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 features seven games on the schedule. Let's get into the values!
Nic Dowd, Center, Washington Capitals
FanDuel Salary: $4,200
Value picks on Thursday night from the center position are quite scarce. Most any play that is halfway decent is in the $4,000 to $4,500 range. That is on the fringe of what we try to look for.
The key with Nic Dowd is to make sure he is getting some of those extra special teams minutes. That does help, and it is also why he plays around 14 minutes a night as opposed to most other bottom-six centers who barely see 13 or fewer minutes.
He has two goals and an assist in his last three games as the Washington Capitals are getting a little more secondary scoring. Trying to get in on a great matchup against the Montreal Canadiens means exploring other options like Dowd.
Montreal allows 3.98 goals per game, 34.7 shots per game, and just a 73% penalty kill -- all 30th or worse in the NHL. Dig a little deeper tonight than the obvious.
Cole Caufield, Wing, Montreal Canadiens
FanDuel Salary: $4,000
Maybe Martin St. Louis can unearth some of that energy from last season for Cole Caufield.
For what it is worth, the Montreal Canadiens forward has looked a bit better of late. His Tuesday return from COVID showed some of that energy. Caufield had four shots on goal and four scoring chances while playing 15:28.
Washington is a good team to play against because the tempo will be pushed with no Alex Ovechkin in the lineup. The expectation with St. Louis being the interim coach is that the kids will now play. That potentially includes Caufield and Nick Suzuki together.
It boils down to ice time. If speculation does ring true, power-play time should stay consistently high for Caufield. With the pressure off, expect better numbers.
Offense is quite likely here because defense from both of these teams has been scarce of late.
Niko Mikkola, Defenseman, St. Louis Blues
FanDuel Salary: $4,200
A more defined role for Niko Mikkola has helped his fantasy outlook.
Please understand that the defenseman does not play 20 minutes a night typically -- 18-19 is his current range. The last run of games was a bit higher when it comes to ice time.
The New Jersey Devils give up a ton of unblocked shots attempts, and Mikkola can get about 2-3 shots a game through from the point and on the net.
Mikkola does not provide a ton of offense, but he is averaging almost two blocks a game over his last 10 contests. That floor value could come in handy on Thursday night. An assist would be a bonus.
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.