NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 2/4/20
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 a goalie, some high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Elvis Merzlikins ($8,500): The Columbus Blue Jackets goalie expects to get the start against a Florida Panthers team that loves to shoot the puck. Their combined shots and allowed shots approach 70 a night on the road. Merzlikins has won six straight starts and has 21+ FanDuel points in each of them. Florida is on the back end of a back-to-back tonight, but that only heightens the chance for a win. With this massive slate, there are plenty of options to choose from. See if Ilya Samsonov ($8,400) starts against the Los Angeles Kings.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($8,800): The Colorado Avalanche center has an incredible matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Remember, Buffalo comes in with the 29th-worst penalty kill at home (26th overall at 74.5%). MacKinnon was visibly ticked after his performance against the Philadelphia Flyers over the weekend. He has bounced back a few times this season after such occurrences. After a home stinker against San Jose, he hammered back with four real-world points in two games against the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings. Leon Draisaitl ($8,600) is our other alternative for Tuesday, with Arizona giving up nearly three goals a game in their last 10 contests.
Alex Ovechkin ($9,200): With the huge slate, Ovechkin may not be quite as high-owned as usual. Though, considering the run he is on, it is hard to fade the left-winger. He did not score against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he did have four scoring chances, four shots, and two blocked shots. Keep in mind -- he tallied 12 goals in the previous five games prior. Los Angeles gives up 3.38 goals per game on the road, and that includes 17 goals in the last five games. Also, Ovechkin has 32 shots on net in that span. Filip Forsberg ($7,600) is our dark-horse choice tonight against Winnipeg.
Value Skaters
Kailer Yamamoto ($4,000): Yamamoto is a must-play until he cools off. He has a four-game point streak (five points) but is risky in shot volume (1.5 shots per game). As long as he gets 2.5 scoring chances a game, then the value play is just fine. The matchup is solid, and his ice time is coming up to around 15 to almost 16 minutes a night. If that keeps up, again, the scoring chances will only continue. Arizona has again looked vulnerable of late. Another intriguing option may just be Artturi Lehkonen ($3,900) against the New Jersey Devils.
Ryan Graves ($3,900): The Colorado defenseman is hitting value in a variety of ways. He has 16 blocks in the last three contests and even had a two-point night a few games ago as well. His ceiling is currently through the roof between shots and blocked shots. With 3+ shots in three of his previous four outings, he should have enough opportunities against Buffalo. This is not one to overthink too much. Mark Borowiecki ($3,700) is another shot-blocking ace from the Ottawa Senators and could be a value play also.
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.
