NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 1/6/20
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.
Goalies to Target
Frederik Andersen ($8,800): The Toronto Maple Leafs come in as a -210 home favorite -- the largest on the slate -- putting Andersen in a good spot to pick up the win. Over his last seven games, Andersen has picked up six wins but has also allowed three goals or more five times. The win potential will always be the for Andersen since their offense is scoring goals with ease but know that he almost certainly isn't going to be shutting out the opposing offense. But what is good for Andersen is that the Maple Leafs play at a fast pace, enabling the opposing offense to take a ton of shots.
Andersen has 33 saves or more in four of his last seven starts, giving him a solid floor of points. Hopefully, he can limit the goals to only three tonight while seeing 30-plus saves again, which should see him push past 30 FanDuel points.
High-Priced Skaters
Nathan MacKinnon ($9,100): Is MacKinnon the best fantasy option on the slate? I think so. Despite this slate features Connor McDavid, with the consistency MacKinnon is bringing to the table right now, it's tough to pass on him as your high-dollar spend. Over MacKinnon's last five games, he has 9 points and 26 shots. In McDavid's last 10 games, he has 8 points and 30 shots. This should make it as clear as day that MacKinnon is the better fantasy option right now -- he is out-producing McDavid in five fewer games.
What MacKinnon also has going for him is that he is double-shifting and playing on both power-play units, giving him immense upside. He is up against the New York Islanders tonight, who are allowing the second-most shot attempts per game and are taking the 12th-most penalty minutes per game.
Mitchell Marner ($7,900): There are a few things that are always true about Marner -- he takes plenty of shots, plays on the first power-play, and can single-handedly break a slate. The shots bring you a solid floor of points and the power-play times brings you upside, which all leads to him helping you jump into the money. Over his last five games, he has 11 shots but only one goal -- which seems rather low.
Sure, it's a small sample size, but with him playing over 20 minutes per game and on the top forward line and top power-play, he could be in for some positive goal regression. The Maple Leafs are holding a 3.75 implied goal total tonight -- the highest on the slate -- and are in a spot to put up plenty of goals with Marner in the middle of it all.
Value Skaters
Kevin Stenlund ($3,300): The Columbus Blue Jackets have been hit with a ton of injuries this season, and that opens up plenty of value in all areas of their lineup. Stenlund has only been with the team since December 16th and has played in 10 games since then. He has 2 goals on only 18 shots but also has 11 blocked shots in these 10 games. By no means is this production amazing, but he is on the second forward line and second power-play unit and is only $300 above the minimum salary tonight.
Columbus is on the road to take on the Los Angeles Kings, who hold the third-highest Corsi For this season. They play at a faster pace and should enable the Blue Jackets to step up their pace and offensive potential.
Ilya Kovalchuk ($3,000): Here is your 'free square' of the night, who should be the most popular play on the entire slate, regardless of format. Kovalchuk signed with the Montreal Canadiens last week and is set to make his debut tonight. He will be playing on the top forward line and the first power-play unit, making him the best value option tonight. We almost never see a player -- who is the absolute minimum salary -- have this type of role in the offense. We see the Habs holding a 3.48 implied goal total tonight -- the second-highest on the slate -- making them a team to target in all formats.
