Cheap Players for Daily Fantasy Hockey – January 3, 2015
steve laidlaw
2015-01-03
The top plays for Daily Fantasy Hockey for Saturday, January 3rd.
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Top Budget Plays
Centers
Colton Sceviour $3,600 – Sceviour has points in his last three games and six of his last eight. He's riding shotgun to Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn at even strength and sees time on the Stars' second power-play unit. As an added bonus he has six shots in his last two games giving him something of a floor for his production. Vegas has the line set at 5.5 for this one and I expect the money to shift toward the over as game time nears. Sceviour won't need much to reach value, and playing with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn only makes that much more likely.
Wingers
Beau Bennett $2,500 – Bennett skated last night on Pittsburgh's 2nd line with Sutter and Kunitz. He picked up an assist and has three points in his last two games. Pittsburgh is playing back to back but so is their opponent the Montreal Canadiens, who are also giving Carey Price the start again. The Penguins are 15-6 at home this season and are currently the 4th highest favorite on the board. The last time they faced Price they scored four goals and took home the win, with Bennett finishing with a three point night.
Defensemen
Since we saved some money on the budget plays let's look at the few of the pricey options that are worth paying up for today.
Centers
Tyler Seguin $9,300 – Minnesota is one of the best Corsi teams in the league, but they just got out Corsi'd, is that a word; by the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, who are largely ridiculed by the advanced stats crowd for being a poor possession team. Kadri being out doesn't help them in this department.
The Stars have won three in a row and are 8-2 in their last ten. Tonight the Wild are playing back to back and going on the road to Dallas. Seguin leads the NHL in points at home with 27 in just 20 games. He's averaging 6.1 FDP's per game at home. If the Wild show any signs of fatigue the speedy Seguin could make it a long night for Darcy Kuemper.
Wingers
Rick Nash $8,500 – Maybe it's not fair to pick on Buffalo but there is money to be made, so why not do it? Buffalo gives up shots and goals by the truck load, and Nash is the unequivocal leader for the Rangers in each of those categories. He has 11 more goals and 57 more shots than his next closest teammate. He has 20 points in 20 games on home ice so far this year. He's been pointless in his last three, but there is no reason to think that will continue tonight.
Defensemen
Keith Yandle $5,600 – The cost of defensemen today isn't as high as it has been with no blue liner reaching the $6,000 mark. Alex Pietrangelo is the only d-man priced higher than Yandle, and I see no need to play him back to back on the road. So let's go with Yandle. The Blue Jackets are 26th in the NHL in CF% at 5 on 5, they have the 20th ranked penalty-kill and Yandle is the clear ice time leader on the back end for the Coyotes. 15 of his 24 points this season have come on the power-play. Vegas sees this game being high scoring, and with the reduced cost of blue liners Yandle is in a great position to reach value.
Goalie
Henrik Lundqvist -$8,300 – Lundqvist is the easy play here. The Sabres are playing back to back and they will be traveling to Madison Square Garden for the back half. Buffalo is just 4-13 on the road this season while the Rangers are 12-8 at home. King Henrik has won eight of his last nine starts and has four of his five shutouts on home ice. The only work of caution I have here like I do every time I consider starting a goalie against Buffalo myself, is that the number of shots faced is likely to be very low. This is a risky proposition because even one or two goals allowed can quickly make Lundqvist a sub-par play. The Sabres are averaging just over 23 shots per game.
Scott Jazdzewski has been playing DFS for the last year and has played Fantasy Hockey for over a decade.
You can follow him on Twitter @LedgerSko