4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 3/11/21
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.
Thursday night features ten games on the schedule. Let's find some studs!
Mathew Barzal, Center, New York Islanders
FanDuel Salary: $6,900
The New Jersey Devils are slow mentally and physically too often against speedy forwards and Mathew Barzal is no exception. New York Islanders do often fare well against New Jersey and the Islanders have been excellent at home this season with a sterling 11-0-2 mark.
Barzal will enjoy the luxury of going against a team where he has enjoyed much success previously and against a penalty kill that ranks 31st in the league by almost 5%. New Jersey's penalty kill is often so mentally broken along with their defense that chances just spring up often in bunches. In an early-season meeting at home, Barzal torched the Devils with a goal, two assists, five shots, and five scoring chances.
Pairing Barzal with maybe an Anders Lee could work especially as part of a special team's stack. There are other options like Jean-Gabriel Pageau and even Jordan Eberle.
Also, Auston Matthews ($8,900) plays the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night could be viable. He had two goals in his last game just on shot release alone.
David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
The New York Rangers without Igor Shesterkin is just not the same. New York has given up nine goals in the two games without the young goaltender. The Boston Bruins have performed very well the last couple of seasons against New York.
The one nice thing about Pastrnak is when goal-scoring options are not there, he is one of the more underrated passers in the league. He had four assists in two games last month against New York. In both contests, he managed four shots on goal and three-four scoring chances per game. There were plenty of chances to pad his point totals even more.
Jake Guentzel ($7,400) is another option against Buffalo along with Steven Stamkos versus the Detroit Red Wings.
Kris Letang, Defenseman, Pittsburgh Penguins
FanDuel Salary: $6,000
The fact that Kris Letang has seen his salary stay around $6,000 is nice. It makes him a little easier to roster than normal. The fact that Pittsburgh is playing Buffalo is also helpful. The Sabres' penalty kill is not very good but their team defense at all phases has kept getting worse. They got off to a great start against Philadelphia on Tuesday night and still lost 5-4 in a shootout.
An elevated point potential is likely against Buffalo. The Sabres have allowed five goals in each of their previous four contests. They are also 2-7-2 at home and have lost eight consecutive contests. They allow nearly 32 shots per 60 over the previous 10 games and double-digit high-danger scoring chances in each affair. Letang should have plenty of chances from the point as Buffalo's defense does not block many shots.
Ivan Provorov is one possibility from Philadelphia. Victor Hedman ($7,000) is another from Tampa Bay but expects to be heavily owned playing against Detroit.
Semyon Varlamov, Goalie, New York Islanders
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
Semyon Varlamov is projected to start against a team that New York plays extremely well against. At home, Varlamov was able to shut the door on a pesky Boston Bruins team stopping 32 of 33 shots on Tuesday night. In two games versus the Devils, the Islanders' goaltender yielded just two goals (both wins).
Wait to see who else starts when it comes to looking for viable alternatives among the studs. Does Tristan Jarry start against the Buffalo Sabres? After that, it comes down to just looking around after morning skate to see if anyone else is confirmed in net. Varlamov remains the goalie with the best chance to win.
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.
