4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 4/7/22
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 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 fires in with 10 games. Let's get set with some studs.
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $10,000
The Edmonton Oilers center may be without his Robin, err, Leon Draisaitl on Thursday night. Draisaitl is banged up a bit and is questionable for now.
Connor McDavid would not be denied against the San Jose Sharks as he scored in overtime to deliver once again. McDavid had four shots on goal in all and seven scoring chances
The Los Angeles Kings yield a few more opportunities, and even the venerable Anze Kopitar and his line have lost a step this year. The Oilers' center could top 20 FanDuel points on Thursday night.
McDavid has a better matchup than Auston Matthews, who's on the road against a stingy Dallas Stars defense.
Johnny Gaudreau, Wing, Calgary Flames
FanDuel Salary: $9,500
The wing is always in the prime position, and tonight is no exception on this NHL DFS slate.
Every FanDuel point counts this evening, and John Gaudreau comes off a 36.8-FanDuel-point performance against Los Angeles. Gaudreau has three of these types of performances over the last six games.
With the Sharks, they are obviously playing out the string. They did come up with a stout effort against the Oilers on Tuesday, but Edmonton was clearly jolted without Draisaitl in the lineup.
The Calgary Flames have more depth and a more formidable top-six. The Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm duo is one of the best in the NHL and can create double-digit scoring chances between the two.
A few other choices in this salary range include Filip Forsberg and even Mitchell Marner.
Roman Josi, Defenseman, Nashville Predators
FanDuel Salary: $7,700
The Nashville Predators enjoy a prime matchup on the road against the Ottawa Senators. Their last meeting produced a 4-1 result, and Roman Josi had three shots and five scoring chances but nothing to show on the box score.
It is a matchup that, like every one from here on out, is vital for the Predators. Josi has risen to the challenge during this second half from a DFS standpoint. He is up to 19.51 fantasy points per game.
When the top line is rolling for Nashville, Josi is the main reason. Against Minnesota, Josi had a goal, two assists, three shots, six scoring chances, and even two blocked shots.
There is this feeling the defender will be extra motivated on Thursday. Look out Ottawa!
Juuse Saros, Goalie, Nashville Predators
When Juuse Saros is saving high-danger chances in bunches, just ride the wave!
The goaltender has two diamond performances out of his last three starts. One was against Minnesota on Tuesday when he stopped several point-blank scoring chances on the Wild power plays.
Saros has seen 121 shots over his last three starts, and he has stopped 114 of them. Saros won two of those games, and one included stonewalling the Senators last week.
The Predators expect to be solid favorites even on the road this Thursday night. Now, the chances the Nashville goaltender sees 35-plus shots is at least elevated.
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.
