NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 2/14/18

A good chunk of you probably already play daily fantasy football, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion have also tried out daily fantasy basketball and baseball. But hockey? Hockey?

It's time to give it a try over on FanDuel, because it's a ton of fun. And our analysis and projections can help you win.

To help, take a look at some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.

Goalie

Frederik Andersen ($8,500): On these short slates, you're going to need to get your goalie right in order to have success in tournaments, and Andersen makes the most sense of any of the goalies tonight. He's the biggest favorite on the board at almost -200 against a Columbus Blue Jackets team that is on the back-end of a road back-to-back. He should see 30 shots tonight as the Toronto Maple Leafs play at a high pace, and his price isn't too restrictive on FanDuel, making him a premier play in net.

High-Priced Skaters

Auston Matthews ($8,300): Matthews will likely get the most ownership of any single player in tournaments, but he is a cash-game lock-and-load at the very least. As mentioned above, the Blue Jackets are on a back-to-back, likely rolling out their backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo, and they have allowed the third-most High-Danger Chances Against per 60 minutes in February. There's always a case to fade the chalk even in the best of spots, but Matthews' high-volume shooting and playmaking skills make it tough to imagine him flopping tonight.

Brendan Gallagher ($6,500): Gallagher will likely go overlooked in tournaments tonight because of the line he plays on, but it's hard to ignore the individual numbers he's posted lately. In February, Gallagher leads the slate with a 26.4 individual Corsi For per 60 minutes, while adding over 19 individual Scoring Chances For per 60 minutes in that time frame. To add to his value, he plays on the top power-play as well, and will not have to worry about seeing Nathan MacKinnon, who is still injured.

Value Skaters

Artturi Lehkonen ($4,300): Lehkonen has five points over his last five games, and has a great chance to add to that total tonight. He's likely to play on the top line along Max Pacioretty, which should only improve his offensive output. He has a 19.7 individual Corsi For per 60 minutes in February, and without MacKinnon, the Colorado Avalanche don't have much of a shutdown line to try to limit the new Montreal Canadiens top line. Add in power-play time on the second unit for Lehkonen and you've got yourself a great value on FanDuel.

Michael Matheson ($4,200): Matheson is one of the better values on the board tonight, as he is slotted in on the second power-play unit next to Aaron Ekblad. He has an absolute rocket of a shot, and has 27 shot attempts over the last five games. Against the Vancouver Canucks, who struggle on the penalty kill (77.8%), and possibly being the third-most owned defenseman on his team, Matheson makes for an excellent tournament pivot.

Jake Hari is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jake Hari also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tommienation1. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.