4 NHL Studs to Target on 10/30/19
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 and 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.
Wednesday's NHL action has six games and three teams playing on back to back nights. Will that factor into who we are paying up for on tonight's slate?
Nathan Mackinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Price: $8,700
After Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog were both injured in the past two weeks, Nathan MacKinnon is the lone member still standing of the Colorado Avalanche's vaunted top line. Now he will be skating with Joonas Donskoi and Nazem Kadri, according to Daily Faceoff. These two should be competent linemates for MacKinnon, who can mostly do the job on his own anyway with his ability to skate with the puck. He ranks twelfth in shot attempt rate among forwards, per Natural Stat Trick. Colorado loves to ride Mackinnon regardless of linemates, as he is fourth in ice time per game for forwards.
On Wednesday night against the Florida Panthers, MacKinnon could have a huge night. Looking at numberFire's daily fantasy matchup heat map, it tells us that the Avalanche have an implied goal total of 3.42. The Panthers just allowed seven goals on Monday night, and new goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has struggled badly with just a .874 save percentage. Don't be afraid of the lack of his normal running mates -- MacKinnon is still a great play tonight.
Nikita Kucherov, Wing, Tampa Bay Lightning
FanDuel Price: $8,400
Nikita Kucherov gets another great matchup on Wednesday night, just like he had on Tuesday. He had one goal and five shots against the New York Rangers yesterday, and could easily continue that against the New Jersey Devils tonight. The Devils have allowed 3.71 goals per 60 minutes, the second-highest rate in the league. Projected starting goalie Cory Schneider has yet to win a game for the Devils this season and has an abysmal save percentage of .876.
It's rare that a player can have a goal and five shots and be disappointing, but that's what happened to Kucherov on Tuesday. Paying $8,400 for him, you really want multiple points. He could use the power play to get going, especially against the Devils' weak penalty kill that has allowed the eighth-most goals per 60 minutes with a manpower disadvantage. It's a great time to go right back to Kucherov tonight.
Taylor Hall, Wing, New Jersey Devils
FanDuel Price: $7,500
It's rare that a player with one goal this season will make the Studs article, but this is a special case tonight with Taylor Hall. Hall is definitely due for some positive regression in his shooting, as his 2.8% is well below his career average of 10.7%. He is still driving play in the right direction for the New Jersey Devils, as his corsi is 56.73%. Hall has started to form some chemistry with first overall draft pick Jack Hughes, assisting on a goal of his in two straight games.
On Wednesday against the Lightning, the matchup is not as tough as it would appear. Tampa Bay has not been a defensive stalwart as they were last year. They have given allowed the sixth-highest five on five shot attempt rate against and the tenth-most high danger chances per 60 minutes in the league this season. They also could be without star defenseman Victor Hedman, who left Tuesday's game with an injury. Hall would also benefit if backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney were to start in place of the reigning Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy. Hall could go overlooked tonight, but signs point to him eventually breaking out, and tonight could be the game he does it.
Jordan Binnington, Goalie, St. Louis Blues
FanDuel Price: $8,100
Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues host the Minnesota Wild, who are on a back to back, coming off a loss in Dallas. This game has the lowest total, according to FanDuel SportsBook, coming in at just 5.5. The sportsbook also tells us that the Blues are -180 favorites to get the win. The Wild have scored just 2.42 goals per game this season, the fifth-lowest rate in the league. St. Louis continues to be the solid defensive team that lead them to winning the Stanley Cup last season. They've allowed the ninth-fewest shots on goal per game. Binnington has been good if not great to start the year but should be able to get the win tonight at home. He certainly has been better and is in a better situation than the aforementioned Sergei Bobrovsky, who is $200 more as a road underdog.
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.
