FanDuel NHL: Tuesday Targets

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Published on May 31, 2022

SLATE PREVIEW

It's Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with the Avalanche hosting the underdog Oilers. The Avs were the Cup favorites at the beginning of the season and now four wins away from reaching the Finals, but Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the two top scorers in the playoffs, currently stand in their way. The Avs will counter the Oilers' elite offense with a superstar center of their own in Nathan MacKinnon, paving the way for what should be an entertaining, high-scoring series. The Avs and Oilers rank second and first, respectively, in goals for per game in the playoffs.

GOALIES

No goalies are available in showdown formats. The expected starters are Mike Smith and Darcy Kuemper, who are a combined 14-5 in the playoffs. Smith has the edge in save percentage (.927 vs. .904) while Kuemper has a lower goals-against average (2.44 vs. 2.70).

VALUE PLAYS

Kailer Yamamoto, EDM at COL ($7,000): Yamamoto will open the series on the third line with Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod, but there's a chance Yamamoto may move up the lineup in a pinch. He's played as the third wheel alongside McDavid and Draisaitl before, though if it happens it will likely be in certain situations, such as when Evander Kane is sitting in the penalty box. Yamamoto scored three points against the Flames and played 20 minutes in the series finale.

Artturi Lehkonen, COL vs. EDM ($8,500): Lehkonen gets the lucky assignment of playing next to MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. A string of poor performances bumped Andre Burakovsky out of the top six and although he has drawn back into the lineup, will instead play on the third line. Lehkonen doesn't have a high offensive ceiling as a two-way, middle-six winger, but being on the ice as the Avs' top player should provide some offensive chances.

LINE STACKS

Nazem Kadri (C - $12,000), Mikko Rantanen (W - $11,500), Valeri Nichushkin (W - $9,000)

The easy stacks would be MacKinnon's line or McDavid's line, but both would be very costly, though McDavid alone should be worth the stack since him and Draisaitl have been scoring at one-and-half times the pace as everyone else. But each of those top lines will also draw the toughest defensive assignments, which could create better matchup opportunities for the second and third lines. The Oilers' depth scoring has been a concern for much of the playoffs, which leaves the Avs' second line as the best option. Nichushkin's point production has trailed both Kadri and Rantanen, but he continues to be a fixture on the top-six and gone five games without a goal, which would be the second-longest drought of his season.

DEFENSEMEN

Bowen Byram, COL vs. EDM ($7,500): With Samuel Girard out for the season, Byram has seen his minutes increase and plays on the second pair with veteran Erik Johnson. A free-flowing game plays right into Byram's skillset, and he's got a chance to extend his point streak to four games after scoring five points in the final three games against the Blues.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.