3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 1/6/20
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 and 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.
There are four games on Monday's NHL slate, and some of the NHL's leading scorers and biggest names are in action tonight.
Auston Matthews, Center, Toronto Maple Leafs
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
Auston Matthews continued his hot play of late, with a goal and an assist on Saturday against the New York Islanders. He now has 28 goals this season, the second-most in the league. Matthews has 9 goals and 17 points over his last ten games, which are both better than his peers in the elite center tier of this slate in Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid.
Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs take on McDavid's Edmonton Oilers tonight at home. The Oilers have been up and down as of late and not too solid defensively, as they have allowed the eighth-most goals in the NHL. Looking at our daily fantasy matchup heat map, the Leafs have the highest implied goal total on tonight's slate. They should be able to take advantage of erratic Edmonton goalie Mike Smith, who has -6.24 goals saved above average this season.
Kyle Connor, Wing, Winnipeg Jets
FanDuel Salary: $6,600
The leading goal scorer for the Winnipeg Jets is Kyle Connor with 21. He has been hot of late, with seven goals in his last six games, including a hat trick on Tuesday night. His underlying metrics suggest that this is no fluke, as he ranks ninth in individual expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. His 15.25 expected goals on the season are more than the likes of Matthews and MacKinnon.
The Jets are traveling to face the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night in an interesting game. Both teams have an implied goal total over three, the only teams over three besides Toronto. This could be a back and forth game with a decent amount of goals scored. The Jets' top line could really benefit from that as they did on New Year's Eve when the team scored seven goals. Our projections at numberFire really like Connor, as they have him as the second-highest fantasy point scorer at the wing position tonight. There are several wingers priced ahead of him, so even at the price of $6,600, he's a good value.
Shea Weber, Defense, Montreal Canadiens
FanDuel Salary: $6,400
The booming slap shot of Shea Weber makes him a dangerous threat from the blue line for any opposition. That has been the case this season, as Weber has 12 goals, tied for fifth among defensemen. He loves to use his shot too, as he is fifth in shot attempt rate for defensemen who have played at least 300 minutes this year. He also contributes in fantasy with blocked shots, as his 77 are 20th in the league.
Weber's hard shot comes most in handy on the power play. Luckily for him and the Habs tonight, they face Winnipeg's league-worst penalty kill. Montreal also just added Ilya Kovalchuk, and he is slated to join the top power play unit. This gives the unit another threat, and could free up Weber to get off more shots of a higher quality, given the defense will have more to be concerned with. Weber has the most upside for goals for a defenseman on this slate, making him a good target in tournaments.
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.
