3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 1/14/22
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 spending 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 spending salary in the right spots when building our lineups tonight.
Friday has three games in all. It is time to look at a few studs!
Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $10,300
So, Nathan MacKinnon has taken this a bit personally of late. The Colorado Avalanche center has an amazing 33 shots and 36 scoring chances. He will see many opportunities at home on Friday night versus the Arizona Coyotes, who nearly gave up 50 shots on goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Expect high numbers for MacKinnon, who has managed three goals in his previous four contests after just three in his first 19 games.
The numbers are unworldly even without Gabriel Landeskog in the lineup (COVID-19). MacKinnon is one of those players who just creates his own chances by skating downhill at a level few can in this generation. Add in averaging around a blocked shot a game and the Colorado pivot is hard not to target this Friday night.
There may even be a few different ways to stack around MacKinnon. Including Devon Toews or Cale Makar from the defense and then Mikko Rantanen from the wing could be the start of a good night.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Wing, Florida Panthers
FanDuel Salary: $9,100
The known risk with Jonathan Huberdeau has always been shot volume and not chance creation.
He benefits from a good matchup against the Dallas Stars, who are just 4-10-1 on the road.
For those wondering, the left-winger has 14 real-world points in his previous six games. In a twist of fate, the Florida Panthers forward does have 20 shots in this span along with 26 scoring chances.
The Panthers winger can be paired with Anthony Duclair and some of Florida's lower-salaried defensemen like Mackenzie Weegar or Gustav Forsling to help roster other high-end talent.
Cale Makar, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $7,500
The Colorado Avalanche defenseman has become a cheat code of sorts lately.
With the short slate on Friday night, Cale Makar gains more traction and has two goals and four assists in his last three games to go along with 10 shots and two more blocked shots.
Makar has a whopping 16 goals and 18 assists this season. He and Devon Toews have provided a 1-2 punch from the blueline and have helped Colorado absorb their injuries well.
The Dallas Stars allow more than three goals a game on the road while struggling to score twice a night.
Expect Makar to try and control the pace whenever he is on the ice, which approaches 25 minutes a night over the past 10 games.
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.
