NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 1/17/19
A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion have also tried out daily fantasy basketball and baseball. But hockey? Hockey?
It's time to give it a try over on FanDuel, because it's a ton of fun. And our analysis and projections can help you win.
To help, let's take a look at some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Henrik Lundqvist ($7,600): The New York Rangers will start Lundqvist on Thursday night. Risk is still high here, as the Rangers' chance and shot rate over the last month are third-worst in the league. Lundqvist also saw 36 shots against Carolina on Tuesday night, and that was despite a slow start from the Hurricanes. Chicago takes a ton of chances, as evidenced by their 8-5 loss in New Jersey on Monday night. The danger here is that quite a few goals could be scored. The reward is a high-event contest with shots likely to be 30 or more from both sides. Elsewhere, Robin Lehner ($8,500) is a good option to start from the New York Islanders. Just make sure he is confirmed to start.
High-Priced Skaters
Mathew Barzal ($6,900): Barzal's pace has slowed a bit in terms of shot volume, but he does play New Jersey tonight. New Jersey, on the road, is a wreck, yielding 3.88 goals per game. For a team that has allowed 20 goals in their last five contests, their defensive concerns seem to be getting worse. Matchup-wise, the Islanders' center should have time and space, as Travis Zajac lacks the foot and lateral speed to even somewhat keep up with Barzal. There will be several quality chances, but it comes down to the execution end. Brayden Point ($8,000) is a solid option from Tampa Bay, and honestly he is their top center choice. Also, do not forget about Mark Scheifele ($7,800) going up against Nashville. Projected goals (currently at 6.0) in that game could easily exceed six.
Patrick Kane ($8,700): Kane is a great tournament option against the Rangers. He has topped 20 FanDuel points in his last four outings. Furthermore, New York plays a lot like New Jersey does, which means chances should be able to come from all angles. No one is saying a two-goal, two-assist performance is a lock. However, Kane should have anywhere from four to seven quality scoring chances on this night. The winger is now up to just over four shots per game as well. Nikita Kucherov ($9,100) is hard to fade, and David Pastrnak ($8,100) makes for a reasonable GPP play against a St. Louis Blues team in the midst of a long road trip.
Value Skaters
Ryan Strome ($3,600): Strome is a dangerous risk on Thursday, but again, New York is playing Chicago. Points could be had from anyone. Strome did play 17.5 minutes against Carolina thanks to the Kevin Hayes "injury", and he should continue to see that bump in ice time. The big concern is shot generation. Strome misses the net a lot and has had zero or one shot on net in five of his last six games. However, he has been on the ice creating chances at an elevated rate (almost one full chance a game more since his acquisition). Pavel Zacha ($3,600) is another value center option on Thursday night but presents a lot of the same red flags as Strome.
Nick Ritchie ($3,600): Ritchie may play "top line" minutes for a while in Anaheim. Will he play 23 minutes a night? Certainly not. On the other hand, his power play time has been increasing and he now has 19 real-world points in 32 games -- including seven in his previous nine contests. Shot volume is a hair under two a game but attempts are up by about 0.75 a night. Minnesota has been almost as bad as Anaheim defensively of late, giving up 20 goals in their last 5 games. Another intriguing tournament play may be Rocco Grimaldi ($3,200). Just understand that he will likely only play around 10 or 11 minutes but can generate a quick three to four shots on net. Also, watch to see who is on Minnesota's top line; Jordan Greenway ($3,300) may be a possibility if he is still there.
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 personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
