NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 12/18/19
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
Jordan Binnington ($8,600): Binnington is projected to get the starting nod on Wednesday night versus the Edmonton Oilers. The St. Louis Blues goalie has won three consecutive games after being pulled in a game against Toronto last week. He has stopped 72 of his last 79 shots faced, as St. Louis has clamped down defensively -- allowing just 26.3 shots per game in that span. This could be another low to moderate game tonight, but Binnington stands the best chance to garner a victory.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($9,200): While Connor McDavid can lay bigger eggs, MacKinnon typically does not. When 14 FanDuel points is an awful performance, that is a sign. His latest point streak stands at five games, and MacKinnon has 4+ shots in each of those contests. His floor is better than McDavid's, and his matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks is also better. Corey Crawford faces more than 32 shots per 60 in net, and Colorado's top line expects to be the highest owned trio on this night. McDavid at $9,000 is the best alternative tonight because of the short slate.
Patrick Kane ($8,200): Kane goes up against a Colorado Avalanche with a penalty kill that gives up a power-play goal over 22% of the time on the road. Colorado often gives up a lot of shots as well (32.6 -- 29th in the NHL), and Kane comes off a showtime performance where he scored three times on seven shots. With Kane and MacKinnon facing each other, the expectation is high for a ton of shots and chances -- Chicago is 31st in shots allowed at 36 per game. This matchup will feature game stacks, as the Kane line carries a little more value. Just watch for the flu, as Alex DeBrincat and several Blackhawks players were battling the illness early in the week.
Value Skaters
Valeri Nichushkin ($3,800): Do not let the one-shot effort in St. Louis discourage anyone -- that just keeps Nichushkin's price down. While playing 13 minutes is not optimal, the speedy winger did have a couple scoring chances versus the Blues. Unfortunately, he missed the net twice from in close. Chicago gives up scoring chances in bunches, but again, Colorado shoots at just over 11 percent (tops in the league). Part of that reason is their shot selection and timely hot streaks of players like Nichushkin, who has points in four of his last five contests. Alex Chiasson ($3,800) is a sneaky option for Edmonton, as he has managed to garner some power-play time in between McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Will Butcher ($3,700): The post Taylor Hall era has produced an interesting quirk with Butcher, as he has morphed into more of a shot blocker. He has 13 of them over the previous three games. Add a couple shots in, and that is an attractive floor, at least for a low-priced defenseman. Justin Faulk ($3,900) still has a good floor but may have less upside against Edmonton tonight. Either are reasonable options, however.
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.
