NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 1/4/19
A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, 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
Adin Hill ($7,500): The Arizona Coyotes are projected to start Hill against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Hill has played decently as he has won three of his last five starts. Do not expect mind blowing numbers, but he represents a pretty good shot of getting a win at a value price. Will New Jersey start Mackenzie Blackwood or Keith Kinkaid is the question. That will go a long way in determining the viability of this pick. New Jersey should come close to at least 30 shots even without Taylor Hall in the lineup. Curtis McElhinney and Jimmy Howard are both $7,400 and will likely face as many or more shots than Hill. The only risk is that Carolina is on zero rest, and Detroit can give up goals in clusters.
High-Priced Skaters
Tyler Seguin ($7,800): Seguin fired off a 40-plus FanDuel score on Wednesday after the injury to Jamie Benn. The Dallas Stars' center will be in a good spot against a Washington team that is not rested. Overall, he has real-world points in three straight contests. Seguin and Alexander Radulov ($6,600) make for a nice mini-stack on Friday night versus the bottom lines of the Capitals. An unusual amount of scoring options exist on Friday night, which is typically a smaller slate. The Colorado Avalanche top line including Nathan MacKinnon ($8,700) is almost a must-start against a New York Rangers team that yields 4.06 goals per game away from home.
Cam Atkinson ($7,500): The Columbus Blue Jackets' forward tallied three points against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday and face a tired Carolina team on Friday. Atkinson's 42-point season is a breakout, and the 151 shots creates such a good floor. Playing with Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois, they've been Columbus' only power play options and at times even strength, as well. Over 40% of the offense goes through this line. Columbus has the worst power play on the slate, but at even strength this is one of the five or six best lines in hockey. Alex Tuch ($5,800) is a cheaper option for Vegas, but Viktor Arvidsson ($6,700) has topped 25 FanDuel points in each of his previous two games. Arvidsson against a Detroit penalty kill and defense that yields goals in bunches is an interesting prospect.
Value Skaters
Brian Boyle ($4,100): Boyle has been a presence, for better or worse, on the New Jersey power play and is the more consistent option over Travis Zajac ($4,000) on Friday. Arizona allows nearly three goals a game at home (2.95 per contest), but they yield only 30.5 shots per game (9th best) and is a league-best 88% on the penalty kill. That is the risk with Boyle. Remember, he plays only fourth line minutes at even strength. Opportunities may not be prevalent as much. However, Boyle has topped 10 FanDuel points in three of his last four starts. Surprisingly, he has averaged nearly two shots on goal a game this year despite playing just 13 minutes a night. Nick Bonino ($3,500) is another higher risk option from Nashville but does block nearly a full shot a game to make up for the lower shot volume (1.4 shots per night).
Nick Ritchie ($3,700): Ritchie is riding shotgun on the Anaheim top line and taking full advantage. He has exceeded 10 FanDuel points in three straight outings. Overall, Ritchie has five real-world points in this span. The only risk is that the winger does not exceed two shots often, with three-plus shots just once in the previous 15 games. He is averaging over 15 minutes of ice time a night since December 8. The Ducks have lost five straight, but this line is the only thing that has been clicking. Six of their nine goals during the last five games has been from the Ritchie line. Jimmy Vesey ($3,600) is one possible option for value, and another one is Jesper Bratt ($3,300). New Jersey has underpriced options all over the place on Friday night.
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.
