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.
Thursday night grants us four more Game 2's. Here are some studs.
Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $10,200
Nathan MacKinnon is the obvious choice. He'll be super popular, so if you use him, it's all about who you stack with the Colorado Avalanche center on Thursday night versus the Nashville Predators.
The Avs' last meeting with Nashville saw MacKinnon get six more shots on goal with eight scoring chances. MacKinnon scored twice, added a helper, and spearheaded a thorough 7-2 rout of the Predators.
Even better news for Colorado is the fact that Nashville had zero answers on how to handle anything during the Avalanche's five-goal first period.
MacKinnon is an elite play, and he can be stacked in a variety of ways, including with Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog. Defender Devon Toews is a viable stacking partner, too.
Look to see how Colorado pairs their lines, but there will be ways to diversify even with MacKinnon in your lineup.
Jake Guentzel, Wing, Pittsburgh Penguins
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
In Game 1, the New York Rangers went up 2-0 early and looked incredible. Then, the Pittsburgh Penguins -- specifically Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel -- went to work.
Guentzel scored twice and that included a short-handed goal as Pittsburgh fought back to tie the game on two occasions.
The winger made up for two very subpar performances against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the regular season. Guentzel played more than 21 minutes in each game but had a mere two shots on goal. In Game 1, Guentzel fired eight shots on goal and totaled 10 scoring chances.
The Pittsburgh forward is a handful, and his shot is one of the best in the NHL. The Rangers must key on him, because if they do not, Guentzel will keep making them pay.
Adam Fox, Defenseman, New York Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $6,900
The New York Rangers have Adam Fox, and DFS players should be thankful that the defenseman looked like himself in Game 1 versus the Pens.
Fox followed up his Norris Trophy-winning season with 11 goals and 63 assists in 78 games this year. Game 1 was a tour de force for the Rangers' blueliner. He had a goal, seven shots, and six blocked shots.
Fox can continue producing that kind of effort.
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.