NHL

4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 2/11/20

Nick Vazquez  —  @nickvaz Feb 11th, 2020
Patrik Laine is back to his goal-scoring ways of years past. Who else is worth paying up for on Tuesday night?

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.

An eleven game slate is in store for us tonight, with some on the best players in the NHL on the ice.

Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $8,800

With Alex Ovechkin and Auston Matthews soaring up the goal charts and grabbing the headlines, Nathan MacKinnon has flown under the radar a bit as of late. He's still been able to record 11 points in his last 10 games. The Colorado Avalanche star also sits fourth in both goals and points in the NHL. He's one of the league's most consistent shooters, averaging 13.06 shots on goal per 60 minutes, which is the fourth-best rate in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick.

MacKinnon and his teammates should be in for a good game on Tuesday night. The Avalanche are facing the Ottawa Senators in Denver, and Ottawa has been a leaky defense all season long. They allow the third-most goals per game and the third-most shots against per game. Colorado's implied goal total is up at 3.96, the highest on the slate tonight.

MacKinnon himself is numberFire's highest projected skater, giving him viability in all formats tonight.

Patrik Laine, Wing, Winnipeg Jets

FanDuel Salary: $8,000

Patrik Laine has been known as a pure goal scorer during his time in the NHL. This season, he has more assists than goals, though, which would be the first time he has done that.

Lately, however, he has been getting back to his old ways of scoring goals. He has five goals in his last three games and nine in his last 10. Laine has also been shooting the puck as much as he used to and now has his shot attempt rate is up to 13th in the league. He tends to score goals in bunches and could keep the streak alive tonight.

The Winnipeg Jets host the New York Rangers on Tuesday. The Rangers have been one of the worst defensive teams in hockey all season long, allowing the most shot attempts against per 60 minutes and the most expected goals against per 60.

Laine's line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor will give the Rangers fits, as they don't have anyone who can matchup with them defensively. Winnipeg's implied goal total is the fourth-highest on the slate at 3.36. Laine always makes for a good tournament play because he possesses multi-goal upside that most players cannot match.

Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks

FanDuel Salary: $7,800

The Chicago Blackhawks may be in last place in the Central Division, but Patrick Kane is still having a pretty good season. He's 11th in points per game with 1.22. He's also producing a lot of shots on goal, with the eighth-most in the NHL. Due to poor depth for the Blackhawks, Kane is forced to play a ton, too. His 21:14 ice time per game is second among wingers this season.

Chicago is facing the Edmonton Oilers on the road tonight. Edmonton will be without Connor McDavid, as he is out with a quad injury. This should give the Blackhawks more time in the attacking zone, as they won't have to worry about defending one of the league's best players. Kane would be the main player who would benefit if they do get more time with the puck.

He carries our second-highest projection at the wing position and could go overlooked with many great options on tonight's slate.

Phillip Grubauer, Goalie, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $8,500

Philipp Grubauer has been pretty solid since becoming the Avalanche's clear number one goalie this season. He has a 17-11-4 record and a save percentage of .912. He has also been in good form of late, winning five of his last six games.

Grubauer is a huge favorite tonight with a -270 moneyline over Ottawa, per . The Senators have an implied goal total of just 2.57, the third-lowest on the slate. Grubauer is a good goalie to spend up on tonight, as you can feel pretty confident that he will get the win.

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.