3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 2/10/21
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 salaried 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.
Wednesday night delivers us two contests. Let's take a look at what studs we may find.
Auston Matthews, Center, Toronto Maple Leafs
FanDuel Salary: $8,700
It is hard to stray too far away from Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, but Auston Matthews and his eight-game goal streak provide a reason. Matthews is a danger in all phases and has racked up 20-plus FanDuel points in every game but three this season. That is a staggering number at this juncture.
The Montreal Canadiens have allowed three-plus goals in eight of their last 10 matchups against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This comes down to a coin flip between Matthews and Bergeron on Wednesday night -- let's be honest. It is all about preference, as both centers generate a ton of offense, with four-plus scoring chances and shots per night.
David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
The argument is that David Pastrnak could be $9,000 on a night like this and few would blink. Pastrnak has a plus matchup against a young New York Rangers defense that has had difficulty slowing down this top line for the past several years. The Boston Bruins' top-line will carry play, and it comes down to converting those chances. They have a top-10 power play, a top penalty kill that can create short-handed chances, and can play 20-plus minutes a night with ease.
Could Pastrnak top five-plus shots on Wednesday night? That is a yes. While Artemi Panarin is a nice alternative on an offense that will have a lower roster percentage, a two-game slate lends to paying up even higher in this scenario unless one stacks differently. Again, Pastrnak leads wingers in the early going in scoring chances per 60 already.
Jeff Petry, Defenseman, Montreal Canadiens
FanDuel Salary: $6,100
This would be considered an easy choice on Wednesday. The Montreal Canadiens defenseman leads his team with six goals and 14 real-world points. While Jeff Petry and his production may be unsustainable, it may not regress that much because he can be sheltered just ever so slightly behind Shea Weber. This helps him build his floor (shots and blocked shots), which is great for DFS.
Again, some options do exist, including Morgan Rielly, and that will get some nice power-play correlation from one of the best power-plays in the league.
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/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.
