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NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 12/14/17

Brent Burns has been rolling, and he gets a tasty matchup against the Flames. Which other players should you look to tonight?

A good chunk of you probably already play daily fantasy football, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion have also tried out daily fantasy basketball and baseball. But hockey? Hockey?

It's time to give it a try over on FanDuel.com because it's a ton of fun. And 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.

Goalies to Target

Jake Allen ($8,400): The second-place St. Louis Blues are -148 favorites on the moneyline at home against the Anaheim Ducks, who are starting their six-game road trip. St. Louis did get blanked in its most recent game, but that came at the hands of the stout Tampa Bay Lightning. It will be a different story tonight, as the Ducks rank 28th in both shots (29.29) and goals (2.61) per game, making Allen a top play.

Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9,500): For anyone left with a bunch of salary in their lineup, Vasilevskiy is one of the safest options you can find. Among all goalies with at least five games played this season, he ranks fifth in both save percentage (.933) and goals against average (2.15). He is also one of just four goalies with at least three shutouts this season, including a 32-save performance in his most recent game. With him defending his net against the last place Arizona Coyotes, it's tough to find a better matchup. At the time of writing, he has not yet been confirmed the starter, so be sure to check back later tonight. If he is on the bench, Peter Budaj will make for a high-upside cheap option in net.

High-Priced Skaters

Steven Stamkos ($8,600): Stamkos ranks second in the NHL with an average of 1.4 real-world points per game, but he failed to tally a point and registered only one shot in his most recent game. So a matchup against the last place Coyotes, who are giving up more goals per game (3.42) than any other team this season, could hardly come at a better time. Stamkos has averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time across his past two games, so the opportunity certainly still remains. As is the case on most nights that Tampa plays, both he and Nikita Kucherov are among the top options.

Vincent Trocheck ($6,600): The Florida Panthers will be playing in their third straight road game, while the Colorado Avalanche are returning home from a four-game road trip of their own. So it's no surprise that this game has a close moneyline of -105, and don't be shocked if it's a sloppy one. But there will likely be a lot of goals, especially considering the Avalanche won by a score of 7-3 when these two teams met just five days ago. Trocheck notched one assist in that game as part of his current five-game point streak. Stick with the hot hand in this projected high-scoring affair.

Brent Burns ($7,100): Speaking of the hot hand, Burns is averaging 6.7 shots and 2.0 real-world points in just under 27 minutes of ice time over his past three games. Five of those points came on the power play. Now he gets the Calgary Flames, who have lost four of their past six games and have the league's fifth-worst penalty kill (77.0%). With less than 11.0 FanDuel points in just 2 of his past 10 games, Burns has one of the safest floors of any player on this slate.

Value Skaters

Sven Andrighetto ($3,500): Going back to this projected high-scoring game, we have Andrighetto, who notched an assist of his own in their last meeting. He has also recorded at least three shots in each of his past four games, and on Tuesday he skated over 17 minutes for the first time in over a month. He provides serious cost savings for a guy skating on the second line at both even strength and on the power play against the team that is allowing the second-most shots (35.29) and goals (3.41) per game this season.

Craig Smith ($4,100): Here is another guy who is very hot right now as Smith has tallied at least three shots in six of his past seven games and has posted three real-world points twice over his past four. He has topped 30.0 FanDuel points in half of his past six games, giving him an incredible ceiling for someone at his price. He does have a tough matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, but the value here is simply too good to pass up.

Jake Gardiner ($3,800): Gardiner does not provide the safety that the rest of the guys on this list do, but he has reached double-digit FanDuel points in five of his past eight games. Gardiner is averaging more than 22 minutes on the ice per game and is priced at $800 less than he was to start the season. There are a lot of expensive options on this slate, and plugging Gardiner in at less than $4,000 leaves a lot of room to fit them in your lineups.




Barry Cohen is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Barry Cohen also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username barryc4. 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 articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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