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 brings us ten games on the schedule. Let's take a look at some studs.
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $10,200
The Edmonton Oilers face a tired Anaheim Ducks team that just allowed six goals on Wednesday night to the Calgary Flames.
Connor McDavid is back after three straight 20-plus FanDuel point performances. He has 2 goals, 3 assists, 12 shots, and 14 scoring chances during this run. The center even chipped in a blocked shot on Tuesday against Los Angeles.
The Oilers' center is projected to score 17.7 DFS points, which tops our model among centers. That may be deemed a bit low as Edmonton could score more than three goals on Thursday night.
Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals
FanDuel Salary: $10,000
Alex Ovechkin topped the 30-goal mark on Tuesday night with a two-goal effort in Nashville.
He gets a gift matchup versus the Philadelphia Flyers. Philadelphia is a team that allows 34.2 shots per game with a penalty kill of just 76.2%.
Worse, Martin Jones, the Flyers' confirmed starter, has seen 35.4 shots per 60 minutes at home.
The Russian winger has two goals and two helpers during this latest three-game real-world point run. That is in spite of just 10 shots on goal and 11 scoring chances. Those numbers are off a bit from Ovechkin's 4.55 shots per game.
The Washington Capitals' forward should be a popular choice on Thursday night -- even on the road -- with this matchup in the "City Of Brotherly Love".
Adam Fox, Defenseman, New York Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $7,100
The Detroit Red Wings are an entertaining team but do have some issues on the road. However, the New York Rangers are a team that seems to find new ways to win nightly.
This game could be just what Adam Fox needs. Against the Boston Bruins, Fox has four shots, four scoring chances, and two blocked shots in 24-plus minutes of work. Opportunities were there, but no goal or assist materialized. That snapped a seven-game real-world point streak.
He has two goals and eight assists in his last eight contests. Also, Fox has managed 17 blocked shots in that span.
New York is fortunate to have such a young talent, and the Rangers are projected to score 3.31 goals on Thursday. Their lead blue-liner could be a huge part of it.
Ville Husso, Goalie, St. Louis Blues
The struggles of Jordan Binnington have been a great benefit to the fantasy DFS fortunes of Ville Husso.
Just a couple of months ago, barely anyone knew who Husso was. Now, everyone knows as the goaltender has won three of his last four starts en route to an 11-3-1 mark over his first 15 decisions.
Furthermore, everyone understands how much of a disaster the Montreal Canadiens are. They rank in the bottom four in most penalty minutes, penalty kill, shots allowed, and goals per game allowed.
Husso, with that potential support, stands a 66.9 chance of winning on Thursday night in a good matchup of his own.
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.