NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 10/3/19

Nathan MacKinnon headlines the eight-game slate on Thursday night, so who else can you trust in NHL DFS?

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

Darcy Kuemper ($7,400): The Arizona Coyotes goaltender expects to face the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. Kuemper enjoyed a second-half that ranked better than even Andrei Vasilevskiy. His reward was a two-year extension worth $4.5 million AAV. Anaheim averaged just 2.61 goals per game at home last year and features John Gibson in net. Goals are expected to be at a premium but shots are expected in the 30+ range for both teams. Henrik Lundqvist ($7,700) presents as a decent priced option as well against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.

High-Priced Skaters

Nathan MacKinnon ($8,700): The forward plays well with everyone but with Mikko Rantanen finally re-signed, Colorado can play its top line with confidence against the Calgary Flames. Initially, the Avalanche may be without both Ian Cole and Erik Johnson. That will place a little more pressure on Colorado's top-line to score more often. MacKinnon opened October last year with nine goals and nine assists in 12 games. Several choices are available tonight including Sidney Crosby ($8,500), Aleksander Barkov ($7,800), and Tyler Seguin ($8,000) -- who goes up against his former team in the Boston Bruins.

Nikita Kucherov ($8,900): Kucherov plays against the rival Florida Panthers on Thursday night. It is a team that historically he has some success against. Kucherov scored four goals and nine points in four meetings against the Panthers in 2018-19. The right-winger led the league with 128 points last season and took home the MVP awards from both the players and management. John Gaudreau ($7,600) and Artemi Panarin ($7,800) also present solid GPP choices against the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets, respectively.

Value Skaters

Carl Soderberg ($4,100): Soderberg flew under the radar so often in NHL DFS last year as he remained around $4,000 for most of the season. He signed with the Arizona Coyotes in the off-season and has been slotted in as their second-line center which means he will see a bit of power-play time as well. He enjoys a good matchup against an Anaheim team that ranked in the bottom third in scoring chances allowed last year. Vladimir Sobotka ($3,400) and Radek Faksa ($3,800) could be choices to ponder over tonight.

Victor Olofsson ($4,100): The Buffalo Sabres forward expects to see first the crack flanking Jack Eichel on his left-wing. Olofsson possesses a lot of skill but has the speed to keep up with Eichel. The Swedish forward has enough hockey sense when to attack and when to stay back. He had four real-world points on 21 shots in six games last year. If Olofsson is not safe enough, there is always Nick Suzuki ($3,800) who will get increased minutes playing with Max Domi and see power-play time as a bonus.


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