4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/19/20

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.

We've got an early start on Wednesday for a five-game slate. Four teams could be at the end of the line for their season. Let's see which stars could be playing in their last game of the season, and which could be moving on to the next round.

Elias Pettersson, Center, Vancouver Canucks

FanDuel Salary: $7,300

Elias Pettersson has been performing in the playoffs like a franchise center should perform. He has nine points in the postseason, tied for second with a handful of other players. In this series against the St. Louis Blues, he has three goals and two assists in four games. He was ninth among center in points during the regular season. Pettersson is proving to be a star, and could take his game to the next level.

The Vancouver Canucks will need to stop the bleeding after losing two games in a row and blowing their two-game lead over the Blues. A matchup they can exploit is on the power play. The Blues have been bad on the penalty kill during the postseason, being the fourth-worst team when at a man-power disadvantage. Pettersson leads all players with seven power-play points during the restart. This gives him a lot of upside to get multiple points, and ones that will come with a power-play bonus on FanDuel. Pettersson is a great play in tournaments in the hopes that he can score a few power play-points.

Brad Marchand, Wing, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $8,100

It took Brad Marchand a little while to get going in the bubble, but he's back in good form now. He has a goal in three straight games, and has seven points in the four games in the series against the Carolina Hurricanes. He also has 15 shots on goal in the last three games. Marchand had the sixth-most points in the NHL in the regular season, and with top goal-scorer David Pastrnak missing the past three games, he's the Bruins go-to man for points on the wing.

Marchand and the Boston Bruins have a three games to one lead in the series, and could easily close things out on Wednesday. has them as -165 favorites, and our daily fantasy matchup heat map has their implied goal total at around 2.8. Marchand is the third-best winger in numberFire's projections for Wednesday. Even without Pastrnak on his opposite wing, Marchand is still an elite play on this slate.

Cale Makar, Defense, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $5,900

If you need proof that Cale Makar is good at hockey, go watch his goal from the last game. If you want the numbers, you can look towards his .88 points per game in the regular season, the third-best mark in the league. He also has been great in the postseason, with points in every game in this series vs the Arizona Coyotes. He'll benefit from playing with so many talented offensive players on the Colorado Avalanche, and their power play has clicked at a 25% clip in the bubble.

The Avalanche dominated the Coyotes in the last game, winning 7-1. They are projected to do the same thing in game five, with an implied team total of 3.3, the highest on the slate. Arizona has allowed the most shot attempts per 60 minutes of any team during the postseason, according to Natural Stat Trick. Makar might not have the safest floor or the best projection on defense, but if the Avalanche are able to run wild again in a great matchup, Makar could have an eruption game with the rest of his teammates.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Goalie, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $9,000

Another team that is on the verge of closing their series out is the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have been able to handle the Columbus Blue Jackets defensive style for the most part, while keeping things tight in their own end. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been stellar in net when the Jackets have managed to get their chances, allowing two goals per game in the four games in this series. The Jackets are averaging the third-fewest expected goals per 60 minutes. On Wednesday, Columbus has the lowest implied goal total out of all ten teams. Vasilevskiy tops the goalie projections, making him a fine goalie play in all formats.