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 comes in with ten games on the schedule. It is time to save a bit of salary.
Cole Perfetti, Center, Winnipeg Jets
FanDuel Salary: $3,500
Most Winnipeg Jets players are a solid option on Thursday at home against the Seattle Kraken.
Cole Perfetti enters this one off a nice game where he scored against the Minnesota Wild. Seattle does hold teams down in terms of shots, but they give up goals at a rate of 3.51 per game (28th in the league) and a penalty kill of just 74.8% overall (27th)
This makes Perfetti a reasonable choice at home once more. Yes, there will not be rest for the Jets, but home cooking is home cooking. He has two goals and an assist in his last four games.
There are two downsides. Perfetti has just four shots and six scoring chances in the last three games. Furthermore, he keeps floating between lines and seeing sporadic usage on the man advantage.
However, the upside is there, and at a low salary, he has a path to a ceiling on Thursday night.
Kyle Palmieri, Wing, New York Islanders
FanDuel Salary: $3,800
Will Kyle Palmieri do it again? That is the key question as the New York Islanders entertain the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
Palmieri broke out in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday with two goals, three shots, and four scoring chances.
While Palmieri only sees middle-six ice time, he does contribute to a power-play unit for New York.
The Isles' offense has been so bad that Barry Trotz is desperate enough to try anything, so he may give a boost in ice time for the winger with another quick start in this one.
He's facing a shorthanded Boston Bruins team and averaging two shots a game over his last 16 games. That's a decent floor for a value play at this salary.
Braden Schneider, Defenseman, New York Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $4,000
K'Andre Miller is also a viable choice on Thursday, but Braden Schneider could be even better.
He is a bit more rested amongst the two younger defensemen, and Schneider has three assists in his last five games with seven blocked shots and five shots on goal.
With a little more ice time, there are more chances to rack up some FanDuel Points. Detroit allows 3.46 goals per game (25th) in the league. and they are in the bottom third defensively when it comes to unblocked shot attempts.
If the game gets out of hand, Schneider should see quite a bit of time as well.
Thatcher Demko, Goalie, Vancouver Canucks
FanDuel Salary: $7,200
Goaltending is the one constant the Vancouver Canucks have been able to lean on all season. Even as Bruce Boudreau's team has become its same inconsistent self, Thatcher Demko has won in consecutive starts.
It has been a rough year for Demko, but in those two wins, he stopped a whopping 86 of 89 shots.
His 2.53 goals-against average and .921 save percentage are respectable enough to garner a look in this salary space.
Demko has 19 wins on the season, and he is going against a San Jose Sharks team has lost four straight games. The Canucks' goaltender can definitely play spoiler 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.