4 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 10/19/21

In any daily fantasy lineup, 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.

Tuesday night provides us with eleven games in all. Let's look at those studs!

Connor McDavid, Center, Edmonton Oilers

FanDuel Salary: $9,200

The best forward in the universe, Connor McDavid, draws against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night at home. McDavid fired in two assists against Vancouver and followed that with a hat trick versus the Calgary Flames. That is not too shabby of a two-game stretch.

The Edmonton Oilers have started off strongly on offense as usual. It helps that they faced two very familiar opponents from the bubble last season. Anaheim allowed double-digit high-danger chances against the Flames last night. That came on 43 shots on goal total. Edmonton also probably draws Anthony Stolarz in net for the Ducks.

The Oilers have a decent implied goal total on the night (2.98). That alone is reason to target McDavid and the rest of the Edmonton power play. Even at a lofty salary, McDavid is nearly always worth the price of admission.

Alex Ovechkin, Wing, Washington Capitals

FanDuel Salary: $8,900

Alex Ovechkin could be in a prime matchup against a Colorado Avalanche team undermanned due to COVID and injuries. Yes, Nathan MacKinnon is flying to Washington, but his playing status is unknown at this moment. Regardless of his status, Ovechkin can still skate and can still fire that puck from anywhere -- and yes, from his home office, too.

The Washington Capitals need all the offense they can muster as defensively; they are pretty porous down the middle. A lofty game goal total of 6.5 is always worth targeting, and Ovie is likely to be a huge part of that. The winger has 11 shots, 10 scoring chances, and 5 real-world points in two games.

Ovechkin is easy to stack with Evgeny Kuznetsov and John Carlson, and the trio are in a plus spot against the shorthanded Avs this evening.

Aaron Ekblad, Defenseman, Florida Panthers

FanDuel Salary: $6,900

Aaron Ekblad is thankfully okay after a scare over the weekend. The Panthers held their collective breaths, but their top defenseman is fully available entering tonight's clash with Tampa Bay. Ekblad has real-world points in both games this season for Florida and will look to continue that streak Tuesday.

The Panthers' offense does not need odd-man chances to score. Their even-strength 56.02% Corsi For is the eighth-best in the NHL thus far, which is a testament to their depth ranks among the best in the league. Ekblad is projected only for 10.0 points tonight, but this rivalry game should be tightly contested, and that could boost his potential for more minutes.

Ekblad is arguably the best stacking partner for Aleksander Barkov, who is hard to turn down in just about any situation despite the matchup with Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Cam Talbot, Goalie, Minnesota Wild

FanDuel Salary: $8,500

Cam Talbot goes up against a speedy Winnipeg Jets team tonight that can generate lots of shots and scoring chances quickly. The Jets are fifth in Corsi For percentage (58.9%) in even-strength situations entering Tuesday's contest. The potential to see 30-35+ shots is at least moderate here, and that gives Talbot more opportunities to accumulate fantasy points.

The Minnesota Wild goaltender ranks seventh in projections at 18.6 points, but he has faced an average of exactly 30 shots a game so far. A quality start, win, and those amount of shots faced probably net him 25-plus points.

The matchup is a risky one, but Talbot's ceiling at a hefty shot volume could pay huge dividends -- even for his salary.

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.