NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 11/13/18
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, let's take a look at some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Peter Budaj ($7,300): The Los Angeles Kings will likely send out Budaj as a starter on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing Budaj is a high-risk move for a lot of reasons. One of them is that this is LA's third-string goaltender (or fourth, depending on who you talk to). Another is, according to the numbers, Toronto has a 61.5% chance of winning. Finally, Budaj is 36 years old. On the other hand, the goaltender did hold the fort down for Jonathan Quick when Quick went down to injury two seasons ago. In that span, he won 27 games in 51 outiings, featuring a solid 2.12 goals against average and .917% save percentage. If Budaj comes remotely close to those numbers and gets a win, he will more than exceed value tonight. Wait for other goalie confirmations first -- watch for who starts in Detroit and New Jersey -- but Budaj is an enticing GPP play.
High-Priced Skaters
Claude Giroux ($7,400): The Philadelphia Flyers' winger is going up against a Florida Panthers team that has won four straight games. Little of that matters when these two teams meet. This game has a surprisingly low goal projection of 5.5. However, Florida allows 3.29 goals per game on the road, and the Flyers give up 3.75 goals per game at home. The penalty kill is horrible for both as Florida is around 74% and Philadelphia at 70.5%. Giroux is a power-play wunderkind, with 7 of his 22 points on the man advantage. He is averaging 3.1 shots per game, as well, which is above his career average (2.6). Other wing options include Mike Hoffman ($5,500) and Evgeni Dadonov ($6,700). Also, look to Taylor Hall ($7,500), who has just 3 goals on 52 shots, which screams positive regression. Hall may carry lower-than-usual ownership tonight.
Sidney Crosby ($9,000): Crosby will likely be higher-owned than usual -- given New Jersey's woes of late. It is not like Pittsburgh has been much better, but revenge is on their mind after a 5-1 blowout loss to New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Penguins' center has topped 28 FanDuel points in each of his last two contests. Shot volume is a bit erratic with Crosby, but chance counts have been high, especially a couple games ago (eight shots on net, five scoring chances). The price is high for the forward, but cap relief can be gained by stacking linemates and cheaper defensemen. See who is paired most of the time defensively with Crosby -- at even strength. Jack Eichel ($7,500) and Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,300) have moderately good matchups on this slate and present themselves as viable options, too.
Value Skaters
Joonas Donskoi ($3,800): Donskoi was promoted to the first line and promptly delivered a goal and assist against the Calgary Flames. No one knows how long this ascension will last, but Donskoi should enjoy a good matchup against a Nashville Predators team that is not rested. The main concern is that the winger has had just one other game in which he fired four-plus shots on net, and that was the opener against the Anaheim Ducks. Shots often get spread around with San Jose, but opportunities on that top line do come in bunches. Donskoi has a moderate chance of hitting double-digit FanDuel points tonight. Oskar Lindblom ($3,700) and even Kasperi Kapanen ($4,100) are other reasonable value choices on the wing.
Damon Severson ($3,900): The New Jersey defenseman is a risky tournament choice tonight, but he could pay off in a big way. He is one of the few defensemen on the Devils who rushes the puck up the ice well. His situational awareness may be called into question, but he can generate opportunities like he did against the Winnipeg Jets, when he nearly eclipsed 20 FanDuel points (19.2) on Sunday night. The risk is that Pittsburgh has been much better on the road (1.8 goals allowed per game). However, when the Devils and Penguins play, high-event pace is usually likely. The chances we 30-plus shots from each team are pretty high. If Severson is too dicey, then Dennis Cholowski ($3,800) or Jack Johnson ($3,600) may be worth a roll of the dice. Johnson has topped 12 FanDuel points in both of his last two contests and is playing better with sheltered minutes.
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 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.
