The price of the player is the name of the game in daily fantasy sports. Sometimes, players are over-priced, and that makes them nearly impossible to roster (like Daniel Sedin on DraftKings of late). Sometimes, players are under-priced, and that makes them nearly a must-play regardless of matchups (like Sean Monahan on FanDuel up until a couple of weeks ago).
In that sense, looking for pricing discrepancies between the two sites is part of the process to finding the best values on any given night. Listed below are some players that have a pricing discrepancy that daily fantasy owners can take advantage of on DraftKings and FanDuel.
David Krejci (Boston – Centre/Right Wing)
DraftKings – $4100 – Use on DraftKings
FanDuel – $5700
It hasn’t been a great year for David Krejci, as injuries have hampered him to the point where he may post his lowest points-per-game mark since his 2007-2008 rookie season. In the five games since returning from injury, he hasn’t registered a goal and has just two assists.
One nice thing about Krejci is he’s playing a lot; only one of those five games have seen him below 19 minutes in ice time. Also, Krejci finished the last game for Boston playing with Patrice Bergeron. With Toronto in town, Krejci could do very well with Bergeron as his centre. The bonus is that even if he’s not with Bergeron, he should get easy matchups against the bottom of the Toronto lineup.
Kyle Okposo (NY Islanders – Wing/Right Wing)
DraftKings – $5700
FanDuel – $5100 – Use on FanDuel
With Buffalo in town on their second game of a back-to-back, it’s obvious that the Islanders skaters are almost uniformly good plays Saturday night.
Okposo is playing on a line with Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey. While playing with Tavares would be better at even strength, they do play together on the power play. Considering the lack of premium right wing options tonight on FanDuel, saving a bit of money and going with a guy in a great matchup is probably the right move.
The final matchup for Sportsnet’s Pick ‘n Play was released yesterday, focusing on the Edmonton-Calgary game tonight. I expect a big bounce back for Edmonton coming off that embarrassing 8-2 loss to Los Angeles, so I would lean their players across the board.
Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings – Wing/Left Wing)
DraftKings – $5400 – Use on DraftKings
FanDuel – $6900
Los Angeles gets a Colorado team playing their second game in as many nights, which means it should be a win for the Kings. The only downside is with Semyon Varlamov in net for Colorado, there’s always the chance of a 40-save performance. For that reason, I would prefer Gaborik in a tournament than a cash game.
Gaborik is on a line with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams. According to Puckalytics.com, Los Angeles generates more shot attempts with these three playing together than playing apart, and score at a very stout rate of 3.61 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five ice time. Considering the awful Colorado defence, it could be a big night for that line.
With the NHL wrapping up next week, it’s your last chance to win a prize for Sportsnet’s Fantasy Hockey Pool, the salary cap-style game here on Sportsnet.ca. Los Angeles is fighting for the playoffs and have four fairly easy matchups next week. Gaborik seems like a good bet among the non-expensive options.
Zach Parise (Minnesota – Wing/Left Wing)
DraftKings – $8400
FanDuel – $7700 – Use on FanDuel
Like Gaborik, I would prefer to use Parise in a tournament. Detroit has looked very average of late, making Parise an appealing play Saturday night. While the Wings may get Pavel Datsyuk back for this game, in going over the game logs from War On Ice, it seems like Minnesota coach Mike Yeo really tries to get the Parise line away from tough matchups.
Quietly, Parise has put up a 30-goal season and average 3.5 shots per game. On FanDuel tonight, less productive players like Taylor Hall and Patrick Marleau are within $1000 of Parise. Considering his upside, I’m fine with using Parise in a tournament on Saturday.
Ryan Ellis (Nashville – Defense)
DraftKings – $4000
FanDuel – $3800 – Use on FanDuel
Nashville hosts a Dallas team playing their second game in as many nights tonight, which likely means a tired Kari Lehtonen as the Stars cling to their faint playoff hopes. Shea Weber should also be returning for the Predators, and they will likely be matched against the Tyler Seguin line. Ellis gets second unit power play duties and has registered multiple shots in six of his last seven games.
Zdeno Chara (Boston – Defense)
DraftKings – $4100 – Use on DraftKings
FanDuel – $5900
This is nothing more than a bad team coming into town, and Chara is seemingly under-priced by quite a bit on DraftKings. He still gets a fair amount of power play time, and is back averaging two shots per game over his last 11 games. Chara is fine to use among the non-elite (less expensive) defense options on Saturday night.
Some stats courtesy of Hockey Reference, War On Ice, and Puckalytics.
