NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 10/18/19
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
Braden Holtby ($7,900): The Washington Capitals goalie expects to face the New York Rangers on Friday night. Holtby presents himself as a high-risk DFS option at one of his lowest prices ever on FanDuel. The question becomes, when does Holtby right the ship? Since the St. Louis Blues game, it has been all 3+ goals allowed ahead for the goaltender. Corey Crawford ($7,300) may be a buy-low option tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets who score less than three goals a game on the road typically.
High-Priced Skaters
Connor McDavid ($9,400): The center enjoys an excellent matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. Frankly, any matchup for McDavid lately is an excellent one. He has 17 real-world points in seven contests to start the season. It's his most prolific start of his young career. One can get fancy and try to sneak Leon Draisaitl ($8,700) because of the six-game slate but just know it will require almost all value picks. Other center options on Friday night could include Aleksander Barkov ($7,500) and Nathan MacKinnon ($8,600).
Alex Ovechkin ($8,500): Ovechkin is simply a Rangers killer and has been throughout his career. He averages around five shots a game and four scoring chances a night against New York. Ovechkin has 33 goals in 56 career regular-season games against the Rangers. Also, New York is on the back end of a back-to-back after losing to the New Jersey Devils 5-2 last night. Ovechkin will be highly owned in the 30%+ run on some contests tonight but it is worth to play the "chalk" anyway. Patrick Kane ($8,300) is our other high-price recommend going up against a Columbus team that is bound to allow some goals.
Value Skaters
Darren Helm ($3,700): This is a case of taking advantage of something while the goals are good. Helm has three goals in his last four games and the production WILL NOT continue. Playing the forward while he has value has always been the key. He has it now so do not hesitate to place him in a lineup or two. It is high-risk but some reward possible here. Zach Aston-Reese ($3,700) and Dominik Kubalik ($3,600) are intriguing value choices from the winger bin on Friday night.
Boone Jenner ($4,100): The middle-six center provides some offensive spark and can block some shots on occasion. He averages over two shots a game and three scoring chances. However, he has zero real-world points in six games which is why his price has dropped into the "value column". He plays with some talent and sees some power-play time so it is just a matter of time. Chicago presents as good of a matchup to get him jolted in the right direction. Jared McCann is a great option at the same price but is a game-time decision. Noel Acciari ($3,600) could be another good back-door option on Friday night from the Florida Panthers in an expected higher-scoring contest.
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.
