3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 11/17/21
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.
Wednesday night features three games on the NHL slate. Let's find a few studs.
Anze Kopitar, Center, Los Angeles Kings
FanDuel Salary: $8,200
Anze Kopitar leads the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night as they entertain an unrested Washington Capitals team from the Staples Center.
Kopitar still anchors the top forward line and top power-play unit for the surprising Kings. Kopitar has slowed a bit but still has three real-world points in his last five games. Also, he has eight blocked shots, 14 shots, and 16 scoring chances during that same "down" stretch.
Our model projects Los Angeles to score just 2.84 goals, but that seems a little low given the back-to-back scenario for Washington. L.A. is 12th in the NHL in high-danger chances (138), so this isn't the same squad that is projected for shutouts against top teams as prior years.
Stacking Kings players could pay dividends. Alex Iafallo is one option to pair with Kopitar, and Kale Clague can be a relief valve to save some salary.
Patrick Kane, Wing, Chicago Blackhawks
FanDuel Salary: $8,800
The Chicago Blackhawks' winger has performed incredibly well all season and is now averaging 21 FanDuel points per game.
He makes a ton of sense in a plus matchup versus the Seattle Kraken. Seattle is a bizarre case study; they lead the league in goals allowed (41) but are fifth from the bottom in expected goals (23.72) with the shot volume they allow. The translation? Poor goaltending from Philipp Grubauer, who has the second-lowest goals saved above expectation (-9.48) in the league.
Kane is a winger who can generate his own pace and produce opportunities from anywhere. He has ten real-world points in his last six games including four goals. The winger has 30 shots on goal and 34 scoring chances during this span.
It may not be a bad idea to pair Kane with Connor Murphy for salary relief, or even go all-in and stack Alex DeBrincat for further goal-scoring and DFS point potential.
Cale Makar, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche
FanDuel Salary: $6,700
Another small playoff-like NHL slate this Wednesday has most seeking safer DFS options. This is a nice way of saying trust the studs a little bit more.
Cale Makar is warming up with seven real-world points in his last six games. He's still logging heavy ice time for the Avalanche; Makar has skated at least 21:40 in every game this season for Colorado despite some lopsided results in both directions.
Makar easily has the highest projection with 14.4 points, but keep in mind that there are also two other double-digit defensemen options just from the Avs on Wednesday night alone.
However, this blueliner carries the most point potential and solid value as well. The Vancouver Canucks' defense has been frightening lately. They've allowed 19 goals in their last three games, and they're 8th in high-danger chances allowed this season (149).
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.
