NHL

4 NHL Studs to Target on 10/18/19

Connor McDavid is on fire to start the season. What other studs can we pay up for on Friday?

Spending up in any Daily Fantasy lineup is how to get the superstars and the highest upside players in your lineup. In NHL DFS, it’s different than paying up in sports like NBA or NFL. Someone can be one of the highest-priced players at his position a put up a total dud of a performance, and paying that much for him would be a huge mistake. Let’s make sure we are paying up in the right spots when building our lineups tonight.

Friday night has six games, and a number of stars are available for us to choose from. So which ones are the ones we want to target?

Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers

FanDuel Price: $9,400

Connor McDavid is the only player above $9,000 on FanDuel for Friday night, and it's pretty justifiable. He roasted the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, scoring a goal and adding four assists. Tonight, the Edmonton Oilers face the Detroit Red Wings, who are coming off a 5-1 loss on Thursday. The Oilers power play is on fire to start the season, scoring on 45% of their opportunities to start the year. Looking at numberFire's daily fantasy matchup heat map, we can see that McDavid is likely to face the goalie with the third-lowest save percentage on the slate in Jonathan Bernier. McDavid stands out as a tier above even the likes of Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon on this slate when he is playing like this and has a great matchup. It's time to ride with McDavid during the best point scoring stretch of his career.

Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Price: $8,500

Alex Ovechkin is in a great spot on Friday to have a big game. The Washington Capitals take on the New York Rangers, who have allowed the second-most shot attempts against per 60 minutes at five on five, according to Natural Stat Trick. Ovechkin doesn't need a second invitation to take a shot at goal, so when the opposition is offering the chance often, he won't pass it up. The Rangers are on the second half of a road back to back, while Washington was resting at home after hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The Capitals have the highest implied goal total on the slate at 3.75. Ovechkin is the rare player in fantasy hockey that offers a solid floor just from shooting and has high upside because he is the best goal scorer in the league.

John Carlson, Defenseman, Washington Captials

FanDuel Price: $6,700

Another Washington Capital who is a solid play tonight is John Carlson. Carlson has started the season on an absolute tear. He has 14 points, behind only McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. His three-point game against Toronto on Wednesday was already his fifth multi-point game of the season. He's also averaging over two blocked shots per game. We know that the matchup for the Capitals is very good, and could lead to another multiple-point game for him. Carlson is someone who correlates very well with Ovechkin, because of the way the Caps power play sets up. Carlson is often the one feeding Ovechkin for one-timers, and if they can connect on one or more, your lineups will benefit greatly.

Dougie Hamilton, Defenseman, Carolina Hurricanes

FanDuel Price: $6,300

The defenseman who ranks second behind Carlson in points is Dougie Hamilton. Fans were clamoring for Hamilton to get more power play time last season, and now that Justin Faulk is out of town, he leads the team in power play time. Hamilton has always been a rate shooter -- he had the third-most shot attempts per 60 minutes among defensemen last season. Combining the floor he has with the power play time he is seeing, makes Hamilton a great fantasy asset. It has already played out this season, as Dougie has scored five goals in the first eight games. On Friday against the Anaheim Ducks, the Carolina Hurricanes should get a decent amount of power play opportunities as the Ducks have allowed the fourth-most power play opportunities per game of teams on this slate. Hamilton is our highest projected defenseman, so he is worth paying up for on Friday night.



Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.