NHL

NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 8/21/20

A good chunk of you played daily fantasy football this year, and I'd be willing to bet a significant portion of you have also tried out daily fantasy basketball and baseball. But hockey? Hockey?

It's time to give it a try over on FanDuel because it's a ton of fun.

Our analysis and projections can help you win. To help, let's take a look at a goalie, some high-priced skaters, and lower-priced players to target for today's slate.

Goalie to Target

Carter Hart ($8,600): The Philadelphia Flyers have confirmed that Hart will start again on Friday against the Montreal Canadiens. The one good thing about the Flyers' goalie is his ability to bounce back from adversity. He gets pulled he comes back with a shutout. The goalie allowed four goals on 32 shots in Game 5 after consecutive shutouts. Montreal can generate 30+ shots then just forget how to score. At least, that is the thought process. Jacob Markstrom ($8,200) expects to face 35+ shots again while there is a possibility that Jordan Binnington ($7,500)will start on Friday. He is the value play.

High-Priced Skaters

Elias Pettersson ($7,400): Choices are not many and some options are not 100%. Pettersson is healthy and shooting the puck a lot (13 shots in his last three games). He has seven real-world points in five games this series and may not be the biggest threat out there but he is the most explosive. With the two-game slate, the prices often become a bit more skewed. The top Vancouver line has correlation on the power-play, which is essential against a St. Louis Blues team that ranks in the bottom-third away from home. Ryan O'Reilly ($6,900) is the other choice and has seven points in his last four contests.

Jakub Voracek ($6,700): Voracek keeps firing 3+ shots a night which makes him more and more valuable. Add in his position on the top power-play unit and this becomes a chalky but near must choice. With three goals and two assists in the last three games, "Scoreacek" is kind of back as they say. As long as those chances keep coming and they should against an at times porous Montreal penalty kill, keep on plugging in Voracek into one's stacks. Jaden Schwartz ($5,900) could be a crafty alternative from the Blues on Friday.

Value Skaters

Joel Farabee ($3,500): Farabee plays on the top-unit power play currently which is enough for most. As long as he gets chances there, he is like a free square in DFS. That price is just too low not to place him in most lineups. He scored in his last game but more importantly, makes quick decisions on the man advantage (mostly the right ones). That will serve him well as these games go on. Samuel Blais ($3,700) is one to watch with his hands and physical ability from St. Louis.

Shayne Gostisbehere ($4,000): The Philadelphia defenseman is a moderate risk GPP play on Friday night but he is getting 2+ shots and 2+ blocks with more frequency as his minutes gradually rise. Could he see a little more power-play time? That remains possible. In his last game, he had four shots on net and four blocks. He started to look like the Gostisbehere who was a top offensive defenseman. That price again is so low that it is worth the gamble. Ben Chiarot ($3,800) is another risky GPP value play as well from the Canadiens.


Chris Wassel is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Chris Wassel also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username chriswassel. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.