3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/4/20

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 from 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.

Hockey in the bubbles keeps rolling along and we've got three games on the main FanDuel slate on Tuesday. Let's see who some of the best expensive plays are tonight.

Sebastian Aho, Center, Carolina Hurricanes

FanDuel Salary: $7,900

The Carolina Hurricanes and Sebastian Aho are on the verge of advancing from the play-in round after winning their first two games. Aho contributed greatly in those two games with multiple points in each. He continued his stellar play from the regular season, where he was tied for sixth in the NHL in goals with 36. Aho and the Canes have been dominant in this series thus far and have a great chance of continuing that tonight.

The Hurricanes have a matchup advantage over the New York Rangers in the shot attempt battle. Carolina finished third in Corsi for, while the Rangers finished as the fourth-worst team, according to Natural Stat Trick. That has played out as you would expect with Carolina getting more shot attempts in both games so far this series. The Rangers also allowed the most expected goals per 60 minutes in the league, so Aho and his linemates have been able to take advantage of that.

Carolina has the second-highest implied team total on the slate, according to numberFire's Daily Fantasy Matchup Heat Map. Aho is a great play tonight at a center position that is fairly thin on just a three-game slate, and he is tied for our highest projection at the position.

Johnny Gaudreau, Wing, Calgary Flames

FanDuel Salary: $7,800

It wasn't the best year for John Gaudreau in the regular season, but he is still one of the best wingers in hockey. He leads the Calgary Flames in shots and is second in points. His goal scoring numbers were down for the season, but he also had a career low 8.6% shooting percentage. Assuming he didn't lose anything on his shot, that number should creep back up to his career average of 12.1%.

The Flames take on the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 of their play-in series. They were also the fifth-worst team in terms of expected goals allowed per 60 this season, so Gaudreau will have chances to put the puck on net in this game. The Flames have a slate-best implied goal total of 3.0, which is the most on the slate. They'll look for a quick turnaround after yesterday's disappointing loss in which Gaudreau led the team with six shot attempts. If he is able to get that many looks tonight, he'll have a great chance of getting a goal.

Cam Talbot, Goaltender, Calgary Flames

FanDuel Salary: $8,100

The starting goaltending duties for Calgary have gone to Cam Talbot so far in this play-in round, and he's won one and lost one. This matchup with Winnipeg improves a ton when two of their best offensive players are out. The Jets look likely to be without top center Mark Scheifele and goal-scoring winger Patrik Laine again in this game. That was true in Game 2, as well, and Calgary lost, but the likes of Jansen Harkins and Adam Lowry won't be able to score in every game.

Calgary is the biggest favorite tonight, and the Jets have the lowest implied goal total. Talbot looks like the best goalie play based on the matchup against the short-handed Jets.