This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
There is only one NHL game Friday, the Jets versus the Predators, which means daily fantasy is a little different. You are picking three forwards, two defensemen, and a captain who is worth 1.5 times the points. Here are the players I would pick.
CAPTAIN
Blake Wheeler, WPG at NAS ($11,100): Both Nashville and Winnipeg finished in the top five in GAA. In fact, the Predators finished second. Meanwhile, in the first round the Jets had a 1.80 GAA and only allowed 25.2 shots on net per contest. What I'm saying is that this might not be the highest scoring series. Wheeler averaged 16.6 fantasy points per game, which is highest of anybody available Friday. In the first round, he had a point in four of the five contests. That's why I decided to go with Wheeler.
FORWARD
Kyle Turris, NAS vs. WPG ($9,500): Turris started 65.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, highest on the Predators. He only had one point in the first round, but he had 42 points in 65 games after being traded to Nashville, including 17 on the power play. Connor Hellebuyck was great in the first round, save for one game where he allowed six goals on 22 shots. That was on the road like this game, for what it's worth.
Kyle Connor, WPG at NAS ($8,900): Connor has an assist in his last two games, and in the first round he had five shots on net. Though he didn't score a goal, the rookie lit the lamp 31 times in 76 games. Pekka Rinne is a finalist for the Vezina, but he only had a .909 save percentage in the first round. Plus, the Predators were actually worse defensively at home, although it's a 2.54 GAA compared to 2.44.
Kevin Fiala, NAS vs. WPG ($8,000): Fiala started 64.2 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, which was second to the aforementioned Turris. The 21-year-old took a real step forward this year, notching 23 goals on 187 shots. During the regular season, the Jets had a 2.80 GAA and allowed 34.3 shots on net per contest on the road.
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Ellis, NAS vs. WPG ($8,800): Ellis had three points in the first round, but over his last 14 games he has 11 points. The defenseman was limited during the regular season due to injury, but he had 32 points and 110 shots in 44 games. As previously noted, the Jets had a 2.80 GAA on the road, and their one bad game in the first round was also away from home.
Jacob Trouba, WPG at NAS ($8,500): Trouba only had one point, a goal, in the first round, but he put 15 shots on net. That comes after he had 144 shots on goal in 55 games. The 24-year-old also blocked 100 shots, and he's added 12 in the postseason. Since there are only 12 defensemen from which to choose, and a few of them are pretty expensive, Trouba seems like he could provide bang for your buck.
