4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 4/8/21
Spending up in any daily fantasy lineup is how to get the superstars and the highest upside players in your lineup. NHL DFS is different from NBA or NFL daily fantasy. Someone can be one of the highest-salaried players at his position and put up a total dud of a performance, and committing a ton of salary to him can be very costly. Let’s make sure we are going after the right high-salary players when building our lineups tonight.
Thursday night brings us 10 games on this NHL DFS slate. Let's find some studs!
Aleksander Barkov, Center, Florida Panthers
FanDuel Salary: $7,900
So, the Florida Panthers' center struck again on Tuesday night with two goals, four shots, and four scoring chances. He even had a couple of blocked shots. The Carolina Hurricanes bring out the best in the Panthers' center. Aleksander Barkov is on a five-game real-world point streak and has four-plus shots in six of his previous eight outings. It is that consistency along with his salary that makes him a good roster option again on Thursday.
Both the Panthers and 'Canes create a ton of scoring chances at even strength. It is not an accident that Carolina and Florida are in the top-five when it comes to shots and scoring chances (second and fourth, respectively). This should be a great fantasy environment, and Barkov can thrive in it.
With so many stud centers on this slate, there are plenty of plays and options to consider.
Sebastian Aho ($7,500) is another possible play as his salary dropped despite three assists (Aho is on a goal drought of five games). Connor McDavid ($9,000) is on the slate versus the Ottawa Senators. Finally, Sidney Crosby and Mika Zibanejad are choices who can be utilized on Thursday as Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers could find themselves in another high-scoring contest.
Artemi Panarin, Wing, New York Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $8,300
The New York Rangers' winger has been one of the hottest DFS forwards this week and now has 25-plus FanDuel points in four consecutive contests. That includes a whopping 11 real-world points and five goals in that span. Artemi Panarin has 13 shots on goal and 12 scoring chances in that time. He has created a ton of chances on New York's power-play (eight in all). With the Pittsburgh Penguins in disarray defensively (15 goals allowed in the last two games), the Rangers' winger becomes a wise stud choice again on Thursday.
New York has found its offense with Panarin, Adam Fox, and Mika Zibanejad leading the way. With a 10-game rolling average of more than four goals per game, the Rangers have vaulted to seventh in the league in goals per night (3.26). With a bevy of stacking options, New York needs to be on your radar tonight.
Leon Draisaitl ($8,000) from the Edmonton Oilers goes up against the Senators after racking up a hat trick and seven shots on Wednesday. Also, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat both had a goal and assist each from the Chicago Blackhawks and are good options who could go overlooked a bit tonight.
Roman Josi, Defenseman, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $6,800
Roman Josi enjoys one of the best matchups on Thursday night. Josi had two assists on Tuesday and hit two posts along with a crossbar. Could he break through in the goal column against one of the worst defenses in the NHL?
When going up against the Detroit Red Wings, Josi now has 10 assists in seven games. He is averaging three shots a contest and has blocked-shot potential. The possibilities are there along with a slew of other studs from the blueline. It is the kind of night where there are a half-dozen high-salary defensemen who have the potential for 20-plus FanDuel points.
Adam Fox was mentioned already in the previous section, but he's definitely a top play at defender. Dougie Hamilton ($6,800) from Carolina has 21 shots on net in his last four games. Kris Letang ($5,900) could have another big night versus the Rangers, and Ivan Provorov ($5,100) has six outings of at least 14 FanDuel points across his last seven appearances for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Juuse Saros, Goalie, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $7,600
If Juuse Saros had not gone on this amazing run. the Nashville Predators would be nowhere near a playoff spot. Yet, here they are.
Saros has a good chance of winning tonight against a Detroit team he bested on Tuesday -- stopping 25 of 27 shots. Overall, the Nashville goaltender has won seven of his last nine decisions, giving up two or fewer goals in all but one game (including two shutouts). Next to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Predators' goalie is the hottest DFS commodity out there.
Tonight's slate gives us several top-tier goaltenders. Connor Hellebuyck ($7,500) is in a sneaky-good spot against a Montreal Canadiens team that played last night. Even with Winnipeg on the road, Hellebuyck is a nice option.
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.
