3 NHL Studs to Target on 12/6/19
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.
We close out the week with a five game Friday night slate, and some big stars we can look towards to roster. So who should we spend a high percentage of our salary on tonight?
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $8,900
When we played Connor McDavid on Wednesday night in a great spot, he disappointed us and failed to get a point. That's the nature of hockey -- it's not like basketball, where the best players usually perform reasonably well. It's closer to baseball, where a great player against bad pitching can still go 0 for 4 and leave you scratching your head.
So we will go right back to McDavid tonight in another great situation.
The Edmonton Oilers are facing the Los Angeles Kings at home on Friday. McDavid has five points in the two games against the Kings this season. Los Angeles has allowed the fifth most goals per game this season, partly due to a poor penalty kills that fends off just 75% of the man-power disadvantages they get. McDavid tops numberFire's projections tonight, projected for 21.5 FanDuel points. With the Oilers implied goal total up at 3.28, we can expect McDavid to bounce back from a poor performance on Wednesday and dominate like we know he can.
Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks
FanDuel Salary: $8,400
Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks take on the New Jersey Devils in the Garden State on Friday. The Devils have been a huge disappointment after a big offseason, and they dismissed head coach John Hynes earlier this week after a 7-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. They have allowed 3.58 goals per 60 minutes, the second worst mark in the league. This gives Kane a great opportunity to continue his hot stretch.
Kane has been playing great of late. He has 11 points in the last 10 games with 47 shots on goal. That's more shots on goal over the last 10 than Alex Ovechkin has, and Ovechkin leads the league in shots this season. Kane is third overall for fantasy output, per our projections,, and Chicago's implied goal total is up over three. Kane is fifth in ice time per game for forwards, so paying up for him makes sense given that he will be on the ice a ton and firing the puck when is out there.
Brendan Gallagher, Wing, Montreal Canadiens
FanDuel Salary: $7,500
Another wing who loves to shoot the puck is Brendan Gallagher. He is the league leader in shots per 60 minutes and is second in shot attempts per 60 minutes. On Friday night, he has a great matchup to rack up a ton of shots once again.
The Montreal Canadiens face off against the New York Rangers. The Rangers have the worst defensive shot metrics in the league across the board, whether it be shots on goal, shot attempts or expected goals. On Thursday night, they allowed 47 shots on goal by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Montreal has a goal total of 3.29, and Gallagher is their leading scorer. He is a good play in cash games in a matchup that should allow him to get a ton of shots on goal and possibly a goal or two.
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.
