NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 8/31/20
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
Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8,500): The Tampa Bay Lightning will start Vasilevskiy against the Boston Bruins tonight. This is a pretty solid GPP or even cash game pick for that matter. However, the expectation of facing 30-35 shots, along with being the only goalie playing well consistently helps. Boston is expected to bring everything and the kitchen sink tonight, yet so far, Vasilevskiy has been the one constant in this series from a defensive standpoint for Tampa Bay. Anton Khudobin and Pavel Francouz may be too risky to start tonight from the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche, respectively.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($8,700): This is a plug-and-play scenario from Colorado and all how you stack the players around MacKinnon. As for the center, he has eight real-world points in this series and comes off a subpar game for him (one assist, just two shots). He had 5+ shots in every other contest. The latter is the expectation tonight as Colorado suddenly faces elimination and is on the back end of a back to back. Brayden Point ($7,900) is a solid alternative from Tampa Bay and could provide almost as many DFS points.
Nikita Kucherov ($8,300): Kucherov has been excellent for Tampa Bay with the help of Brayden Point in this series against Boston. In the first four games, the right winger has seven real-world points, which includes six in the previous two contests. Shot output has been at 4.5 shots per game for the forward, and he has only played about 17 minutes a game in Games 3 and 4. He should be well-rested. Jamie Benn ($7,700) is enjoying a career resurgence in these playoffs, and especially against Colorado. Also, perhaps look at a mid-tier alternative in Ondrej Palat.
Value Skaters
Blake Coleman ($3,800): With Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow flanking him (watch to see if Gourde plays), Coleman has helped form one of the best third lines in this year's playoffs. This is the line that has created the most havoc and will occasionally provide offense as well. Coleman can easily generate several shots a game in his 14-15 minutes of ice time. He has three real-world points in the previous three games. Valeri Nichushkin ($3,300) could be an all or nothing gamble from Colorado. He had two goals in the last game.
Ryan Graves ($3,800): Graves is a slight GPP risk on Thursday, but his increasing floor the previous two appearances offers some hope. That includes the seven shots on goal in Game 4 and several quality scoring chances. Graves has the ability to block shots (five in Game 3), and if he puts the two somewhere close together, Graves will exceed value given his lower price. Ian Cole ($3,500) is a slightly higher-risk punt play that is also from 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.
