Fantasy Hockey Picks 12-13-14
These fantasy hockey picks will guide your team to the top of the leaderboard tonight!
We have a great 11 game slate to dissect this Saturday and with no college football there should be a bit more action than there was on previous Saturdays.
Goalies:
Darcy Kuemper ($13,950) - With no huge favorites on the board tonight, I am going to pick on one of the worst scoring teams int he league. Usually I like my goalie to be at home but Arizona is 26th in the league only scoring 2.26 goals per game. Kuemper is one of the safest options and also provides great salary relief. There is not much more you can ask for in a goalie.
Scott Darling ($16,800) - The Chicago Blackhawks have won 8 straight games and don’t look like they are slowing down anytime soon. They travel to Long Island to take on a team that has dropped their last 3 games. Darling has only started 6 games this season but has allowed a stellar 1.83 goals per game. Chicago is ranked #2 in the entire league on defense and only allow 1.97 goals per game. The team in front of the goalie places great and always put their goalie in position for the win.
Others: Jhonas Enroth (GPP only), Jake Allen
Centers:
Jason Spezza ($11,050) - Spezza has been moved to the top line to skate with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. This line at home has to be one of the best for fantasy hockey and Spezza gives you a salary break. Any time Dallas is at home I like to have the Benn/Seguin combo on 1 GPP team as they are always capable of huge games. Look for a big night from these 3.
Brandon Dubinsky ($5,000) - I can’t explain this minimum price. He just needs to be in your lineup. He is eligible at center and left wing and always gets up for these Pittsburgh games. With Crosby out he will look to be on the ice against Malkin as many shifts that he can. With the increased ice time and the price tag it is tough to go wrong. Malkin and company may get a little tired on the defensive end from being asked to carry all of the offensive load for Pittsburgh while Crosby is out and Dubinsky is the type of player to take advantage of any laziness.
Others: Pavel Datsyuk, Jori Lehtera
Left Wing:
Henrik Zetterberg ($10,350) - With both backup goalies expected to be in net this game should see plenty of goals. Zetterberg tends to fly under the radar for fantasy as he only has 5 goals on the season. He makes up for it with his consistency and the amount of assists he racks up. I expect at least a point from him tonight.
Rick Nash ($14,550) - Nash has been on fire recently with an 8 game point streak coming into tonight’s matchup. It feels like the Rangers never play as they have only played 3 games in December so far. I hope the time off has not affected Nash and cooled him off. Ryan Miller has not played well this season in net for Vancuover and Nash should be able to expose that tonight.
Others: Jamie Benn, Alex Steen
Right Wing:
Thomas Vanek ($9,250) - Vanek has been moved up to the top line in Minnesota and gets to skate with Zach Parise. This is a huge bump tonight as they get a great matchup with Arizona who is playing terrible hockey right now. Mike Smith has been getting torched all season long to the tune of 3.18 goals per game. This price is too good for the matchup and opportunity Vanek has tonight.
T.J Oshie ($9,500) - Finally the crew is back together. Oshie/Steen/Backes played extremely well together last season and are finally skating together again. This line had a huge game Thursday night and a game against Colorado is even better. While everyone else is on the Tarasenko line for STL I am going to target Oshie line just as much.
Others: Patric Hornqvist, Nikita Kucherov
Defense:
Paul Martin ($5,000) - Minimum price and with all of the injuries to Pittsburgh he is getting time on the top power play. Columbus can not stay out of the penalty box and Pittsburgh’s power play should have plenty of chances tonight.
Alex Goligoski $9,950 With the Benn/Seguin/Spezza line intact, any defenseman getting the ice time with them is in play for me. They are capable of scoring 3-4 goals a night and Goligoski should be on the ice most of the time with them. He is getting the power play time with the top unit which hasn’t been producing for some reason. That has to turn around at some point as they are too talented.
Others: Ryan McDonaugh, Aaron Ekblad