FanDuel NHL: February 4 (Main)
By Matt Rogers
FanDuel NHL: February 4 (Main) is a daily fantasy sports column focusing on the best FanDuel NHL player and value options for your daily lineups. The salary options are based on the daily salaries set by FanDuel. We’ll review the best options at each position, and help you afford an ideal lineup for your big FanDuel NHL paydays.
FanDuel NHL has a full slates of 13 games today, presenting several lineup options throughout the day. This article focuses on the ‘Main’ FanDuel option, allowing us to use players in the evening games, only. A separate article offers on the ‘All Day’ options, which included all games beginning at 1pm ET. Here is a list of scheduled NHL games, with the games we’ll focus on highlighted:
Maple Leafs at Bruins (7:00pm ET)
Senators at Sabres (7:00pm ET)
Ducks at Lightening (7:00pm ET)
Hurricanes at Islanders (7:00pm ET)
Devils at Blue Jackets (7:00pm ET)
Penguins at Blues (8:00pm ET)
Red Wings at Predators (8:00pm ET)
Blackhawks at Stars (8:00pm ET)
Wild at Canucks (10:00pm ET)
Coyotes at Sharks (10:30pm ET)
Before we review the top options for each FanDuel NHL lineup position, let’s review the FanDuel NHL scoring rules:
Forwards/Defense
- Goals = 12pts
- Assists = 8pts
- Shots on Goal = 1.6pts
- Short Handed points = 2pts
- Power Play Points = 0.5pts
- Blocked Shots = 1.6pts
Goalies
- Win = 12pts
- Goals Against = -4pts
- Saves = 0.8pts
- Shutouts = 8pts
Next: Top Centers
Top Centers
The Boston Bruins have to win tonight against the Toronto Maples Leafs, at home in Boston, to keep up their strong divisional playoff standing. While the Maple Leafs have a tremendous offensive unit, their defense allows more shots on goal, per game, then most teams in the NHL. They’re also scored on often, and depend on winning shootouts.
With that in mind, I really like Patrice Bergeron ($7,000) and David Krejci ($5,400) leading the Boston Bruins top two regular and power play lines tonight. Bergeron and Krejci each should have multiple assist opportunities and one or both could slip in a goal as well. This combination should yield between 35 and 40 points, along with a big Bruin wing play we’ll look at next.
Next: Top Wings
Top Wings
Sticking with the Burins for a nice Boston-Stack tonight, Brad Marchand ($7,500) is cooking and needs to be in your lineup each day, or night, he plays until he cools off. For our Wednesday investment in Marchand, we were rewarded with 39.4 FanDuel NHL points against a very good Washington Capitals.
Brad was the offensive force in the game for the Boston Bruins and his nearly 30 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average, over the last four Burins games, should continue tonight at home in a favorable match up against the Maple Leafs.
Since a brief absence in Mid-November, Mike Hoffman ($6,800) has consistently landed above 10 FanDuel NHL points with at least one assist or goal in most games. Hoffman has five double-digit points in the Ottawa Senators last seven games, including three games above 25 points. Tonight, the Sens have a favorable match up against the Buffalo Sabres and Hoffman should be worth his $6.8K salary.
Viktor Arvidsson ($5,600) also has five double-digit FanDuel NHL games in his team’s last seven games. Arvidsson’s salary has consistently remained a bargain as he’s often scoring between 15 and 20 points-per-game, with a mid-20 point ceiling. Viktor and the Predators have a juicy match up against a bad Red Wings defense and sub-par goaltending.
Finally, we’re looking for value in our Brian Gionta ($4,800) pick. Gionta is playing on the Sabres 3rd regular line, but with time on the 2nd power play line as well, lately, Brian should log another 16 minutes on the ice. Over the last four games, Gionta is another consistent double-digit FanDuel NHL point provider. Brian also has a decent match up against the Senators tonight.
Next: Top Defense
Top Defense
Our top pick last night for defense was Seth Jones ($5,000). Jones had 17.6 FanDuel NHL points leading to his 5th straight double-digit result in the Columbus Blue Jackets last five games. Jones and the Blue Jackets have another favorable matchup tonight, at home in Columbus, against the Devils. Seth’s salary actually dipped $200 tonight, likely because of all the great options on Saturday. He should continue to roll and is a great bargain.
Cody Franson ($3,700) has four double-digit FanDuel NHL point results in the Buffalo Sabres last five games. Franson is averaging around 15 points-per-game during that time. Playing on the Sabres 2nd regular and power play lines against the Ottawa Senators tonight, Cody is a bargain for around 15 FanDuel NHL tonight.
Next: Top Goalie
Top Goalie
For the past month, Pekka Rinne ($9,100) is 6-2 with eight straight double-digit FanDuel NHL point games. Rinne has piled up saves over the last two weeks and with the Red Wings offense playing a little better lately, Pekka will likely have over 10 points again tonight, even if the Predators lose.
However, we’re going with the Rinne play at goalie with a full expectation the Predators emerge victorious and Pekka has an extra 12 points for the win tonight. A 25 point total is a reasonable result from Rinne tonight.
Next: FanDuel NBA Picks & Pivots
Always check NHL lineups throughout the day when playing FanDuel NHL. As a fan, you likely know the league isn’t overly forthcoming with injury news, and players are often scratched at the last-minute with little information. Also, goaltenders are never a sure-thing. Good Luck today FanDuelers!