blue Jackets have enough energy, though?
Shesterkin has been producing Vezina-caliber numbers all season. For those wondering, he is 10-3-1 on the road with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. His last two wins away from home included a 37-save shutout against the San Jose Sharks.
New York's top goalie is projected to tally 19.7 points according to numberFire. That seems like it could be low given his 25.9 FanDuel points per game average.
Saves and extra Columbus chances should help the Russian a bit more than usual on Thursday 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.