This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
It's Friday, and there are three NHL games to help take you into the weekend. That leaves you with only a few teams to choose from in terms of daily fantasy, but here are some players who could give you a little extra value.
GOALIE
Al Montoya, MON at CLM ($8,600): If you can wait to find out whether Jimmy Howard ($8,400) is going to start Friday, he could be the one to go with to save a couple bucks. Otherwise, go with Montoya, who's getting the start in lieu of Carey Price. Montoya's .955 save percentage is hard to trust, but the Canadiens are great, while the Jackets haven't been even though Sergei Bobrovsky has played well.
CENTER
Rickard Rakell, ANA vs. ARI ($5,100): Rakell has only played in two games due to a contract holdout and a visa issue keeping him out for the start of the season, but he's really made an impact out of the gate. He has three points and eight shots on goal while jumping right into more than three minutes a night on the power play. The Swede is clearly going to be a key part of this offense going forward, and this matchup gives him a great chance to continue his strong start.
Frans Nielsen, DET vs. WPG ($5,000): The former Islander has stepped right in as Detroit's top-line center, and he's also been a key power-play contributor for the Wings so far. All four of his assists have come with the extra man, and he's playing more than 17 minutes a night. Winnipeg has better goaltending than in the Ondrej Pavelec era, but the Jets are still a young team that's far from defensively stout.
WING
Radim Vrbata, ARI at ANA ($4,400): Vrbata has always been something of an under-the-radar player. Yes, he had a minus-30 rating last season, but he also took 199 shots on goal in 63 games, and he's taking more than two shots a night so far this season while playing more than three minutes on the power play. John Gibson (.911 save percentage) has left something to be desired early on, which is good for Vrbata here.
Dylan Larkin, DET vs. WPG ($5,300): Larkin is starting to pick up the pace with goals in his last two games, though one of those was fluky. Perhaps more predictive is the fact he had nine shots on goal in those two games; he has 34 in 11 games overall. The Jets will be on the road on a second night of a back-to-back, and that can only be beneficial to Larkin.
Alexander Radulov, MON at CLM ($5,500): This isn't actually a great matchup for Radulov or the Habs forwards in general. However, with only three games Friday and Montreal's offense spectacular this season, you may still find yourself needing to select a Canadien. Radulov is cheaper than Max Pacioretty ($6,600) and Brendan Gallagher ($6,200), and he has eight points and 17 shots on goal. He's been every bit as good as those two, but he's a little less expensive, which makes him the value option.
Andrew Cogliano, ANA vs. ARI ($3,800): The Ducks don't have a lot of depth on the wing, but Cogliano is cheap, which helps. While he doesn't play on the power play at all, he has four goals and 23 shots on net in 11 games. Against an Arizona team on the second night of a back-to-back set, he's a decent bet to light the lamp again.
DEFENSEMEN
Cam Fowler, ANA vs. ARI ($4,400): You will find several defensemen who are more expensive than Fowler on Friday, which seems odd in the context of his start to the season. He has eight points (six on the power play) and has taken 25 shots on goal while blocking 13. On top of all that, he has a great matchup. He almost feels like a steal at this price.
Mike Green, DET vs. WPG ($4,900): You aren't going to find a lot of value trawling the depths of the defensemen available Friday, so you may have to settle for a quasi-value like Green. The veteran has eight points this season, although most of them came early in the year, but he's still the Wings' top defenseman, and he's seeing 3:48 of ice time on the power play. He's really the only Detroit blueliner making much of a splash this season, so if you're going to take advantage of this matchup, it probably has to be with Green.
