NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 2/20/19
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
Jaroslav Halak ($8,600): The Boston Bruins will start Halak against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night. The Bruins are playing on the front end of a back-to-back, while Vegas has lost four of their last five games including several poor efforts at home. Overall, the Golden Knights are shooting over 30 shots a game but scoring just 2.6 goals per game in that span. Halak is moderate-risk because Vegas may break out eventually. Also, if David Rittich ($7,700) starts for Calgary, he may be an option just for the low price, and Calgary sports a 18-5-3-2 record at home this season.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($7,800): MacKinnon is struggling a bit by his own standards, but even in his last game he had four shots on goal, four scoring chances, and an assist. Opportunities are there for the Colorado Avalanche forward but he is not burying them. Winnipeg has yielded 17 goals in their last five games with a ton of quality scoring chances in that span. The Jets are banged up on defense and likely will be missing Dustin Byfuglien for the next several games. Winnipeg's penalty kill has suffered as well, going at just a 77% clip over their previous 15 contests. Jonathan Toews ($7,600) may be an option as well against a poor penalty kill in the Detroit Red Wings tonight.
Patrick Kane ($9,400): Kane is the chalk, lock, and whatever else one wants to call him. He produces at obscene rates offensively, which is a cornerstone to daily fantasy success. It is more than just the 90 real-world points and 36 goals, as Kane has 240 shots on goal and 9 power-play tallies. The Chicago Blackhawks play a style that throws caution to the wind and results in some crazy numbers (see Monday's 8-7 game against Ottawa). Kane can be paired and stacked with all sorts of Chicago players to alleviate cost on Wednesday night. John Gaudreau ($7,800) from Calgary may be a buy-low option tonight given he has not scored a goal in seven games. He has missed the net on seven of his last eight shot attempts which is unusual.
Value Skaters
Tyson Jost ($3,300): This features a ton of risk, but Jost did see a taste of top-six ice time on Monday against Vegas. The result was a goal, two shots, and a few more good scoring chances. Jost was responsible in his own end as well, which is something Colorado desperately needs. He may only play 14 or 15 minutes a night, but, again, Winnipeg is a plus matchup. Values on this short slate are a bit limited tonight, but keep an eye on Artem Anisimov ($3.900) as an option to lower costs.
Michael Frolik ($3,400): Frolik's offensive role received a boost when James Neal went down to injury. He has topped 20 FanDuel points in his last two games, and Calgary scores at a rate of 4.25 goals per game at home. Frolik may not see top-line ice time but gets around 15-16 minutes a night at this juncture. That may be enough time to do damage with his above average speed and wrist shot. The New York Islanders can be vulnerable with speed to their perimeter and even while on the power play. Frolik is a penalty killing whiz that can still strike short-handed on occasion. Austin Czarnik ($3,100) is also from Calgary and may be a viable choice on this night due to his slightly increased deployment.
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.
