4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/13/20
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.
The first round rolls on and now we have some idea of how these teams will play now that every team has played a few games, and one game against each other. So let's see which stars it makes sense for us to pay up for today.
Brayden Point, Center, Tampa Bay Lightning
FanDuel Salary: $7,700
The hero of Tuesday's marathon game was Brayden Point. His goal in the fifth overtime finally gave the Tampa Bay Lightning the win. It was his ninth shot on goal of the game, and his second goal, adding to the one he scored way back in the first period. Point wasn't having as good of a regular season this year as he did last season, when he scored 41 goals and recorded 92 points, but he was still at a solid .97 points per game. He's been good since the NHL resumed play, with at least a point in all four games.
Point and the Lightning dominated all the metrics against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game One. He led all of Tampa's forwards in ice time. The Lightning are -180 favorites in this game, according to . They also have an implied team goal total hovering around three, according to our daily fantasy matchup heat map. Point probably won't be able to rack up the same amount of shots in three periods as he did in seven and a half on Tuesday, but he's still a fine play in all formats on Thursday.
David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
The NHL co-leader in goals got off to a good start in the first round of the actual playoffs. David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist in Game One of the Boston Bruins as they beat the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a continuation of the form he showed in the regular season, leading all players in goals per 60 minutes and points per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. He also had the fourth-best shot attempt rate in the league.
Boston's top line of Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron are a hassle for any team to handle. The Hurricanes allowed the eleventh most expected goals per 60 in the league this year, so they will have their hands full trying to slow the best line in hockey. Boston's goal total is at three, and most of that production can be expected to come from that first line. Pastrnak is probably the best play out of all of them, as numberFire's projections have him as the highest-scoring player on the slate by almost three points. He'll definitely be a priority spend when building lineups today.
Shea Theodore, Defense, Vegas Golden Knights
FanDuel Salary: $6,100
I recommended Shea Theodore on Tuesday and he scored a goal, so let's go back to the well again in Game Two. He also had three shots on goal and four blocked shots. He now has points in three straight games. Theodore has turned into one of the best shot generators from the back end, producing the fourth-most shots on goal for a defenseman. Theodore will be set up to have another big game on Thursday.
The Vegas Golden Knights have the highest implied goal total on Thursday, sitting at around 3.6. The Chicago Blackhawks were a bad defensive team all season long, allowing the third most expected goals per 60 in the league. During the postseason, they've allowed at least three goals in four out of five games. Theodore is the second most expensive defenseman on the slate, but is the preferred option to Victor Hedman because Hedman has not been playing on the Lightning's top power-play unit of late. Theodore is one of the safer plays at defense and has shown great upside since the league resumed.
Robin Lehner, Goalie, Vegas Golden Knights
FanDuel Salary: $8,400
Since the Blackhawks traded Robin Lehner to Vegas, he has won all six of his starts. Now the Blackhawks have the misfortune of coming up against their former goalie in the first round of the playoffs, while he's in good form. Lehner allowed just one goal in Game One and made 19 saves. He was seventh in the NHL in goals saved above average. The Golden Knights are the biggest favorite on the slate, making Lehner a fine option in net.
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.
