NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 12/13/19
A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion of you 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.
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
Philipp Grubauer ($7,700): Grubauer is expected to be available for tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils. Now, the question is does he start. If he cannot go, then have Pavel Francouz ($8,400) ready just in case. New Jersey has scored just 10 goals in its last six games. Some concern will be on shot total, but the Devils did shoot at just over a 30 shots per 60 rate over the final half of their game against the Dallas Stars. Either way, Ben Bishop ($9,200) is a good option for Dallas, but remember that price tag.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($9,100): MacKinnon is by far the best center and forward on the Friday slate. With just two games on the schedule, pickings are slim. He does have 17 shots in his last three games and faces a New Jersey team that allows 3.86 goals a game on the road (5-9 overall). New Jersey is 0-5-1 in their last six and looks more like a team playing for next season already. Changes are expected and Colorado (with MacKinnon) will be heavily owned tonight. Tyler Seguin ($7,500) figures to be lower-owned and can save some money to stack other Colorado Avalanche players if need be.
Max Pacioretty ($6,900): Pacioretty is a risk against a Dallas team which does not give up a lot of goals. However, after a bagel on Long Island, the winger has 18 shots in his previous three contests and goals in two straight. He has generated a whopping 12 scoring chances in that span, as well. He's at a slightly lower price among the high-priced skaters but cannot be discounted on this Friday night. Jon Audy-Marchessault ($7,400) is another contrarian option against Dallas.
Value Skaters
Valeri Nichushkin ($3,800): Nichushkin was thought to have both feet headed back to the KHL but has turned things around dramatically. He has real-world points in five of his previous seven games and is now still producing even in a bottom-six capacity. With Colorado fully healthy, his value is arguably higher now than it has ever been. The shot output may dip a bit, but if he keeps close with scoring chances (nearly two a game of late), Nichushkin will be a fine value play going forward. Nikita Gusev ($4,000) remains a decent option from New Jersey, too.
Damon Severson ($3,800): Devils players will be somewhat higher-owned tonight than usual because of the small slate and so many will be heavily on Colorado at all levels. Severson is not the greatest option on defense, but he will block a few shots a game. The defenseman is capable of firing a couple shots a game on net, as well. If he combines the two, Severson will hit value. Also consider Ian Cole ($4,000) with Cale Makar likely still out for Colorado.
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.
