NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 1/2/20
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
Semyon Varlamov ($8,400): The New York Islanders have enjoyed a mastery of the New Jersey Devils that goes back to late March of 2014. They have defeated New Jersey in the last four matchups, and New Jersey scored just five total goals against them last year. With the Devils' current roster, is there any reason to expect anything different today? Also, the Islanders are at home, where they score 3.26 goals per game. That should be enough for Varlamov. New Jersey yields 3.53 goals per game on the road and tends to get down early in contests. Tristan Jarry ($8,800) and Tuukka Rask ($8,500) are intriguing options on Thursday, as well.
High-Priced Skaters
Jack Eichel ($8,100): While Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid play on Thursday, Eichel may have the top matchup yet again. This was an Edmonton Oilers team that nearly blew a 6-0 lead to the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Eichel scored a short-handed goal on Tuesday against Tampa Bay and blocked three shots, as well. Expect him to have more opportunities against an Oilers team that has given up 22 goals in their previous five games played. For the price point, the Buffalo Sabres' center has the best point potential. McDavid ($8,800) and Evgeni Malkin ($8,600) are places to pivot if Eichel is not in your plans.
Artemi Panarin ($8,300): Panarin and Jonathan Huberdeau have been on fire the past five or six games. The last three for Panarin have seen him top 27 FanDuel points each time. Panarin has an astounding 10 real-world points in this span and torched Edmonton for a goal and three assists on Tuesday. The Calgary Flames can be just as susceptible defensively, and they yield 3.05 goals per game at home. It could be a wild night in Calgary as both the Rangers and Flames could trade goals. Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,800) is up against the Ottawa Senators, and Patrick Kane ($8,200) is taking on a faltering Vancouver Canucks defense. Both are solid choices.
Value Skaters
Jesper Bratt ($3,800): The shot volume is a risk at less than two per contest, but the forward has five real-world points in his last four games. The Devils' top-line is probably the one trio that can cause the Islanders' defense fits on Thursday. In the last four games, even that shot volume has been less of an issue as Bratt has 11 shots on net in that span. If that can continue, the winger could be a nice value play for the foreseeable future. Ondrej Kase ($3,500) is an interesting alternative as positive regression has to kick in at some point. He has just three goals on 89 shots this season.
Nate Schmidt ($4,000): Schmidt has been the Vegas Golden Knights' best offensive option from the blueline. He has four real-world points in the last four games. His floor is not that high as he has zero blocked shots in three of his last four games. However, if the offense keeps coming, who cares about the peripherals? He has 11 shots on net in this span, as well. Philadelphia has struggled a bit lately, giving up 17 goals in their last five contests. Neal Pionk ($3,800) is in nearly as good of a spot against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Chris Wassel is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Chris Wassel also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username chriswassel. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
