3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 2/18/20
Spending up in any daily fantasy sport 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 in the NHL gives us a seven game slate, and some big tournaments on FanDuel due to the NBA All Star break. Let's see which stars we can roster to try to take down some big money tonight.
Sidney Crosby, Center, Pittsburgh Penguins
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
Sidney Crosby has been back from injury for 10 games, and it's like he never left. Over those 10 games, he has 14 points. He also has points in four straight games and five in his last two. He now sits in 10th in the league in points per game with 1.24. Crosby got a bit of a boost last week when the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Jason Zucker, a former 30-goal scorer who will give Crosby someone to set up on his wing. Zucker has two goals -- both from Crosby -- in the three games since the trade.
The Penguins play the Toronto Maple Leafs at home on Tuesday. The Leafs have really been up and down with their defensive play and goaltending all season long. They are in the bottom half of most shot-based defensive metrics and sixth in the league in goals allowed per game.
Crosby is projecting well, coming in as our second-highest projected skater on tonight's slate. The Penguins have the second-highest implied team total on this slate, sitting at 3.45. Crosby makes for a great play in what should be an entertaining, high-scoring hockey game.
Teuvo Teravainen, Wing, Carolina Hurricanes
FanDuel Salary: $7,300
One of the league's most underrated playmakers is Teuvo Teravainen. He ranks 10th in the league in assists with 44. He forms a dangerous duo with fellow Fin Sebastian Aho, as he serves as the set-up man to Aho's finishing ability. Add in second-year winger Andrei Svechnikov, and you have a dynamic line with three very dangerous players. We have seen this line together for a little while now, and it has benefited Teravainen, as he has 11 points his last 10 games.
The Carolina Hurricanes are on the road against the Nashville Predators. Nashville is not the same stellar defensive team that we have come to know in the past. They have allowed the seventh-most goals per game in the league. They also have the worst penalty kill in the league, killing off just 74.3% of their shorthanded opportunities. Teravainen leads the Canes with 19 power play points this season, so he could exploit this weakness. He is numberFire's second-highest projected player at the wing position, putting him in play in all formats.
Alex Pietrangelo, Defense, St. Louis Blues
FanDuel Salary: $6,600
Alex Pietrangelo is picking a great time to have his best career offensive season, given his pending unrestricted free agency. His 1.98 points per 60 minutes this season would be the best mark he has posted in the NHL, according to Natural Stat Trick. Overall, he is fourth in points by defensemen with 47. A thing that also stands out about Pietrangelo's season is how much he is shooting, posting a career-high 14.33 shot attempts per 60 minutes. In Tuesday's game, he should be able to continue his great offensive season.
The St. Louis Blues are facing the New Jersey Devils and are huge favorites at home. The Devils are in a free-fall and selling off lots of pieces before the trade deadline, including defenseman Andy Greene on Sunday. That will hurt what is already a bad defensive team, who allow the second-most goals per game in the NHL. This gives the Blues the highest implied team total on the slate tonight. Pietrangelo has a great floor/ceiling combination because of how often he shoots the puck and how many goals the Blues could score 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.
