4 NHL Studs to Target on 12/5/19

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 than paying up in sports like NBA or NFL. Someone can be one of the highest-priced players at his position a 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.

Thursday night has nine games, with some stars and interesting matchups. Who should we build our FanDuel lineups around tonight?

Tyler Seguin, Center, Dallas Stars

FanDuel Salary: $7,500

Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars take on the Winnipeg Jets in the second half of a home and home series. The Jets were able to win that one, but the series heads to Dallas now, with Seguin ready to end Dallas' brief losing skid. He has been good over the last ten games, with 10 points and 43 shots on goal, but there are reasons to believe he could be even better. Seguin is shooting at just 5.9% this season, well below his career average of 10.9%, per Hockey Reference.

The Jets have not been a solid team defensively this season. They have allowed the ninth most expected goals and fourth-most high danger chances on a per 60-minute basis, according to Natural Stat Trick. They will have their hands full tonight as the Stars have loaded up their top line with Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov to play with Seguin. Dallas has an implied goal total over three tonight, and these players are the ones who should contribute to that. Seguin could go overlooked in large-field tournaments tonight, making him an intriguing way to spend your salary.

David Pastrnak, Wing, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $9,300

The NHL leader in goals with 25 in 28 games is David Pastrnak. That's a 73 goal pace over the course of an 82 game season. While no one would expect that number to be reached, you can't ignore what Pastrnak has done so far this season. He is scoring at an absurd rate of 2.79 goals per 60 minutes. He has the fifth-best shot attempt rate in the league as well, so he keeps generating chances each and every game.

If the Boston Bruins keep getting matchups like they get tonight, maybe that lofty goal total isn't out of the question. They will host the Chicago Blackhawks as -220 favorites. Chicago allows the second most expected goals per 60 minutes and the second most high danger chances per 60 minutes. Boston has the slate's best power play, clicking at 30%, with Pastrnak having 12 power-play goals this season. The Bruins have a team total of 3.49 goals, the third-best on the slate. Pastrnak is nearly a lock for all formats tonight.

Shea Weber, Defense, Montreal Canadiens

FanDuel Salary: $6,800

A defenseman who has been on a tear recently is Shea Weber of the Montreal Canadiens. His big booming slapshot has scored nine goals this season. He loves using that shot as well, with the third-best shot attempt rate among defensemen in the league this season. Over his last ten games, he has 36 shots on goal to go along with nine points.

Montreal is hosting the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, who are on the second half of a back to back. Colorado has not been good on the penalty kill this season, killing off just 78% of the times they've been shorthanded. Weber loves to shoot on the power play as the main focus of the Canadiens' strategy with the man advantage. Montreal has a high team total of 3.32, so there should be opportunities for Weber to get involved with at least one goal and pay off his hefty price tag tonight.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Goalie, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $8,700

Last year's Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy will be between the pipes for the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. They face off against the Minnesota Wild as -210 favorites. The Wild have been below average in terms of goal scoring this season, and don't often offer much of a threat with the fourth-fewest expected goals for per game at 2.43. They have an implied goal total of 2.75 tonight, one of the lower totals on the slate. Vasilevskiy should be a safe goalie play for a Tampa Bay team that is rounding into form, and should pick up the win in this game.

Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. 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.