This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Welcome back for another week of FanDuel bargain bin options on RotoWire. There are only two weeks left in the NHL season, so the time to get the hockey DFS fix is now.
As always, there will be one skater per FanDuel position priced at $4,000 or less. There will also be a couple of cheap goalies at the end to use this week. And I'll indicate which nights to use the players.
I am going to add one thing here: clearly there was a mistake made by FanDuel with regards to their pricing, but all of John Klingberg, Jason Spezza, and Patrick Sharp are all priced at $3,000 for Tuesday night. Maybe some people will not realize that, but that is basically half the cost for all three.
Centre
William Nylander (Toronto) - $3,800
It is always precarious recommending Toronto players. They are mostly pretty cheap, and the possession numbers are stellar, but the team is still in a race for last in the NHL. On a website that counts plus/minus in its scoring, that can lead to a negative night very quickly.
Nylander has shown a lot of promise in his limited 14-game sample. He is averaging over two shots a game, which is a very good sign for a player that young. He is also skating over 16 minutes a game, including power play time, and is not being used in a defensive role (that honor belongs to Nazem Kadri).
Nylander has just one power play point so far, but that's actually a good thing for FanDuel, as even strength points are more valuable. He's also averaging over two points per 60 minutes played at five-on-five, leading the Leafs. Yes, it's a small sample. However, his on-ice shooting percentage is just 8.33-percent, which is very normal. That means he's not getting overly lucky with points (though his shooting percentage is high).
The Leafs are in Buffalo on Thursday, and the expectation is he won't see much of the Ryan O'Reilly line. Beyond that unit, there isn't much for defensive forwards in Buffalo; in fact, his likely matchup is Jack Eichel's line, and Eichel has been on the ice for the most high-danger scoring chances per minute of any Sabres forward.
Right Wing
Paul Byron (Montreal) - $3,200
Similar to Toronto, there is some concern with taking players from that team given the plus/minus factor. With that said, the top duo of Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty have been excellent since being combined. In fact, on the season, they are on the ice for over 70 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five, which is a very high number.
Knowing how good Galchenyuk and Pacioretty have been together is important because the most recent lineup combinations have Paul Byron skating on their right wing. Byron, for fantasy players that may be unfamiliar with him, isn't a highly-skilled player, but has a lot of speed and can get in on the forecheck. If he can disrupt the other team's D, that allows more time and space for the skilled Galchenyuk and Pacioretty.
The Habs are home to Detroit on Tuesday, and the Wings will be playing their second game in as many nights. Montreal isn't very good, but that top duo is excellent, and Byron can ride their coattails to an easy point. At his price, he's worth it.
Left Wing
Mattias Janmark (Dallas) - $3,000
This is something that should probably come as a surprise to some: at five-on-five this year, Janmark has as many individual high-danger scoring chances as Nikita Kucherov, and one more than Patrice Bergeron while playing fewer games and minutes than either player. It has been an impressive season for the Dallas rookie.
One of the biggest issues with Janmark is he doesn't get much (or any) power play time. That has kept his raw production total fairly low with 29 points in 70 games. As mentioned earlier, even strength points are more valuable, however, making Janmark appealing for a minimum price.
The biggest reason for his inclusion this week is his new line. Janmark is expected to skate on the second line, alongside Jason Spezza. In his 428-plus minutes with Spezza this year, and those two on the ice, the Stars have generated nearly 70 shot attempts per 60 minutes, and nearly 58-percent of the puck possession. Those are monster numbers.
Dallas will be home to Arizona on Thursday, and that is a pretty good matchup for the high-paced Stars. With his new line and his performance to date, Janmark is very appealing for his price.
Defence
Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota) - $3,800
With his two-goal game last week, there may be a lot of public steam on Spurgeon, driving up his ownership rates. That isn't too concerning with regards to cash games, but as far as tournaments go, it is something to keep in mind.
In six of his last seven, Spurgeon has had more ice time than his season average (22:10 per game). In that span, he has 17 shots in goal, four points, and a plus-2 rating. With higher usage usually comes a higher floor, and that's good news for fantasy owners.
Spurgeon has been playing on the top power play unit of late alongside Ryan Suter, and that is good news for this week. The Wild are home to Chicago on Tuesday, and are in Winnipeg on Sunday. Those two teams, at time of writing, are 26th and 28th in the NHL, respectively, in allowing high-danger chances while short-handed. In other words, they don't have very good penalty killing. With Spurgeon on the first power play, I am fine using him in either game at this price. He can also be used in Thursday's home game against Ottawa, though that penalty kill appears to be improving.
Goalie
James Reimer (San Jose) - $7,200
Reimer has been somewhat inconsistent since making his way to San Jose. In five games, he has two shutouts (great), two games with a combined .826 save percentage (bad), and a loss where he saved 21 of 23 shots (about average). Such is the nature of most NHL goaltenders.
The Sharks are on a back-to-back on the road Tuesday night in Vancouver. Typically, that's not a great spot. However, the Canucks have been incapable of scoring lately and are generally one of the worst teams in the NHL. At his price, Reimer is fine for a tournament.
Matt Murray (Pittsburgh) - $6,900
The Penguins have a stretch of four games in six days this week. They have built up a little bit of a cushion as far as a playoff spot goes, and three of those games (Buffalo, NY Islanders, Philadelphia) are not unbelievably tough matchups. With Murray likely to get at least one game this week, I would start him in a tournament whenever he gets the nod.
