Adam Funk shares his tips on how to profit from daily fantasy hockey
FantasyPros has put together a glossary of Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) terms for readers to reference. More and more players are taking part in DFS contests. We’re providing the glossary so that you can easily reference terms and strategies as you get started playing DFS. Below we’ll take a look at daily fantasy hockey 101.
The NHL season is right around the corner, and the excitement level is building every day in anticipation of DFS hockey being back. If you are new to NHL in the daily fantasy sports world, I am here to help simplify the process and learning curve for you. Hockey is an underrated DFS sport and is relatively comparable to MLB as far as strategy goes, well get into that later.
Basics
First things first, you need to familiarize yourself with site scoring and the differences between them. For example, on FanDuel they use the +/- stat, which is the most useless stat known to man, but something you need to consider when building a roster. The goalie win (much like a pitcher win) can carry great significance to your point total at the end of the night.
Strategy
Stacking is popular in baseball since it carries the potential of teammates helping each other rack up points through the night. This is also true for hockey. If you can pair two wingmen, or a center and a right wing on a top line for any team, you often get the assist points, shot on goal points and the goal itself. This adds up quickly and can put you in a great place to succeed. It is important to get exposure to the top skating lines, from two to three teams nightly to build a solid core for your cash game lineups.
Goalies
The foundation of your team should be built around your goalie. Not only will your goalie get a win bonus, he will also collect points for every shot on goal he stops during the game. The goalie win is equivalent to the pitcher win in baseball contests. It is always wise to take a goalie who is a favorite to pick up the win based on Vegas lines. Another strategy with goalies that can work is to take a goalie who is going to get a lot of shots fired at him from a high-powered offense. In other words, a goalie who is going to get peppered could be in line for a huge point total when the game comes to a close.
Skaters
On DraftKings, you will select three wingmen, two centers, two defensemen, a goalie and a utility flex. In comparison, on FanDuel you select two left wingmen, two right wingmen, two centers, two defenders and a goalie. As mentioned earlier it is wise to get exposure to teammates on top lines that can create great scoring opportunities for your roster. For example, I will pair Sidney Crosby with another wingman from the same Penguins line on any given night. Then look to take two guys on the Tampa Bay second line for salary relief but great upside to find the back of the net during the game.
Defensemen can be a little more tricky at times. Every night you will have the option to pay up for an elite blue line scoring defender, but risk the dud and wasted salary when it is all said and done. It is very important to be familiar with the team lines and defenders as they can rotate at times through the season.
Using Vegas Lines
Vegas is great for getting a feel for any sporting event, but over the past year Vegas odds have helped my NHL success. Like any sport, variance in the NHL is real, but big favorites against a weak goalie tend to deliver more times than not.
All in all, NHL is a fun sport for fantasy purposes. If you are a die-hard MLB player but have yet to try NHL, give it a shot. Once you see the similarities, I think you will start to excel in DFS hockey after you get your feet wet.
Adam Funk is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Adam, read his archive or follow him on Twitter @jbz643.
