NHL

3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 2/5/21

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.

Friday night features five contests. Let's take a look at what studs we may find.

Patrice Bergeron, Center, Boston Bruins

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

It is hard to stray too far away from Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins on Friday night. Consider that Bergeron averages 4.1 shots per game, will block the occasional shot, and now has 15 real-world points in just 10 games this season. With the entire top line together for Boston and their full correlation (when it comes to the man advantage), almost any opponent is a good matchup right now.

The Philadelphia Flyers come in with a 7-2-2 record but struggle defensively against most top lines. That was evident on Wednesday as Boston's top line scored four times in all. Philly's penalty kill ranked 28th in the league at 70.7%, and they have allowed slightly more than 35 shots per 60 since the Sean Couturier injury. This puts David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand in play, too, but we can also pivot to Charlie McAvoy for some salary relief.

Filip Forsberg, Wing, Nashville Predators

FanDuel Salary: $7,300

This is a bit higher risk than some would think. In most cases, this season, the back end of miniseries has featured lower-scoring games. Last night's contest between the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers produced 11 goals -- 4 of them on the man advantage. Both teams do not employ much of a penalty kill, and with the injury of Ryan Johansen, expect Forsberg to carry even more of the offensive load for the Preds.

Could Forsberg attempt more than 10 shots again on Friday night? That is possible. He hit the net eight times while scoring twice and adding three assists in the last game. It Is very possible. This game will again feature two of the top offensive players from Florida, and Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,200) remains a possible alternative but does have a lower floor when it comes to shots (averages just 1.43 per game).

Victor Hedman, Defenseman, Tampa Bay Lightning

FanDuel Salary: $7,100

This would be considered a safe choice on Friday night. Victor Hedman comes in with a three-game point streak and goes up against the worst penalty kill of the last three seasons in the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit allowed three quick goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. There is little to suggest that Detroit could slow down Tampa Bay.

Hedman averages nearly three shots a game to go with 1.25 blocks. His blocks have been down from previous seasons in the early going, but his power-play presence has not.

There are some intriguing risks to take a look at as well tonight. How do the Vegas Golden Knights and Shea Theodore look after over a week of not playing? Will there be rust?



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/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.