3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 2/16/21
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.
Tuesday night brings us five contests. Let's take a look at what studs we may find. Please note that the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars matchup has been postponed.
Sidney Crosby, Center, Pittsburgh Penguins
FanDuel Salary: $7,800
It is hard to stay away from Sidney Crosby tonight as the Washington Capitals have allowed 3+ goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins in eight of their last ten matchups. Crosby has 10 real-world points in those games and comes off a 2-point, 4-shot, 4-scoring chance effort on Sunday afternoon.
The Capitals do not have a matchup to truly slow down Crosby's line at this juncture. This is especially true with Pittsburgh having the luxury of last-line change at home. Pittsburgh's best trio was that Crosby line on Sunday as they generated the most high-danger scoring chances as well.
Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals
FanDuel Salary: $8,400
The assertion is that Alex Ovechkin has been underwhelming in the last two matchups versus Pittsburgh. That is not far off. He has just five shots, a few scoring chances, and a couple of assists. That's it. He hit iron once but missed on his few opportunities which were unexpected.
Could Ovechkin top five-plus shots on Tuesday night? That is a possibility. Washington needs this type of effort from the left-winger who has had openings but often has not pulled the trigger. That is not Ovechkin-like. Maybe, he will take more shots from "his office" on Tuesday night. Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone from the Vegas Golden Knights could be decent alternates against a Colorado Avalanche team looking to push the pace on Tuesday night.
Drew Doughty, Defenseman, Los Angeles Kings
FanDuel Salary: $5,900
This would be considered a reasonable choice on Tuesday given that the Minnesota Wild are recovering from a few positive cases of COVID. We saw the rust-like effect this had on the Buffalo Sabres last night. What will that do to the Wild? No one has a definitive answer but one has to think Doughty will have an opportunity to pad his floor and maybe have a shot or two at an assist or even goal. His price is the lowest among the studs. Given the uncertainty on whether Dallas and Nashville play or not, this safety valve is a good one.
Again, some other options do exist, including John Carlson ($7,100), who is still Washington's best power-play option. If the Capitals do score, he stands a strong chance of garnering at least an assist, maybe even two.
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.
