NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 1/16/19
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
David Rittich ($8,000): The Calgary Flames expect to start Rittich against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. If one wants wins, Calgary is the place to go for goalies. However, they do yield 3.26 goals per game at home, which is something to keep in mind. This is combined with a 77% home penalty kill. But Rittich has mostly been excellent in net with 17 wins in 24 decisions, and he's 4-0 in January with a 2.73 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. That is not outstanding, but the shots per 60 approach 33. Buffalo's shot volume may be enough for the Calgary's goalie to exceed value if he gets the win. Again, wait for morning skates. Also, look towards the Arizona Coyotes for a risky bargain as both goalies are $7,500 or less on Wednesday.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($8,600): MacKinnon has been awfully quiet in his last couple games but plays the Ottawa Senators tonight. Ottawa is dead last in so many categories including shots allowed and high-danger scoring chances. The 36.9 shots per game allowed is an eye opener. Now, the Colorado Avalanche forward is up against an Ottawa penalty kill that hovers around 75% and at 72% over the past 15 games. Spending up like this is fine on a five-game slate. Options are clustered more towards the higher and lower end. Jack Eichel ($7,200) could perform well in Calgary and Sean Monahan ($7,800) may be a part of many bigger Flames stacks on Wednesday night.
John Gaudreau ($8,800): Gaudreau is a top tournament option against the Buffalo Sabres. Aside from the 69 points in 47 real-world games, Gaudreau has 151 shots on goal. Buffalo was shelled by Edmonton on Monday night, and the seven goals allowed almost felt low. That performance has been more and more common by the Sabres over the past couple months. Expect Gaudreau to be able to skate out wide and draw chances from Buffalo early and often.
Value Skaters
Conor Garland ($3,900): Garland has always had scoring talent, but he is 5"9" and about 160, maybe 165 pounds soaking wet. His durability in the NHL has always been a concern. So far, he has shown an ability to put the puck in the net (8 goals in 18 games and 3 on the man advantage) and is averaging nearly 2.8 shots per contest. San Jose Sharks is not rested and could have problems against some of the Arizona Coyotes' speed. Options are not as limited as one would expect on a five-game slate. Brady Tkachuk ($3,800) is one moderate risk and Sean Kuraly ($3,600) is another choice. Kuraly has nice shot volume which could be dangerous against a Philadelphia team which struggles at home allowing 3.27 goals per game.
Radko Gudas ($4,000): Gudas is a dangerous risk against Boston. The Philadelphia defenseman can block shots and occasionally puts up nice shot volume (3.25 a game over the last four starts). Boston is a tough team to play against, which could lead to that floor being reached. It is the key here for Gudas. Any assist or goal is just a bonus here. Christian Wolanin ($3,600) is a moderate risk for Ottawa and Jakob Chychrun ($3,800) has exceeded floor options for Arizona since his return just before Thanksgiving.
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.
