NHL

3 NHL FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 12/8/21

Chris Wassel  —  @ChrisWasselDFS Dec 8th, 2021
Four games on the NHL schedule means it's a little slim in the pickings but still plenty enough to fire up some studs. Who stands out?

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.

Wednesdayy night has four games on the schedule. It is time to hunt down some studs!

Nathan MacKinnon, Center, Colorado Avalanche

FanDuel Salary: $9,500

Honestly, there is a bit of a coin flip between Nathan MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri. Both are over $9,000 and from the Colorado Avalanche. Would it be crazy to try the double-center approach here? Maybe a little.

MacKinnon has seven assists in his last four games for the Colorado Avalanche. He has 19 shots on goal and 21 scoring chances. Here is the odd part. The center has just one goal on the season despite 42 shots in just 12 games.

The good news is that MacKinnon will be facing the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. While Colorado was all nice and snug in their hotel rooms, New York has to travel from Chicago. There is no rest for them.

Also, Alexandar Georgiev is projected to be in net and not Igor Shesterkin. That is even better news for MacKinnon backers.

With Colorado basically playing pond hockey, goals could again come in bunches (or close) like the 12 combined on Monday in Philadelphia.

Max Pacioretty, Wing, Vegas Golden Knights

FanDuel Salary: $9,400

The Vegas Golden Knights winger is making up for lost time.

So, Max Pacioretty has six goals and four assists in seven games this season. In his five games since returning from injury, Pacioretty has 27 shots on goal, 30 scoring chances, and now enjoys a three-game goal-scoring streak (four goals in that span).

Vegas gets to face the Dallas Stars, which could put a damper on things. At the very least, there is risk, as Dallas has won seven games in a row. That being said, the Golden Knights come in with a projection of 3.24 goals scored according to our model. That is the highest on the slate.

Simply, Pacioretty is just "a man apart" right now, and not even Dallas may be able to slow him down at this point.

Dougie Hamilton, Defenseman, New Jersey Devils

FanDuel Salary: $7,300

The highest-salaried healthy defensive option on Wednesday is Dougie Hamilton, Yes, Hamilton enjoys the best matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. Honestly, let's roll with it.

The Devils' defenseman had probably his worst game of his New Jersey tenure on Monday against the Ottawa Senators. Maybe it was the low-event play, but it just did not suit Hamilton well. Philadelphia allowed seven goals against Colorado on Monday. Expect a little more high-event hockey here.

The last time the two teams faced off, Hamilton had a goal, assist, and, oh, just 10 shots on goal in the home win. Hey, he added three blocked shots, as well.

The Devils are projected to score 3.07 goals on Wednesday night at home. Hamilton will be eager to put Monday's game behind him -- and quickly.

Also, look at Adam Fox, as well, who plays the aforementioned Colorado Avalanche.


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.