Defend This

Justin Braun–Brenden Dillon (San Jose) – Justin Braun had a breakout week for the Sharks that no one saw coming but his value pick netted fantasy owners five points while Brenden Dillon chipped in a couple. Braun just kept on rolling with points all week and finally saw a little bit of power play time for his troubles. Even Dillon saw a whisker of time there. With New Jersey in town this week, maybe they see a little more. After all, it is New Jersey, the ice time might get spread out a bit more once again.

Danny DeKeyser-Kyle Quincey (Detroit) – If you like watching a pairing to laugh at them, then this was the week Kyle Quincey laughed at you. He had five points on the week while seeing power play time and had a couple multiple point games (including Buffalo). Danny DeKeyser had four points on the week and that is a player who can produce surprise point totals from time to time. This was quite the stunner for fantasy owners especially in daily leagues. Not many expected Niklas Kronwall to be the odd man out in the point brigade to that extent. Think about DeKeyser in deep leagues as his value starts to rise once more.

Matthias Ekholm-Seth Jones (Nashville) – You were looking for that Roman Josi–Shea Weber pairing, weren't you? That is not the case as though Dustin Byfuglien had seven points and Kris Letang had six points, the players that were paired with them did not produce multiple points. Seth Jones and Matthias Eklhom had three points each including an Ekholm goal that was a welcome sight for Nashville. Remember with Pekka Rinne out for the next 3-4 weeks, the defense is going to have to step up both defensively and offensively. It will be really interesting to see what happens also with the Ryan Ellis injury. This could benefit both Ekholm and Jones over the next couple weeks. It makes them more sought after in deeper leagues.

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As always you can follow me @ChrisWasselTHW and thanks for reading. See you next week with four more line combination and three pairings for "Between The Lines".