4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 3/9/21

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 features eight games on the schedule. Let's find some studs!

Please note that the 6:00 pm ET game between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins is not on the main slate.

Sean Couturier, Center, Philadelphia Flyers

FanDuel Salary: $7,500

Sean Couturier went a little cold for the Philadelphia Flyers in his last two games by his standards. An assist, two shots on goal, and just three scoring chances probably does not elicit a stud play on Tuesday night. His advanced numbers were even a little off as the Couturier line looked human.

Couturier's biggest asset is still his all-around game. The best part is Philadelphia plays the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, which may be a good time for getting back to a more productive Couturier. He had a 10-game real-world point streak before the games against Washington and Pittsburgh.

Pairing Couturier with James van Riemsdyk ($6,300) could work, especially as part of a special team's stack. There are other options like Joel Farabee and Ivan Provorov as well. Philadelphia salaries have come down a notch, which is good timing. The only drawback is that the Flyers have scored three times each in the previous three meetings.

Also, Joe Pavelski ($7,200) shows little signs of slowing down for the Dallas Stars. He had 10 shots on goal and a power-play goal over the weekend.

Alexander Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $8,100

This features some risk because the New Jersey Devils are 6-2-1 on the road, but they do not match up well against Washington at all. It is not just the five goals New Jersey allows constantly against the Capitals. It is more all the quality chances that the Devils routinely allow.

The one nice thing about Ovechkin this year is his "bad luck". He has just eight goals in 20 games but the shots and scoring chances are trending upward. Ovechkin has three-plus shots on net in four straight games. The left-winger has a couple of goals in three meetings this season. Expectations are that Ovechkin could take advantage of the league-worst penalty kill and defense when it comes to unblocked shot attempts from the slot on Tuesday night.

Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning is hard to look past at $7,900 versus the Detroit Red Wings.

Victor Hedman, Defenseman, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $6,900

The fact that Victor Hedman has a salary under $7,000 is rare. He fares well fantasy-wise against Detroit and that makes sense. The Red Wings have a penalty kill just under 70% at home and Hedman feasts on power-play chances. More importantly, Hedman has increased his floor with more blocked shots (12 in his last three contests). Combine that with the ability to produce shots on goal, Hedman has more FanDuel point potential on Tuesday.

An increased floor is likely for Hedman on Tuesday night. Again, Detroit allows the second-most unblocked shot attempts from the point in all phases. Hedman has real-world points in six of his last seven outings too.

Ivan Provorov is an option to consider. Roman Josi ($6,500) could see an increased floor against Carolina, or counter with Dougie Hamilton ($5,500) perhaps.

Semyon Varlamov, Goalie, New York Islanders

FanDuel Salary: $8,400

Semyon Varlamov is projected to start against a team that can be drawn into a less active game. Varlamov is 4-0-1 in his previous five starts. Also, the goaltender has three wins versus the Boston Bruins, which includes a shutout and just four goals yielded on 93 shots. Boston has as tough of a time against Varlamov as they do against New Jersey. Part of that is because Varlamov's angles are much better along with his rebound control this season.

Wait to see who else starts when it comes to looking for viable alternatives among the studs. Does Andrei Vasilevskiy start tonight for Tampa Bay? Vasilevskiy remains the most likely option for a win on Tuesday night but Varlamov could face more shots versus an angry Boston team.

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.