NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 2/7/19
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
Robin Lehner ($8,600): The New York Islanders are projected to start Lehner against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. New Jersey threw in the towel with the trade of Brian Boyle on Wednesday and may sell off additional trade deadline pieces. Lehner and the Islanders have dominated New Jersey this year (outscoring them 11-4); Lehner has one win on an easy 16-save performance. New Jersey figures to shoot a bit more at home, but the result could be much the same. Anthony Stolarz gets the start on Thursday night for Philadelphia and is minimum price at $7,000. His matchup against the Los Angeles Kings expects to be reasonable given the Kings can barely muster two goals a game on the road.
High-Priced Skaters
Sebastian Aho ($7,200): Aho and the Carolina Hurricanes' top line could enjoy a pretty good matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Aho has 21 real-world points in his last 14 games and is on pace for 38 goals. He averages nearly three shots per game now and will cause havoc against Buffalo's porous defense. The Sabres have yielded 20 goals in their last five games and have just 5 wins in their last 21 contests. This game has high-event outcomes written all over it. Mathew Barzal ($6,400) is one solid option tonight for the Islanders. He is a walking highlight reel against the Devils, averaging over five scoring chances in the last five meetings.
Patrick Kane ($9,200): Kane is in the highest of echelons when it comes to pricing, and for good reason; he has scored a whopping 28 real-world points in his last 12 games. Chicago has tallied 27 goals in their last five outings to vault themselves back into the playoff race. The over has hit in three straight and six of their last eight games. Kane is a must-play in cash games and even in tournaments as well. Vancouver's penalty kill is just 78% on the road and they allow 3.14 goals per game away from home, as Kane is playing upwards of 23 minutes per night since January 1. Jeff Skinner ($7,000) is a GPP option on Thursday against Carolina, and Brock Boeser ($6,500) could be as well given Chicago's 73% penalty kill.
Value Skaters
Michael Dal Colle ($3,100): This is a dicey punt play, but for the price Dal Colle has been playing typically around 11-12 minutes a night and is now paired with Barzal and Josh Bailey. Shot volume is questionable here, but chances have been higher with the forward in his last few games. New Jersey is allowing over three goals per game at home in January and February. The winger could make an impact even in limited time because of his speed and hands. Andrei Svechnikov ($3,600) and Conor Garland ($3,600) are intriguing value options on Thursday due to favorable matchups.
Oskar Sundqvist ($4,000): Sundqvist has not cooled down, scoring 12+ FanDuel points in each of his last four games. The crazy part is every one of these games have been on the road. Tonight is no exception as the St. Louis Blues travel to Tampa Bay to face a Lightning team that has stumbled of late (4-3-1 in their last eight outings). The Blues have the more prolific offense in recent games, scoring 18 goals in their last five games. That includes Sundqvist tallying a goal in three of his previous four starts, which bodes well because Tampa's depth can be vulnerable as the fourth line is among the bottom third in the league in defensive scoring chances yielded. Casey Mittelstadt ($3,900) has heated up a bit for Buffalo with 10+ FanDuel points in three of four and Adrian Kempe ($3,600) has goals in his last two games along with seven shots on net. They are secondary options for low-cost skaters.
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.
