NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 12/27/18
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
Henrik Lundqvist ($7,800): The New York Rangers project to start Lundqvist against Columbus on Thursday night. The goaltender is a risky pick because of a few blown multiple-goal leads of late, however, his price is very low on a slate where Sergei Bobrovsky is not guaranteed to start. Ownership expects to be extremely low as Lundqvist hasn't had a quality start win since November 26. New York is fifth-worst in shots allowed per game at 33.5. If Columbus can come close to that, then this is a pick that could pay off. Wait for confirmations to come in though; some morning skates will be earlier than usual because of the holiday break. Boston will be an easy target tonight, but watch to see who starts in net there.
High-Priced Skaters
Patrice Bergeron ($7,900): Bergeron is a great play against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night along with the Bruins' entire top line (even David Pastrnak). New Jersey yields four goals per contest and is without Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson tonight. Mackenzie Blackwood is starting tonight, and historically New Jersey has issues against the Boston top line. Bergeron's price is reasonable given his 20.8 FanDuel points per game. Boston averages 3.65 goals per game at home and that number shoots up closer to four when he is in the lineup. Jack Eichel ($8,000) and Sidney Crosby ($8,800) are safe bets tonight against inferior opponents in St. Louis and Detroit, respectively.
Cam Atkinson ($7,400): Atkinson is a nice tournament option tonight in New York against the Rangers. Consider that Atkinson has three-plus shots on net in each of his seven previous starts, and again, New York is among the five worst teams in shots and scoring chances per 60. The Rangers' penalty kill is among the bottom third at 76.8% as well. Columbus is on a roll, winning four of their last five contests. Also, Atkinson tallied four goals in his last three games. There are a slew of options available from the winger position. David Pastrnak ($8,500) may be among the highest-owned on that Boston line. Alexander Radulov ($6,400) is another interesting pick against a banged up Nashville team.
Value Skaters
Alex Goligoski ($3,900): Goligoski somehow ends up with 35-plus real-world points every year (five straight years currently). His assist value is high, and Arizona matches up well against a slower Los Angeles team. The danger with the defenseman is the lower shot volume, but he is averaging 1.7 blocks per game this year. His minutes over the past three contests has jumped to 24 a game, which is almost four minutes above his season average. Washington's Michal Kempny is another reliable play on Thursday night, as he carries a nice floor with at least one shot in 8 of his last 10.
Jesper Bratt ($3,300): Bratt is elevated risk because New Jersey is up against it in Boston. That is the only reason though. Bratt will be on the top line and likely top power play unit barring something unforeseen. Bratt has struggled from a daily fantasy standpoint in the last four games, but 12 minutes a night in a bottom six role under-utilizes Bratt to say the least. The New Jersey forward has good chemistry with the talented Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri, too, for what that's worth. Options to consider in the value bracket for wingers could include Joakim Nordstrom ($3,400) and Blake Coleman($3,400).
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.
