NHL Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 8/25/20
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
Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8,200): Vasilevskiy is the second-most expensive goalie on the slate behind Robin Lehner ($8,700), easing the process of roster construction just a bit on this two-game slate. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins are both sitting at -110 on the moneyline for this game, which shouldn't come as a surprise with both teams being so strong.
Vasilevskiy looked good -- but not great -- in Game 1, with 28 saves and 3 goals allowed. If he is able to replicate that performance tonight, but come away with the win this time, he would post 22 FanDuel points -- which would be right next to his season average of 21 FanDuel points per game. Expect the Bruins to keep up the offensive pressure, which should allow Vasilevskiy to rack up some saves and fantasy points.
High-Price Skaters
Nikita Kucherov ($8,200): Kucherov was able to post a very strong eight shots on goal in Game 1 but wasn't able to find the back of the net. Tampa Bay lost Game 1 by a score of 3-2, where they scored both of their goals in the third period. They simply didn't have the offense ready to go at the start of the game, so expect that to change tonight. More offensive pressure is needed, and it has to start earlier for Tampa. If that is going to be the case, you want to have Kucherov in your lineups to capture the potential scoring from the Lightning.
Without a doubt, he is their best player, and being on the top forward line and the first power-play unit, he will have ample opportunities to rack up the shots on goal and hopefully find the back of the net tonight.
Max Pacioretty ($7,600): Pacioretty put up a strong performance in Game 1 with one goal and eight shots, which was good for 26.4 FanDuel points. He did that all in just 14 minutes of ice time, which is rather low, but Vegas won 5-0, so they played their depth forwards a bit more. Regardless of the lower ice time, Pacioretty is an offensive force and sees time on the first forward line and the first power-play unit, making him a lock and load option tonight.
During Game 1, Vegas took a total of 73 shot attempts in all situations -- which is amazing. Taking over one shot attempt per minute is exactly what you want to see from an offense, and paying up for Pacioretty gets you plenty of equity in that.
Value Skaters
Ondrej Kase ($3,700): Kase is seeing time on the second forward line and the second power-play for the Bruins, who are up 1-0 in the series versus the Lightning. Kase finished with four shots on goal in Game 1 but didn't find his way to the score sheet. In fact, he hasn't found the back of the net since the beginning of February. He isn't a goal-scoring forward but is still piling up the shots, with three shots or more in four of his six playoff games.
Alec Martinez ($4,000): Martinez is one of the defenders on the second power-play for the Golden Knights and has been very productive throughout the playoffs. He has a total of five points in six games, with 11 shots, and 17 blocked shots. Excuse me? Averaging nearly two shots per game and almost three blocked shots per game -- not to mention almost one point per game -- and he's only $4K? Sign me up for some value with Martinez.
