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 features nine games on the slate. Let's take a look at some studs.
Nazem Kadri, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews are in a great spot, but Nazem Kadri and the Colorado Avalanche are in the best spot.
When a team goes up against a team like the San Jose Sharks, the natural tendency is to lean in heavily. This is no exception. Kadri had six shots on goal and nine scoring chances against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Jacob Markstrom was just ridiculous in net.
Some believe that the Nathan MacKinnon injury is significant, and that unfortunately means Kadri will be the primary threat for the next month. Kadri has four goals and four assists in his last six games. The feeling is he can carry the weight.
The Avalanche pivot could easily top 20 FanDuel points again versus a San Jose team that gives up 3.20 goals per game on the road.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Wing, Florida Panthers
FanDuel Salary: $9,200
Wingers are just in such abundance on Thursday, and it made deciding on one very difficult.
But, the Florida Panthers have the most advantageous opponent in the Chicago Blackhawks. Likely MVP candidate Jonathan Huberdeau comes off a huge two-goal, one assist effort against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Huberdeau has five goals and five assists over his past seven games, posting 20 shots on goal and 25 scoring chances in that same time frame. The winger even has hit a few posts (and a crossbar) along the way.
Chicago also allows 3.48 goals per game, but that number creeps up to 3.60 on the road. Florida leads the league averaging 4.06 goals per game and 37.1 shots per contest.
For other possibilities, there is Johnny Gaudreau and Mitchell Marner -- but the Huberdude stands out.
Devon Toews, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $6,200
The play here with Devon Toews is a bit sneaky but with Nathan MacKinnon out on Thursday, Toews will now be on the top power-play unit with Cale Makar.
It does bear mentioning there is some risk here. Toews has just four assists in his last six games, and he has no goals since March 7th on Long Island.
Maybe Toews will get a few more chances to get his shot on goal. The Colorado defenseman has at least three shots on goal in four of his last six appearances.
With the Avalanche blueliner playing 25-plus minutes a night over the past six games, the opportunities have been even more plentiful.
Yes, one can spend up to Makar, but Toews will share a similar role at this salary.
Frederik Andersen, Goalie, Carolina Hurricanes
Frederik Andersen is expected to start on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
There is a good deal of danger; Montreal is capable of scoring some goals recently. However, Andersen looked much more under control on Monday, allowing one goal on 26 shots while defeating the tough Washington Capitals.
Things have been a little up and down of late for Andersen, but overall, he has four quality starts in his last six games.
The Hurricanes have a 72.5% chance of winning tonight, according to our model, and an expected differential of 1.30 goals. Now, that is quite a margin for error.
Marc-Andre Fleury may carry some interest for Minnesota, and whoever starts in Florida will as well. No matter what, Andersen likely has the best probability of winning.
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.