Fantasy Hockey Picks 1-17-15
These fantasy hockey picks will kick your weekend off with some BIG winnings!
We have a monster 12 game slate tonight and with the 10k Ice Throne tournament coming up time is running out to punch your ticket. The satellites have not been filling all the way so the value has been there night in and night out.
Goalies:
Rob Zepp ($12,600) - To be completely honest with you I have never seen him play a game but in his 4 starts int he NHL he has only allowed 8 goals. The matchup with Buffalo and the price tag makes him the first goalie caught my eye and I usually end up going with my first instinct. A goalie this cheap against the Sabres is a reason to only list one goalie today to be honest.
Others: Ben Bishop, Tukka Rask
Centers:
Tyler Johnson ($13,360) - After his surprise return to the lineup Thursday night, his price tag is very reasonable tonight. Tampa is one of the best teams in the league in their own building with a 17-4-1 record. I would suggest taking one from each of Tampa’s top two lines tonight as it looks like Stamkos will finally get some capable line mates skating with him and it will be tough to pick which line will do the scoring. Johnson has been centering the “Triplet” line all season and they have been out producing the Stamkos line all season long so I will lean there but I love them both tonight.
Nick Bjugstad ($9,850) - Bjugstad is centering the hotter line in Florida and with the great matchup at home hosting the Oilers he is very much in play. Edmonton is 29th in goals against with only Buffalo being worse. Bjugstad is the forward that should be able to take advantage of the sloppy blue line play from EDM due to his speed and is the forward I am looking at if I am playing any forward from FLA tonight.
Others: Valterri Filppula, Tyler Seguin
Left Wing:
Zach Parise ($13,200) - This price simply is not where it should be because he missed 2 games for the death of his father. He appears to be back and playing like himself and needs to be priced with the elite wingers. He is a very safe option for cash games as he will put up plenty of shots even if he doesn’t score. I don’t like the fact that he is now on a different line than Pominville but that is not enough to scare me away from him.
Patrick Marleau ($9,950) - Marleau finally snapped his goal scoring drought. I feel he has been getting very unlikely and the goals will start to come for him as they have his entire career. The price tag is very low due to his recent performance. The Sharks play like a different team at home and they will test Ortio in net for the flames early and often.
Others: Brayden Schenn, T.J Oshie
Right Wing:
Ryan Callahan ($10,850) - I feel that most players targeting Tampa heavy will go with Kucherov at the same price and I can’t blame them but if you want to have a low owned player I would lean Callahan. He is supposed to be skating with Stamkos and that is always a great place to be. The ice time should increase with being moved up to the top line as well.
Jakub Voracek ($14,300) - Voracek has cooled down a bit but is still leading the league with 52 points halfway through the season which is an incredibly feat that nobody could say they saw coming. The price has dropped a bit and the matchup against Buffalo doesn’t get any better.
Others: Brett Ritchie (Not sure why it says not on active roster)
Defense:
Jared Spurgeon ($9,400) - With Ryan Suter still suspended, Spurgeon will quarterback the power play unit for the Wild for one more game. This is a huge bump for him because Arizona’s penalty kill is always a place I like to target as they have the 29th ranked penalty kill.
Brent Burns ($12,750) - I feel like it is almost a cheat code to roster Burns at defense as he put shots on goal as much as some stud forwards. He is always in play for me and the price is up there but I believe you will get what you pay for tonight. I just can’t trust Ortio in net after only 2 games this season.
Others: Dougie Hamilton, Aaron Ekblad