This article is part of our Beat the Cap series.
Navigating the early weeks of the NHL season will be a whirlwind experience for all. The daily fantasy hockey venture is more intensified. With each day under the microscope, savvy players will look to Vegas and lean on their hunches in an effort to beat the salary cap. Make no mistake, the salary cap is your biggest obstacle.
Are there worthwhile strategies in the early going?
Certainly, however it is easy to be intoxicated with a flawed approach in the beginning weeks. Remember, any strategy can work or fail, as it all depends on picking the right combination of players.
The goal is to identify favorable opportunities to increase the potential of selecting the right players when you finalize your daily roster.
Colleague and friend, Michael Clifford provided an introduction to daily fantasy hockey last week.
As the season progresses, Beating the Cap will ebb and flow across simplistic real-world observations and in-depth analysis. The objective is to equip you with an arsenal of tactics to beat the cap. The beauty of salary-cap formats is everyone begins on an equal playing field.
This pursuit is intended to tip the scales in your favor.
The Ebb
Bully teams playing back-to-back games
Hockey is a physically demanding game and playing on back-to-back nights is difficult. Often times, there is a road game with travel involved, too. There is limited preparation time and less time to rest, recuperate and refocus.
While targeting players who are facing a team on the wrong end of back-to-back games shouldn't be applied in all situations, there are three examples Thursday worth your consideration.
Edmonton Oilers: This is a good spot for the Oil. They host the Flames, who will have played their own home opener the night before against the Canucks. The Oilers will be up for their provincial foe.
Washington Capitals: Their opponent opens the year with back-to-back games on the road. The Canadiens play in Toronto on Wednesday before heading south to Washington for a Thursday night tilt.
New Jersey Devils: Although it is a road game for the Devils against the Bruins, it should be a nice spot for New Jersey. Boston will have been tested physically the night before by the Flyers.
Playing and playing well
Exhibition games should not dominant your reasoning for a daily games selection. However, unlike year-long formats, there is no time to wait it out or take a calculated risk on a struggling or injured player.
On the flip side, it is reassuring to have a few players brimming with confidence entering the season. Furthermore, there could be some excellent value picks to help you -- that's right -- beat the cap. Here are six worth noting.
Jason Pominville, RW, Minnesota: Top-line duties and eight points in four preseason games should have the underrated winger on your radar.
Tyler Toffoli, RW, Los Angeles: Appears ready to live up to the hype. Nine points in five games and top-six minutes will have his salary on the rise soon.
Chris Stewart, RW, Buffalo: A pending unrestricted free agent, he has five points in four games and 20 penalty minutes. The power forward can help in many ways.
James van Riemsdyk, LW, Toronto: Can you hear the van Riemsdyk buzz out of Toronto? He has seven points in five games and is focused on stepping up his game.
Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, St. Louis: The sniper has four goals in four games. Add a pair of helpers and Paul Stastny, and there is no reason to fade Tarasenko.
Tyler Seguin, C, Dallas: Looking for a player to build your lineup around? A great preseason on the heels of a great season is reason to turn to Seguin.
The Flow
Preparing for success
The NHL regular season ends April 11, with a game between the Oilers and Canucks. We haven't even been spooked by Halloween yet, the movies or the extravaganza. While you shouldn't ignore trying to win, it shouldn't be your biggest concern or focus, either.
Instead, spend time familiarizing yourself with the process of researching and setting lineups. Develop a routine. If you intend to be a serious daily fantasy hockey player, it is a long season and there is plenty of time to build your bankroll.
Being a serious player has no correlation on your monetary investment. Some play for beverage money (hot and cold) with the same earnestness as those who are playing to pay their mortgage.
Here are a few ways to help develop your routine and prepare yourself to be a successful daily fantasy hockey player:
Know your site: Not just the settings, but everything the site offers. Do they have individual player pages with news updates? Is there a global lineup swap option? Do they have matchup rankings?
Has your favorite site changed its interface? Are there any new features? Is there a blog on the site with advice? Is that advice worth considering?
You'll want to figure out how often they update their prices and how significantly they'll fluctuate after strong and weak performances. Are prices influenced by opponents?
Getting to know a site inside-and-out is an advantage. Knowing the pricing tendencies can save considerable time in your research and highlight profit opportunities. You cannot get a higher salary cap than your opponents. You can manage the cap better, though.
Assemble your resources: It is important to find reliable and topical sources of information. Miss an update in seasonal play and you make it up next week. Miss an update in the daily world and it costs you a contest.
Keep a close eye on RotoWire's breaking news page. Twitter is a fantastic resource if you want to get serious about daily fantasy sports.
Find user-friendly sites to check statistics and odds, too. There are a lot, but you'll want ones you're comfortable with and can navigate easily.
There are endless resources, however you'll want to figure out which ones work for you. It is worth taking the time to scour the fantasy hockey scene and develop a list of go-to information sources. Being informed is critical to beating the cap.
If you have additional questions or would like to see anything specifically covered in Beat the Cap contact me in the comments below or via Twitter @naparker77.
