NHL

3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 6/2/21

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Jun 2nd, 2021
The NHL playoffs continues with two games tonight. Which studs should we be targeting?

In any daily fantasy lineup, 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.

Wednesday night brings us two games on the NHL DFS playoff slate. Let's take a look at a few studs.

Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $8,900

Game 1 was very, very good for Nathan MacKinnon again.

The Colorado center enjoyed playing against a tired Vegas Golden Knights team on Monday as he racked up two goals, an assist, and eight shots on goal. MacKinnon led all Avalanche players with six scoring chances.

The one thing that could slow down MacKinnon tonight would be Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury has been great in the playoffs and will start for Vegas in Game 2. That being said, MacKinnon at home can reach speeds of 24-plus MPH and most defensemen cannot keep up with that speed.

Mark Scheifele ($6,500) is in a good position for Winnipeg against a Montreal Canadiens team that may be a little winded. Also, Scheifele has had more than a week off.

Kyle Connor, Wing, Winnipeg Jets

FanDuel Salary: $6,600

Kyle Connor has 6 goals and 10 points in his last 10 games for Winnipeg. He also is averaging 3.2 shots per game in that span and is going up against a penalty kill that literally was saved by Carey Price last round. Montreal ranked 24th on the penalty kill and 27th on the road during the regular season.

Also, true snipers are at a premium at this stage of the playoffs. Any forward that can fire off a one-timer with the speed and release of Connor has to be looked at. The question has to again be asked -- how much do the Montreal Canadiens have left in the tank for Game 1 after what happened against Toronto?

Max Pacioretty ($7,300) is coming off an off night and had an assist in Game 1 as well as three scoring chances. He missed all three shots. Don't expect that to happen again on Wednesday.

Cale Makar, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $6,000

Salaries drop, especially with defensemen, come later and later into the playoffs.

Cale Makar is the highest tonight at just $6,000. That is basically the FanDuel average. Makar is producing like a top forward at times and has 12 real-world points in his last 10 games, including 4 goals. His floor is not the greatest as he is averaging around a block a game over the past 15 contests. However, he has real-world points again in five of his previous six starts.

Jeff Petry ($5,300) is an unexpected floor play from Montreal. He had a couple of games with 3-plus blocks against Toronto, including six in Game 5 alone.

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.