3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 4/13/21

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 has six games on the schedule. Let's hunt for some studs!

Auston Matthews, Center, Toronto Maple Leafs

FanDuel Salary: $8,900

The Toronto Maple Leafs' center keeps on scoring goals as he did again on Monday night along with three shots on goal. That was a little low for his season average which is approaching five shots a night at home. That overall average is now 4.1.

This is an excellent matchup for Matthews again as the Calgary Flames are meandering and mediocre. They yield over three goals a game on the road and Matthews averages four scoring chances a game versus the Flames.

Calgary has been one of the 10 worst teams of late when it comes to discipline. It seems minors have been called against them more in abundance. Toronto has a top-10 power play even though it is ranked 11th currently. That cold streak will not continue for long.

Also, on Tuesday, Mika Zibanejad ($7,700) is a viable option against the New Jersey Devils. Do not forget about Aleksander Barkov against the Dallas Stars as the Florida Panthers' center has a good matchup, even on the road.

Artemi Panarin, Wing, New York Rangers

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

The bagel occurred on Sunday against the New York Islanders and that did not sit well with Panarin. He missed two golden scoring chances on the man advantage and one could visibly see the anger. He is one of those players that bounces back with vengeance after a poor performance. Playing the New Jersey Devils only boosts his potential.

Do expect a wild game on Tuesday as the "Battle Of The Hudson" plays its first of four games this week. Panarin has five multiple-point efforts in his last seven games. Again, New Jersey has a very young team (24.3). Panarin should be able to exploit favorable matchups often, especially since New Jersey is without Dmitry Kulikov and Sami Vatanen who are now with the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars, respectively.

Finally, Adam Fox should be a consideration in stacking Rangers' players tonight. It is okay to stack with correlation on this six-game slate.

Alex Ovechkin ($8,500) has to be slotted in somewhere against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. Philadelphia's defense has fallen to 30th in the league in goals allowed per game. Brad Marchand ($7,900) is in play from Boston as an alternative against the Buffalo Sabres.

John Carlson, Defenseman, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $6,900

There is a minimal amount of risk with John Carlson but the key is minimal. It is clear that Philadelphia is playing out the string but a rivalry game does bring out the best and worst of these two teams. Expecting a good deal of offense is not a haphazard opinion.

When these two teams play, Carlson excels with three or more scoring chances in every one of his previous four meetings and six real-world points in that span. Again, the Flyers' penalty kill is 28th overall at 75.1% but that number is closer to 70% over the last 15 contests. That is on a level resembling New Jersey or even the Detroit Red Wings. The Washington Capitals' blueliner spearheads the fourth-ranked power play in the league at 25.5%. That seems like an optimal matchup to exploit.

Adam Fox was mentioned already, but he has to be considered. Finally, Mark Giordano ($5,300) is an off-the-board risk on Tuesday night. The Calgary Flames' defender has three real-world points in his previous three outings.

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.