NHL

4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 1/14/20

Andrei Vasilevskiy has been in great form with two straight shutouts. Who else can we look at on a busy Tuesday night in the NHL?

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.

Tuesday is usually a busy night in the NHL, and tonight is no different with 11 games on tap. There are some of the league's best players among the 22 teams hitting the ice, so let's see which ones look good on FanDuel tonight.

Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers

Fanduel Salary: $9,300

Connor McDavid may not be scoring at the same rate he was earlier in the season, but he still has 12 points in his last 10 games. He also still leads the league in points with 71. McDavid continues to be leaned on for the Edmonton Oilers, averaging the second-most ice time per game of any forward, according to Natural Stat Trick. He returns home tonight after a five-game road trip, where he has averaged 1.76 points per game this season compared to 1.31 points per game on the road.

The Oilers are facing off against the Nashville Predators tonight in a game with a 6.5 over/under that could be one of the higher-scoring games on the slate. According to our daily fantasy matchup heat map, one of the biggest mismatches on the night will be Edmonton's power play against Nashville's penalty kill. The Oilers' power play is tops in the league at 29.3%, while the Predators' penalty kill is the third-worst in the league. Our projections have McDavid as the top scoring center on the slate, making him the top spend at the position.

Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks

FanDuel Salary: $8,300

Patrick Kane is having a good season that seems to have gone under the radar because the Chicago Blackhawks have not been good. He ranks ninth in goals and ninth in points in the NHL. He has 10 points in the last six games and has recording at least four shots in all but one of them. Kane is another forward whose team depends on a lot, playing the fifth-most ice time per game among forwards.

Kane's Blackhawks get a matchup against the Ottawa Senators on the road. The Senators are poor in many defensive metrics, third-worst in shot attempts allowed per 60 minutes and fifth-worst in high danger chances allowed per 60. This has resulted in them allowing the third-most goals per game in the league. Kane is our highest-projected skater on the slate tonight, and his recent form and matchup puts him in play for all formats.

Mitchell Marner, Wing, Toronto Maple Leafs

FanDuel Salary: $7,900

Seemingly enjoying life under new head coach Sheldon Keefe, Mitchell Marner has been on fire of late. He scored two goals on Sunday against the Florida Panthers, extending his point streak to seven straight games. He is now up to 10th in points per 60 minutes. Marner would be a player that former coach Mike Babcock would sometimes shelter with fewer minutes for whatever reason, but now he actually leads all Toronto Maple Leafs forwards in time on ice per game.

The Leafs are playing the New Jersey Devils and have the highest implied goal total on the slate at 3.89. The Devils are allowing 3.32 goals per game, the second-most in the league. New Jersey will be starting goalie Louis Domingue, a goalie who has never posted a positive in goals saved above average, according to his Hockey-Reference page. Marner is an interesting way to get a piece of the Leafs' offense who could score a lot of goals tonight against New Jersey.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Goalie, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $9,200

Last season's Vezina Trophy winner, Andrei Vasilevskiy has really found his game over the past three weeks. He has won eight straight games and has posted a save percentage of .946 over that span. He recorded shutouts in two straight games, making him the NHL's first star of the week.

He has a good chance of recording a shutout again tonight, as the Tampa Bay Lightning will play host to the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have only a 2.34 implied goal total, and they average the third-fewest goals per game in the league. The Lightning are the biggest favorites on the slate at -280, making Vasilevskiy a fairly safe option to get a win, with a good chance to get the shutout bonus as well.


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.