NHL

​3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 3/30/22​

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Mar 30th, 2022
Detroit just allowed 11 goals in their last game, so Mika Zibanejad is a prime candidate for offense on Wednesday. Who else stands out with him?

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 spending 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 spending salary in the right spots when building our lineups tonight.

Wednesday night features six games on the schedule. Here are a few studs.

Mika Zibanejad, Center, New York Rangers

FanDuel Salary: $8,000

The New York Rangers have a road meeting with the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. They come in unrested, but Detroit did allow 11 goals in their last game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Mika Zibanejad has three goals and seven assists in his last eight games. That may not be on the level of production of a Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, but it carries importance.

Detroit has many defensive shortcomings and can give up goals in waves. Those games are coming more and more often; the Red Wings now allow a league-worst 3.8 goals per game. Their penalty kill is now a league-worst 72.4% as well.

Zibanejad is one to look at on Wednesday night along, but Dylan Larkin -- his Detroit counterpart -- could also be an interesting mini-stack.

Kyle Connor, Wing, Winnipeg Jets

FanDuel Salary: $9,400

At present, the Buffalo Sabres are entertaining, but they still tend to allow goals and scoring chances to high-end talent like Kyle Connor.

The Winnipeg Jets' winger plays top-line minutes in all situations. Seeing him play 21-plus minutes a night is the norm. Do not look at that second-line projection too intently.

The Sabres again came back from a four-goal deficit to win in regulation on Monday against Chicago. They did allow five goals in regulation despite the win.

Our numbers project at just 3.13 goals for the Jets, but that seems low considering how much offense Connor and his linemates can generate.

While some may focus on the Winnipeg forwards as stacking partners, look towards the less expensive defensemen perhaps like Josh Morrissey. Connor is more than a worthwhile option on Wednesday night.

Editor's note: Kyle Connor has been ruled out tonight due to the league's COVID protocol.

Alex Pietrangelo, Defenseman, Vegas Golden Knights

FanDuel Salary: $6,700

Is Alex Pietrangelo finally turning it around from a fantasy standpoint?

The Vegas Golden Knights defenseman has four goals and three assists in his last eight games, and he's posted at least three shots in five consecutive contests.

The Seattle Kraken are a team Pietrangelo should thrive against. Seattle yields 3.52 goals per game and ranks just 30th on the penalty kill (73.3%). Pietrangelo has been averaging more than four scoring chances a night during this latest hot stretch.

Vegas needs this version of Pietrangelo if they want to remedy their road struggles and make the playoffs, and the Kraken are a good first test of longevity.


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.