NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 10/25/19
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 some goalies, high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.
Goalie to Target
Antti Raanta ($7,500): The Arizona Coyotes will start Raanta against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. The risks are moderate here, but New Jersey has solid chances of putting up at least 30+ shots on the Arizona goalie. Arizona is the unrested team (playing against the New York Islanders last night). Raanta has looked very composed and healthy in his first two starts. New Jersey ranks 28th as far as total offense right now. Mackenzie Blackwood ($7,200) is the other way to go if one feels queasy with Raanta. Blackwood has wins in his last two starts -- including a 1-0 shutout.
High-Priced Skaters
Elias Pettersson ($6,600): The center possesses a prime matchup against an unrested Washington Capitals team that can give up almost four goals a game on the road. Pettersson has 10 real-world points in nine games but just 2 goals on 17 shots -- including three posts hit! It is only a matter of time before the goals start coming for the dynamic center. Jack Eichel ($8,500) and Auston Matthews ($8,400) are the big plays and the highest-priced for a reason tonight due to higher ceiling as far as shot totals (4+ shots on goal).
Alex Ovechkin ($8,600): The Capitals forward is just never going to break down, is he? Ovechkin delivered yet another 20+ FanDuel point night last night in Edmonton, and could again tonight in Vancouver. Overall, the left-winger has 9 goals and 14 real-world points in 12 games played this year. Also, Ovechkin is still firing the puck on the net nearly five times a night (59 shots overall). Even approaching the other side of 30, Ovechkin is playing like a man in his prime. He is a must-play on Friday night, no matter the opponent. Evander Kane ($7,000) is our other choice from the San Jose Sharks in what expects to be a high-goal matchup in Toronto on Friday night.
Value Skaters
Anthony Duclair ($3,700): There are high-risk plays, and then there is Duclair. He came out of nowhere last night to score two goals on six shots for the Ottawa Senators. When these outbursts happen for him, usually a dud follows. However, Buffalo is not rested, and neither is Ottawa really. It is what we call a sludge matchup, and in this case, it could lead to more sloppy play, which translates into goals. Duclair is averaging three shots a game on the season, so he is hitting the net a bit more. Ilya Mikheyev ($4,100) would be a solid value option from Toronto, and he still garners second-line ice time along with a few power-play opportunities.
Christian Dvorak ($3,800): The Arizona center piled up another three shots on goal against the Islanders on Thursday night and had three scoring chances as well. It is not easy for value picks on this night from the center position. Making it more difficult is the fact that this Arizona-New Jersey tilt could be low-scoring as well. That being said, the Coyotes' second line has shown the most push from a pace standpoint. They can cause lots of problems for a maligned New Jersey defense. Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($3,700) becomes an option for this very same reason -- for better or for worse.
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.
