NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 12/17/19
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
Thomas Greiss ($7,900): The New York Islanders are the best defensive team in the NHL, and you want to start their goalie anytime you can. By best defensive team in the league, I mean they have allowed the fewest goals in the league this season. This has been the trend for the Islanders over the past two seasons with Barry Trotz behind the bench. What is also interesting is the fact the Islanders are second-worst in the league in Corsi Against (shot attempts allowed), giving Greiss a strong volume of saves on a nightly basis.
Over his last three starts, Greiss has 32 saves or more in each game and has allowed a total of seven goals in this span. We see the Islanders come in as -140 home favorites, set to take on the Nashville Predators, who are on the second night of a back-to-back. The tougher matchup for the Predators leads to them carrying a 2.58 implied goal total tonight -- the third-lowest on the slate.
High-Priced Skaters
Steven Stamkos ($8,600): Stammer and the Tampa Bay Lightning are at home, hold a slate-high 4.19 goal total, and are INSANE -400 favorites against the Ottawa Senators. Over the past few seasons, the Senators have been the punching bag of the hockey DFS community. You simply look at the slate, see if they are playing, and roster players against them. It can be that simple if you want it to be. Ottawa comes in as the fourth-worst Corsi Against this season, along with allowing the 10th-most High-Danger-Scoring-Chances per 60 minutes.
We want to be trusting the Lightning at home tonight with their massive implied team total, and Stamkos should be leading the way. Over his last five games, Stamkos has produced 7 points and 17 shots, and he's up on the first power-play unit. He should be a priority when building cash game lineups tonight.
Jake Guentzel ($8,100): With the current injury situation for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Guentzel is their best player. With Evgeni Malkin missing their last two games -- and being listed as a game-time decision tonight -- Guentzel has shifted into the first-line center role. In these past two games, he has posted four assists, no goals, and only two shots on goal. For a top-line center, we'd like to see his shot volume increase to give him a safer floor of points, but that should be on the way tonight. The Penguins are on the road to take on the Calgary Flames, who are 10th-worst in the league in Corsi Against.
Both teams are in the top-13 when it comes to Corsi For (shot attempts created), so we should see a good pace to this game, enabling players to rack up fantasy points.
Value Skaters
Morgan Frost ($3,700): Frost is the center on the third line for the Philadelphia Flyers, but he is up on the first power-play unit. At under $4K tonight, Frost offers plenty of salary relief when you are trying to jam in as many top studs as possible. His production over the past five games is what you would expect from a third liner -- two points, three shots, and one blocked shot. Really nothing to get excited about, but their matchup tonight could provide a nice boost to his stats.
The Flyers are at home against the Anaheim Ducks, who fifth-worst in both Corsi Against and expected goals against per 60 minutes. The Ducks are not a good defensive team, and with Frost on the first power-play unit, he gets you very cheap exposure to Claude Giroux ($7,500), Sean Couturier ($6,600), or Travis Konecny ($6,200).
Warren Foegele ($3,800): With a 6.0 over/under and both teams hovering around a 3.00 implied goal total, the Carolina Hurricanes at Winnipeg Jets game could have plenty of scoring. If you are looking for a tournament view on things, this is great spot for a game stack and offers plenty of upside. Both teams have top power-plays who are very expensive, and it's tough to fit several of those players into one lineup. Rostering a player like Warren Foegele can help with lineup construction.
He is on the first forward line but doesn't see any power-play time. This can cause some DFS players to stay away since his upside is limited, but at $3.8K, he doesn't need a ton of points to reach value. Speaking of fantasy points, he has 2 goals, 3 assists, and 14 shots in his last five games, which are amazing for a player at his price point.
