4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 10/21/21
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.
Thursday night has 10 games in all. Let's look at those studs!
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $9,300
The best NHL player, Connor McDavid, goes up versus the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night at home. McDavid scored a goal and dished out two helpers versus the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. He had four more scoring chances but just two of his shots wound up on the net.
The Edmonton Oilers have fired on all cylinders offensively and have two $9,000 DFS players at center (see Leon Draisaitl).
The Oilers have a solid implied goal total on the night (3.23). That alone is reason to look at McDavid then pick around at other parts like Darnell Nurse among others for stacking possibilities. Edmonton likely starts Mikko Koskinen, which means the Oilers may need to score even more.
Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals
FanDuel Salary: $8,900
Alex Ovechkin is in another prime matchup against the New Jersey Devils where the Washington Capitals have won 8 straight meetings and 13 of the last 15 overall. That includes Ovechkin averaging over one real-world point in those contests.
The Washington Capitals have an expected goal total of 3.45 on the night, as they have had much success against the Devils whether it be at home or on the road. That includes four or more goals scored in six of the eight previous games.
Ovechkin is easy to stack with Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, and John Carlson against New Jersey, who have only killed 70% of penalties taken in the early going.
Aaron Ekblad, Defenseman, Florida Panthers
FanDuel Salary: $6,900
Aaron Ekblad is still a good matchup versus a Colorado Avalanche team that allowed five more goals versus the Washington Capitals this week. Colorado is still missing Valeri Nichushkin, and Nathan MacKinnon is not quite 100%. Add in the struggles of Darcy Kuemper and the Colorado defense at times, and one can see why Ekblad looks to be an attractive option again.
Ekblad had five shots on goal versus the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night along with four scoring chances. He just missed a wide-open chance late in the third period, as well. The opportunities have been there.
Ekblad is arguably the best stacking partner for Aleksander Barkov and even Anthony Duclair to try and balance the salary of a Florida Panthers stack on tonight.
Juuse Saros, Goalie, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $8,300
Juuse Saros likely starts against a shifty New York Rangers team on Thursday. The Nashville Predators' goaltender stopped 25 of 26 shots on Tuesday versus the Los Angeles Kings. He now has two consecutive quality starts, allowing just three goals in that span.
The Nashville goaltender goes a bit under the radar in projections at 17 points, but he may face 30-plus shots against the Rangers with high-volume shooters like Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.
The matchup is dicey because of how Nashville allows a high rate of sudden scoring chances, but Saros has shown an ability to escape doom.
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.
