NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 2/3/21
Hockey is officially back! NHL DFS is similar to MLB in terms of how you build lineups, how you view stacking, and how to value players.
Two main points to always focus on in NHL DFS are what lines the players are on and making sure the goalies you are rostering are confirmed as the starters. Two of the best resources for that are LeftWingLock.com or DailyFaceOff.com. That is where you can find updated forward and power-play lines for each team, along with which goalies are confirmed as the starters.
Let's jump in to take a look at today's slate and some players to consider for your lineups.
Goalie to Target
Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8,600): The Tampa Bay Lightning come in as insane -390 home favorites against the lowly Detroit Red Wings. No matter how you look at this matchup, it's one of the most lopsided matchups we've seen this season, and it should point to the Lightning as the definition of chalk on a small two-game slate. With Vasilevskiy nearly confirmed as the starter, you should be looking to pay up for his safety.
This should make Vasilevskiy one of, if not the most popular player on the entire slate, as he has a 79.6% implied win probability. This shouldn't come as a surprise because he has been strong to start the season with five wins in seven starts, a .925% save percentage, and allowing only 2.14 goals per game.
High-Priced Skaters
Steven Stamkos ($8,000): The Lightning's captain should among the most popular players tonight, and it's for several good reasons. Tampa Bay holds a slate-high 3.54 implied goal total, and he is skating on the first forward line and sees time on the first power-play unit. This is the equivalent of taking an NFL running back, who is a large home favorite and projected to see 20-plus touches. He is the easy answer on tonight's slate -- don't get cute with it.
Stamkos comes into this game with 9 total NHL points through seven games and 22 shots on goal, and he has produced 18.9 FanDuel points or more in four of his seven games this season.
Brad Marchand ($8,200): Marchand is another easy answer tonight among the high-salaried skaters and presents plenty of fantasy potential. The Boston Bruins are at home to host the Philadelphia Flyers, where the over/under is set at 5.5. These teams have already played each other two times this season, where both games have hit the over.
The Flyers are "known" as a strong defensive team, but the opposite could be true or partially true -- it's a small sample size to start the season. Philly comes into this game in the bottom 10 of the league in Corsi Against (Shot Attempts Allowed) and Goals Against both per 60 minutes in five-on-five situations.
Value Skaters
Oskar Lindblom ($3,700): The Flyers should be decently popular tonight because their salaries are very favorable when looking to stack the Lightning or Bruins. This is where Lindblom comes into play, as he is only $3,700 and is playing on the second forward line and the second power-play unit. He is averaging over one shot on goal per game this season and has four total NHL points this season.
Craig Smith ($4,400): With Jake DeBrusk out for the Bruins, Smith has moved up to the second forward line and is still seeing time on the second power-play unit. Surprisingly, Smith has totaled 26 shots on goal through eight games this season, which is strong considering he was on the third line until recently. He has turned those 26 shots on goal into 3 goals, which seems a bit low and could put him in a spot for some positive regression.
