NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 2/21/19
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
Anders Nilsson ($7,600): The Ottawa Senators will start Nilsson against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. The Senators are playing on the front end of a back-to-back, while New Jersey comes off another poor effort at home to Pittsburgh of all teams. Overall, the Senators are allowing a league-worst 36.4 shots per game (over 37 per 60 on the road). Nilsson is a moderate-risk because of their 28th-ranked penalty kill (76.7%). Also, if Mikko Koskinen ($7,300) starts for Edmonton, he may be an option just for the low price, and watch to see who starts for New Jersey as well.
High-Priced Skaters
Brayden Point ($7,800): Point will be one angry skater after sitting out Tuesday night's game due to missing a team meeting. Before the unscheduled rest, Point had real-world points in six straight games as Tampa Bay remains the hottest team in the entire league. Buffalo yields 18 goals in their last five contests and well over 30 shots a game in that span. Tampa in the past has attacked Buffalo's penalty kill often and converts their man-advantage at a rate of 30.2%, which is tops in the NHL. Point has a whopping 17 goals on the power-play. Watch how he moves without the puck on the man advantage. He creates a ton of chances for himself. Aleksander Barkov ($7,400) and Sebastian Aho ($7,500) are nice options as they face off against each other tonight.
Leon Draisaitl ($8,100): Draisaitl is not the most flashy pick but he has been right around 20 FanDuel points in each of his last four starts. He draws in against a New York Islanders on the back end of a back-to-back. The latter game on these "Northwest Passage" trips can result in a lot of breakdowns. If Connor McDavid returns from illness tonight, that is a bonus. Expect Draisaitl to get more chances at goals (up to 35 on the season). His shot volume is up to over three a game and chances are nearly four a night in the last ten games. Nikita Kucherov ($9,200) remains an option along with Alex Ovechkin ($8,500).
Value Skaters
Nate Thompson ($3,100): This features a ton of risk, but Thompson may play on the top line again for Montreal tonight if Phillip Danault cannot play (personal). Tuesday night saw Thompson rack up three shots, two scoring chances, and around 17 minutes of ice time. A punt play on a large slate helps stack and spend elsewhere. Other plays on Thursday night could entail Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($3,500) and Casey Cizikas ($3,700).
Jesper Bratt ($4,000): Bratt's offensive role received a big lift when he was paired with Marcus Johansson on the top line. He has topped 15 FanDuel points in his last four games, and Ottawa allows 4.38 goals per game at home. Bratt averages around 18 minutes a night since the promotion. That is more than enough time to do damage with his above average speed and wrist shot. The Ottawa Senators can be vulnerable with speed at any time. Andrei Svechnikov ($3,500) is in a good spot from Carolina against the Florida Panthers' depth, which ranks in the bottom third of the league in goals allowed and scoring chances.
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.
