3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 6/7/21
In any daily fantasy lineup, spending up in any daily fantasy lineup is how to get the superstars and the highest upside players in your lineup.
In NHL DFS, it’s different from paying up in sports like NBA or NFL. Someone can be one of the highest salaried players at his position and put up a total dud of a performance, and paying that much for him would be a huge mistake. Let’s make sure we are paying up in the right spots when building our lineups tonight.
Monday night has two more games on the NHL DFS playoff slate. Let's take a look at a few studs to build around.
Patrice Bergeron, Center, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $7,700
The Boston Bruins' center is undoubtedly the most recognizable player on the slate not named Mathew Barzal. His slightly lower salary helps make the decision a bit easier as well on Monday night.
The pivot will have to move past an off night, as he had just two shots on goal despite four scoring chances. Even Patrice Bergeron missed a pretty good scoring chance in the third period that he normally would not.
Again, it was a weird night for Boston's top line. They did not produce a goal. This was not from a shortage of opportunities, and yet, the feeling was Game 5 might see better fortunes.
Mathew Barzal ($6,900) has real-world points in three consecutive games for the New York Islanders and remains a viable option, but Bergeron is numberFire's top projected center for the night.
David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins
FanDuel Salary: $7,900
The idea is that David Pastrnak will atone for missing a wide-open net in Game 4. That would have changed the game in Boston's favor and forced New York to play more catchup than they wanted to.
As it was, Pastrnak did chip in an assist along with four shots and four scoring chances. The winger has not had fewer than three shots on goal in any game these playoffs so far.
Also, Boston could easily top 35 or 40 shots on the goal of Semyon Varlamov. Pastrnak expects to figure heavily into that total. The fact that the winger can create so many scoring chances lends to making him an easy play. Frankly, his expected salary should probably still be over $8,000 but let's not be picky.
Tyler Toffoli ($6,700) has been steady in these playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens but not spectacular. He may be a safe alternative if one chooses to pivot away from Boston.
Ryan Pulock, Defenseman, New York Islanders
FanDuel Salary: $4,100
This is a risky stud choice because of the salary and also because Ryan Pulock forgets to shoot the puck too often. When he remembers, the Islanders' blue-liner is frankly quite dangerous.
The slight concern was he only attempted a couple of shots on net with one hitting Tuukka Rask on Saturday night. At least, he blocked three shots which do help his floor value. Again, the salary is very low here. Pulock plays in all situations but must be more aggressive.
Elsewhere, there is Charlie McAvoy ($6,400) if we want to spend a lot. He is probably the safest choice from Boston. Neal Pionk is an intriguing choice at just $4.800 from the Winnipeg Jets.
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/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
