NHL

4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 11/15/19

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.

Friday's slate is a very interesting one with the five games we have. Only one of the games has a total that isn't 6.5, so the oddsmakers are expecting goals in these contests. So who are the players we should pay up for tonight?

Evgeni Malkin, Center, Pittsburgh Penguins

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

It's the Evgeni Malkin show for the Pittsburgh Penguins with Sidney Crosby sidelined for six weeks. Malkin has been moved up to the first line to play with Jake Guentzel and Alex Galchenyuk. He has six points in his last four games, proving he is over the injury that had kept him out most of October.

Now he faces the New Jersey Devils on the road. The Devils have allowed the third most goals per game this season (3.57). They also have been very weak on the penalty kill, with just a 74% success rate with a man disadvantage. Malkin should see more of a share of the shots on the power play with Crosby and Kris Letang being out, and he is already the team's highest rate shooter, according to Natural Stat Trick. With Pittsburgh's implied goal total up to 3.42, Malkin is the one we want to roster for them in this spot.

David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $9,200

When the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs have met in the past few seasons, David Pastrnak has found a way to get on the score sheet. Pasta has 23 points in 17 regular season meetings with the Leafs, including a hat trick. He also had a hat trick and 19 points in 14 playoff games against Toronto.

This season, Pastrnak has been treating everyone as if they are Toronto. He still leads the league in goals with 16 and is third in points with 31. He's the trigger man on Boston's "perfection" line, with the sixth highest shooting rate in the league. When you are on a possession dominant line like Boston's first, the chances to shoot will be aplenty.

Despite being road underdogs, Boston is still implied to score 3.21 goals today, and Pastrnak and his linemates should contribute as they do in most games. He is in play in all formats with a great floor/ceiling combination.

Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $8,800

Alex Ovechkin hasn't scored in four games, but that shouldn't continue for too long. Ovechkin leads the league in shot attempt rate and is fourth in individual expected goals per 60 minutes. Our projections at numberFire have him with the best goal projection for anyone on the slate tonight.

The Washington Capitals have the highest implied goal total on the night (3.52), and they own a sweet power-play matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal has the worst penalty kill on this slate, which you can see on our Daily Fantasy Matchup Heat Map. Meanwhile, the Washington power play which has hit on 22% of their opportunities.

Ovechkin is the main trigger man on the power play. If the Capitals get chances to score with the man advantage, Ovechkin should be the beneficiary. Being the league's most frequent shooter, Ovechkin has a safe floor for cash games, and his scoring ability makes him great for tournaments, as well.

Braden Holtby, Goalie, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $8,500

After a slow start to the season, Braden Holtby has really turned things around with a win in each of his last five starts. He and the Capitals are the biggest favorites on tonight's slate (-170, according to ). Washington has been solid defensively this season as they are fourth in expected goals against per 60 minutes, coming in at 2.33.

They should be able to keep that up against Montreal, who has the third lowest team total of the day at 2.98. Holtby's solid play of late makes him a reliable option in net for both the Capitals and our fantasy lineups.



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.