NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 10/31/19

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Oct 31st, 2019
Mark Stone is the best player on the slate and you shouldn't fade him. What other players should you build around tonight?

A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion of you 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.

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

Marc-Andre Fleury ($8,900): At -210, the Vegas Golden Knights come in as the largest home favorite on the slate, making it natural to target their goalie in DFS. Fleury is facing off against the Montreal Canadiens, who are on the second night of a back-to-back and now in Vegas. I generally don't buy into narratives too often, but Vegas -- since their inception -- have been very, very good while playing at home. Some have dubbed this the 'Vegas Flu' as visiting players spend too much time enjoying the nightlife. Regardless of that, the Canadiens are likely starting their backup goalie tonight, which should only boost the Golden Knights' chance to win, and thus, fantasy points for Fleury.

The Golden Knights are around the league average when it comes to Corsi Against -- 12th to be exact -- so he should see a decent volume of shots giving him a solid floor of fantasy points. He has the best win equity tonight but is also the most expensive goalie on the slate. He's worth it.

High-Priced Skaters

Mark Stone ($7,800): All Mark Stone does is score points. Real-life points, fantasy points, doesn't matter, he does it. Through 13 games this season, Stone has racked up 16 points, 35 shots, and has a point or more in eight of his last nine games. He is what we call consistent and a fantastic option in NHL DFS. He is playing on the second forward line and the second power-play unit with Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny, which is a nice three-man stack.

Both teams in this game are top-seven or higher when it comes to Corsi For, which means they both generate plenty of shot attempts. This should lead to a fast-paced game and bring plenty of scoring opportunities and potential for fantasy points.

Matt Duchene ($7,100): Duchene returned to the lineup the other night and didn't do a single thing. Legitimately, he didn't record a single fantasy point in 16 minutes of ice time. Not a single shot. Nothing. It's bound to happen sometimes, so you should expect him to bounce back tonight in a good matchup, as the Nashville Predators have a 3.28 implied team total. Duchene is still averaging one real NHL point per game, along with over two shots per game.

It's good but not great production if we're being honest, but he has a chance to pick those numbers up tonight. He is up against the Calgary Flames, who are taking nearly four penalties a game, which should provide him and the first power-play unit with several chances to score.

Value Skaters

Joel Armia ($4,400): While the Montreal Canadiens are road underdogs, you can't possibly pay up for four players from the Vegas Golden Knights and the Nashville Predators, so we need to find somewhere else. Armia is a player who stands out for the fact he isn't expensive on the second forward line and second power-play unit. I mentioned above this should be a faster-paced game and plenty of scoring chances on both sides.

Armia comes into this game with four points over his last four games, 12 shots in that time, and yet is still under $5K. He doesn't have massive upside, but possesses a solid floor on a very small two-game slate.

Sam Bennett ($3,700): Bennett doesn't have a ton of recent production, but he has a new role within the offense for the Calgary Flames, which is worth trying to capitalize on. He is now playing on the second forward line and the second power-play unit, under $4K, but only has three total points this season. The Nashville Predators are 11th worst in the league when it comes to Corsi Against, so there should be a decent amount of shots against them tonight.

Bennett and the Flames are a bit of contrarian approach to things tonight, but getting away from chalk can be massively beneficial on a slate like tonight's.