NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 3/1/19
A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, 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, 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.
Goalie to Target
John Gibson ($7,200): The Anaheim Ducks are projected to start Gibson against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night. Vegas played on Thursday but possess one of the most balanced top-nine forward units in the league. Gibson returns after an injury and four impacted wisdom teeth. He is the rock-bottom price on FanDuel tonight. Other options on Friday night include whichever Washington Capitals goalie starts against an emotionally hungover New York Islanders team. Also, Curtis McElhinney ($8,200) could be a decent tournament play versus a St. Louis Blues team that mustered just nine goals in their last five games. .
High-Priced Skaters
Sidney Crosby ($9,000): Crosby playing against the Buffalo Sabres is almost unfair. He has 20-plus FanDuel points in each of his last two contests. Buffalo comes limping in, allowing 17 goals in their last five games. Pittsburgh is worse at 19 and expect this to be a high-event outcome game. Buffalo cannot match Pittsburgh's top line and vice versa. Likely, Buffalo will try to exploit the Evgeni Malkin line, leaving Crosby to the middle-six of the Sabres that gives up nearly 35 shots per 60. There will be plenty of scoring chances in this contest. Mika Zibanejad ($7,400) and Logan Couture ($7,100) are good top-line centers on nice streaks and at home on Friday night.
Jakub Voracek ($7,600): Voracek is on a tear in his last three games, topping 20 FanDuel points in each of them. He and the Philadelphia Flyers draw an AHL matchup against the New Jersey Devils, who are missing as many as 10 players. Though New Jersey's goaltending has improved over the last couple weeks, Philadelphia has a way of catching the Devils off guard. Voracek has six real-world points in this span including 17 shots on net and 27 shot attempts. As long as he keeps firing away, do not be surprised if one finds its way into the back of the net. Joe Pavelski ($7,900) and Jeff Skinner ($7,300) are also solid choices for Friday.
Value Skaters
Ryan Strome ($3,600): Strome peaks interest as a nice value play who is now on the ice around 18-19 minutes a contest. The New York Rangers want to see what they have in their players and thrusting them into almost impossible situations is smart. Strome has eight real-world points in his last nine games. The only risk is shot volume as Strome sometimes has troubles finding the net (12 shots in this span). That power-play time he gets could be something against a Montreal Canadiens team which yields 3.1 goals and a 78% penalty kill away from home. Kevin Rooney is a New Jersey punt play at just $3,100 and has double-digit FanDuel points in his previous two starts.
Zach Aston-Reese ($3,700): Reese is streaky but has points in three of his last four games. The second-line forward draws a solid matchup against Buffalo's suspect defense. This all started with a promotion due to injuries against the Rangers. Ever since, Reese has shown an ability to create space for Evgeni Malkin. The left winger also has three-plus shots in four of the last five contests. Buffalo has allowed nearly 34 shots per 60 in their last 10 games. Sven Andrighetto ($3,100) is a pure punt play who appears in limited minutes (around 10 a night) but can deliver a quick goal or assist for 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.
