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.
Monday night grants us four games to kick off the 2022 NHL Playoffs. Here are some studs.
Auston Matthews, Center, Toronto Maple Leafs
FanDuel Salary: $10,400
The choice here was rough. In a matchup against each other, Connor McDavid is one hell of an option from the Edmonton Oilers. However, in the end, the appeal of a more wide-open game with the Tampa Bay Lightning was too enticing.
While Auston Matthews had not been 100% leading up into the playoffs, the belief is that he is now. The 60-goal scorer is primed to go up against a defense that knows its best defense is a good offense. That sets the stage for more goals at the outset. Yes, playoff hockey is different than regular season hockey.
Given all that, goals will come a little more frequently early compared to later.
Stacking works a bit differently in the playoffs, and there are various methods. Morgan Rielly, Mitchell Marner, and William Nylander could be some options for a power-play stack.
Steven Stamkos, Wing, Tampa Bay Lightning
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
After all this, maybe Steven Stamkos truly had been more hurt in the last two playoff runs than we may ever know.
The Tampa Bay Lightning forward finished the regular season with 42 goals and 64 assists in 81 games, which includes 10 goals and 14 assists in the previous eight outings.
The opposing Maple Leafs have good numbers defensively in the regular season, but their adventures in goaltending give Stamkos a leg up here. Stamkos is shooting the puck more with three-plus shots in six of his last eight starts. That includes Stamkos firing seven shots on goal twice in the final week.
The Lightning appear to have a few of their weapons at a fully operational level at the right time.
Charlie McAvoy, Defenseman, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $6,200
The Boston Bruins did not have the best regular season against the Carolina Hurricanes. That is not a secret. However, Charlie McAvoy keeps improving in his role as a top defenseman.
McAvoy finished the season off well with three double-digit FanDuel point nights in his final four games. This was even with Boston resting some players here and there. The defenseman can block three-plus shots and fire three-plus shots on goal any night. Against Carolina, McAvoy will have to be "the guy," and he seems ready for that responsibility.
Since Carolina destroyed Boston over three matchups, by the tune of 16-1, more DFS lineups will be on Carolina than Boston, which is not a bad thing in this case.
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.