NHL

4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/5/20

Patrick Kane is in an uptempo matchup that will need require lots of goals for his team to win. Who else can we target tonight?

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 from paying up in sports like NBA or NFL. Someone can be one of the highest-priced players at his position and 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.

There's another three-game slate on FanDuel, as NHL action from the play-in round and round robin continues. When the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Colorado Avalanche are playing, you know you'll have some stars to choose from. So let's see which ones are in the best spots tonight.

Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers

FanDuel Salary: $9,000

You don't need me to tell you that Connor McDavid is good at hockey. If you needed any reminder of just how good he is, he showed it on Monday again. He got a hat trick, which included a dazzling end-to-end rush for his second goal. In the Breakaway contest on FanDuel, there is a cash bonus for rostering a player who scores a hat trick. Given what we've already seen from McDavid in this series, he has to be the most likely player to get you that bonus.

The Oilers have scored 10 goals in the two games in this series against the Blackhawks, and have by far the highest implied total tonight at 3.42, according to our Daily Fantasy Matchup Heat Map. Chicago allowed the second-most scoring chances against per 60 minutes during the regular season, according to Natural Stat Trick. McDavid is in the game environment that makes the most sense to stack since it has the highest total and has proven to live up to the hype of everyone who thought there would be tons of goal scored in it. McDavid remains the top center play across the board tonight.

Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks

FanDuel Salary: $8,400

If you are stacking the Edmonton-Chicago game, you might want to get Patrick Kane in your lineup as well. Kane hasn't been as good as McDavid, but he does have 3 points and 12 shots on goal in the two games of the series. Kane has played over twenty minutes in each of the first two games, which is consistent with his time on ice in the regular season in which he ranked second for wingers.

Kane has been firing the puck in these two games, with a whopping 24 shot attempts. If he keeps shooting as much as he has, he will add to his one goal so far in this series. The Blackhawks are one of three teams on this slate with an implied goal total of over three goals. Kane is the highest projected winger, according to numberFire. If this game has the goals in it that we expect, Kane could have a huge, multi-point game.

Kris Letang, Defense, Pittsburgh Penguins

FanDuel Salary: $6,800

Kris Letang has been a valuable fantasy asset for years, as he contributes from the back end to add to the Penguins' fire-power. He is on the ice a ton for them, ranking fourth in ice time per game in the league. So far in this series, he hasn't gotten his name on the scoresheet, but in Game 1, he had six shots on goal and five blocked shots. One of the benefits of playing guys in the play-in games as opposed to the round robin games is the potential for a lot of overtime, which would allow your players to rack up shots on goal and blocked shots, and that was the case in this game.

The Penguins are second in terms of implied team total today, sitting at 3.09. Letang will quarterback their power play, which has a nice matchup against the Montreal Canadiens penalty kill that is worst on the slate. He is the number one defenseman in our projections today. With a lot of ownership likely to be focused on the Edmonton-Chicago game, a good way to be contrarian would be to play Letang with some of Pittsburgh's scoring forwards.

Phillip Grubauer, Goaltender, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $8,400

Philipp Grubauer played his first competitive game since February 15th on Sunday and was able to get the win while making 31 saves and allowing only one goal. He's had a very solid season, with a .916 save percentage. He's set up nicely here today against the Dallas Stars, who scored the second-fewest goals of any team that made it to the postseason. The Avalanche are -145 favorites in this game, so the odds to get the win are certainly in Grubauer's favor. He's the highest projected goalie on tonight's slate, making him a good play in all formats.


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.