NHL Daily Plays: Wednesday, January 21st
With the All-Star festivities kicking off tomorrow in Columbus, twelve teams will take to the ice tonight in hopes of finishing off the first half of the NHL season on a winning note. Unlike last night, there aren’t too many “obvious” plays tonight, so we’re forced to big a little deeper tonight.
Goaltenders
Frederik Andersen – Anaheim Ducks – With this game being played at the Honda Center, Andersen becomes my top option in net tonight. He owns a 14-4-2 home record this season to go along with an impressive 2.13 GAA and .926 SV% in 21 starts. He turned away 32 of the 34 shots thrown his way by the Flames in a 3-2 victory the last time Calgary came to Southern California. With both teams entering this game on four-game winning streaks and battling for playoff positioning in the Pacific Division, this game will likely have the feel of a playoff game. Given Anaheim’s distinct advantage by Corsi standards, I expect the Ducks to grind out a hard fought win.
Others to Target: Antti Niemi, Craig Anderson, Tuukka Rask
Centers
Bryan Little – Winnipeg Jets – Little is rather quietly putting together a terrific season; through 47 games he’s racked up 18 goals, 19 assists and a +10. He’s lit the lamp in back-to-back games and has now tallied six goals, ten assists and a +6 over his last 14 games. He scored a goal and added an assist against Columbus in their only previous meeting this season and had success against them last season as well (two goals and an assist in two meetings). Little leads this Winnipeg team with 12 power-play points thus far, and should have plenty of success against the Blue Jacket’s subpar 79.1% penalty kill. The former first round pick is still moderately priced on several sites and therefore well worth a look tonight.
Brad Richards – Chicago Blackhawks – The Hawks and Penguins will square off in Pittsburgh tonight in what should be one of the more entertaining games to watch. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see some offensive fireworks, but the problem is that many of the “Usual Suspects” from these two teams are quite expensive across the industry. However, Brad Richards looks to finally be growing more comfortable with his new team and sports a very fair asking price on most sites. Richards, playing alongside Patrick Kane, has picked up two goals and seven assists over his last eight games. He centers the team’s second power-play unit and is a guy who tallied 91 points for Dallas not too long ago. He’s proving he still has some gas left in the tank and offers some reasonably priced exposure to Patrick Kane.
Others to Target: Sidney Crosby, Jonathon Toews, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Getzlaf, David Krejci
Values to Target: Mark Scheifele, Sean Monahan, Brandon Sutter, Mike Zibanejad, Andrew Shaw
Wingers
David Perron – Pittsburgh Penguins – Perron’s asking price still doesn’t reflect his new situation, and for that reason he’ll continue to be a recommended cash game option until we see a price correction. He’s racked up five goals and added two assists in his seven games in a Penguins jersey and there’s no reason to believe that pace will slow much as long as he stays on the Pens top line alongside Sidney Crosby. While I’m not overly high on Crosby/Kunitz/Perron line as a whole, since they’re likely to see a large dose of the very strong defense of both Toews and Hossa, Perron’s selling point remains his asking price.
Patrick Maroon – Anaheim Ducks – Like Perron, Maroon is another guy who finds himself in a situation that makes failing seem difficult. Playing alongside Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on the Ducks top scoring line and number one power-play unit, he’s now picked up one goal, four assists and is a +6 over his last five games. His asking price across the industry doesn’t reflect his expanded role on this Ducks team, making him one of the better value options on the board.
Others to Target: Corey Perry, Patrick Kane, Chris Kunitz, Bobby Ryan, Andrew Ladd, Marian Hossa, Joe Pavelski
Values to Target: Brian Bickell, Mark Stone, Teuvo Teravainen, Steve Downie, David Pastrnak, Michael Frolik, Dustin Brown
Defensemen
Dustin Byfuglien – Winnipeg Jets – I rarely make an attempt to pay up for “Big Buff” but tonight I’m going to do my best to get him into my lineups. He’s having a terrific season and racks up fantasy points in a myriad of ways; posting 12 goals, 19 assists, a +6, 147 SOG, 83 PIM’s, 46 blocked shots, and 141 hits. Byfuglien has also been on fire recently, scoring three goals and picking up six assists in his last six games. This season, 10 of his 12 goals have come at the MTS Centre, and I’m expecting the Jets to finish off their surprisingly successful first half of the season in style tonight.
Sami Vatanen – Anaheim Ducks – Vatanen cooled off through the Holidays, but looks to be gaining momentum once again. He scored a goal in their last outing and now owns a goal and four assists over his last seven games. He leads the Ducks in both power-play goals (6) and power-play assists (10) and is seeing nearly 3.5 minutes/game on the point of their very dangerous number one power-play unit. He’s had success against the Flames this season, scoring a goal and adding two assists in their two previous meetings. He won’t break the bank and is your cheapest angle to get some exposure to the Duck’s top power-play unit.
Others to Target: Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Duncan Keith, James Wisniewski, Erik Johnson, Torey Krugg, Brent Burns
Editor’s Note: Letang is currently listed as a game-time decision.
Values to Target: Paul Martin, Cody Franson, Tobias Enstrom, Cam Fowler