4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on 3/15/21
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 salaried 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.
Monday night features nine games on the main slate. Let's find some studs!
Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers
FanDuel Salary: $9,100
The Calgary Flames have sucked the life out of offenses the past couple of games but Connor McDavid comes to town tonight along with the Edmonton Oilers. Salary is never an issue when a player has several big fantasy nights on the season. Can a Darryl Sutter team slow McDavid down? That is the burning question.
McDavid and the Oilers are well-rested. So is Calgary. The Edmonton center has 12 real-world points in his last 5 games. In four of those five games, McDavid had at least seven shot attempts and four-plus shots on net. His speed and acceleration have caused Calgary's team defense fits.
Pairing McDavid with Tyson Barrie or Darnell Nurse allows the option of using one of Edmonton's wingers like Kailer Yamamoto, etc. It may be too big of a slate to use Leon Draisaitl with McDavid.
Also, Aleksander Barkov ($7,400) plays the Chicago Blackhawks. That should mean plenty of opportunities for the offense.
Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks
FanDuel Salary: $8,300
The Chicago Blackhawks winger has a good matchup against the Florida Panthers on Monday night. The theory that one can attack the Kane line and use the offense on both sides is usually true. Kane had six shots on nine attempts, four scoring chances, and an assist versus Florida on Saturday night.
The one luxury with Kane is his on-ice vision. At any time, the winger can create scoring chances in the blink of an eye. A linemate just has to keep his stick on the ice, literally. Just ask Alex DeBrincat, who has 10 goals in the last month alone.
Jake Guentzel ($7,400) is another option against Boston. Alex Ovechkin ($8,000) is playing at Buffalo who is the worst home team on the slate.
Kris Letang, Defenseman, Pittsburgh Penguins
FanDuel Salary: $6,000
The fact that Kris Letang has seen his salary still stay around $6,000 is incredible. Given his production and the talent with higher salaries than him, this is a nice night to utilize him. Letang is probably the healthiest he has been in several years. His consistent ability to fire three-plus shots on net and block a couple of shots a night makes his floor that much better.
With how much Boston has struggled defensively lately, this may be the most optimal time to play the Bruins. Letang and the Pittsburgh Penguins can get more unblocked shot attempts on net than usual. The only risk may be if Tuukka Rask is healthy.
Ivan Provorov could be a decent floor option from Philadelphia Flyers. John Carlson ($6,600) is again versus Buffalo and should have many power-play chances.
Marc-Andre Fleury, Goalie, Vegas Golden Knights
FanDuel Salary: $8,400
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start on Monday night versus the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks are brutal on the road but are over .500. They allow 3.52 goals per game overall which are the highest yielded on this slate. That could provide a margin for error when it comes to starting Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury started three games in four nights and then delivered his best performance of the three starts during the hardest start. He allowed just one goal on 35 shots in a win at St. Louis on Saturday.
Wait to see who else starts when it comes to looking for viable alternatives among the studs. Who starts for Washington against the Buffalo Sabres? After that, it comes down to just looking around after morning skate to see if anyone else is confirmed in net. Do watch for COVID-related absences. Those come out around 5:00 pm ET or so.
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.
