4 NHL Studs to Target on 10/29/19
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.
Tuesday night brings nine games for us to dive into, including many of the league's best players -- so who should we spend up for?
Auston Matthews, Center, Toronto Maple Leafs
FanDuel Price: $8,500
Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Washington Capitals tonight in what should be a high scoring, back and forth game. When these teams played on October 16th, there were seven goals in a 4-3 Capitals win. Matthews did not have a big game that night but could be in line for a better performance in this one. The Leafs only had one power play in that game, and Washington is allowing 3.54 power play opportunities per game.
Matthews is fourth in shot attempts overall in the league, per Natural Stat Trick. He initially saw an increase in ice time when John Tavares went out of the lineup, but that has scaled back in the last two games. However, that was in a back to back situation, so it's possible the Leafs were limiting him for that reason. makes the Leafs favorites in this game at -135, and their implied goal total is 3.42. Matthews already has nine goals this season and has a good chance to add to that total on Tuesday.
David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Price: $9,100
On Sunday, David Pastrnak failed to score for the first time in five games. His game was far from disappointing, though, as he racked up five assists and 44.8 FanDuel points. This vaulted him to the top of the NHL points leaderboard, and he was already leading in goals. Pastrnak has just been on an unreal tear to start this season.
The Boston Bruins take on the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, and the Sharks have been struggling to keep pucks out of their net. They've allowed 3.65 goals per 60 minutes of five on five play, the worst in the league. It hasn't been only bad goaltending either, as they are the second-worst team in expected goal rate as well. Pastrnak's line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand remains elite and has been dominant at even strength and on the power play. The NHL DFS heat map shows us that Boston has the second-most efficient power play to go along with the third-highest implied goal total. It's not time to jump off the Pastrnak train. Rather, it's time to keep riding it.
Leon Draisaitl, Wing, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Price: $8,500
Leon Draisaitl may have slightly cooled off after a red hot start, with a stretch of just one point in three games. He rebounded though and had multiple points in his last two games, giving him seven multi-point games in 12 games this season. Draisaitl leads all forwards in ice time per game and has been effective in that ice time as he is scoring 4.4 points per 60 minutes at all strengths. In this game against the Detroit Red Wings, that ice time will have more value as the Wings have allowed the second-most goals in the league.
If the Edmonton Oilers can get on the power play often, it could be a huge game for Draisaitl. Edmonton's power play is scoring on 33% of their chances, while Detroit is killing off just 69% of penalties. Draisaitl is numberFire's highest projected winger and has a high ceiling in this game tonight.
Nikita Kucherov, Wing, Tampa Bay Lightning
FanDuel Price: $8,400
The wing position is loaded with stars tonight, and of course, Nikita Kucherov is one of them and is in a great matchup. His Tampa Bay Lightning travel north to face the New York Rangers, who, by a ton of different metrics, are the worst defensive team in the league. They are last in expected goal against rate and shot attempts against rate. They will also be without top center Mika Zibanejad, weakening an already weak center group.
Kucherov hasn't been on the same ridiculous point pace that he was last season. Still, he hasn't been terrible, with ten points in ten games. He was reunited with Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat on a line that he played on a lot last year, and perhaps he feels most comfortable in that trio. He still will play with Steven Stamkos on the power play, forming a dangerous duo that we've seen do damage in the past few years. Tampa has the highest implied goal total tonight with 3.75, and given their talent and matchup, are capable of exceeding that total.
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.
