Alex Galchenyuk Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

If you believe in momentum then you have to like the Arizona Coyotes this evening. There, I said it…the Arizona Coyotes. I am already on record today as liking Nikita Kucherov and John Tavares and I could very well go with Vladimir Tarasenko or Patrice Bergeron to round things out but that won’t help you as there is no way you can fit all of those guys into your line-up. The Coyotes have somehow won their last five games and have gone 8-2 over that stretch. This effort has the team just one measly point away from making the playoffs. It also helps that the team is on home ice against a Detroit team that has given up a league leading 42 goals over the last 10 games. This means that the Coyotes have the last line change and with Galchenyuk and his 15 goals and 21 assists in 54 games now skating on the top line with Clayton Keller, both players could be in for a big game here. Galchenyuk is tied for the team lead with six points over the last seven games whole cranking up a team leading 25 shots on goal over that time frame.

The Arizona Coyotes have had a plethora of injuries this season. Some are healthy again like Alex Galchenyuk, but many remain on the shelf or are out for the season like Nick Schmaltz and Antti Raanta. Despite their lack of scoring as a team, the line of Galchenyuk, Jordan Weal and Conor Garland is an interesting play tonight. Galchenyuk and Garland are on the top power play unit with Clayton Keller, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jakob Chychrun which benefits them and makes them a decent mini-stack if you don't want to include Weal. The Coyotes power play is nothing special ranked 19th, but they face the 29th ranked penalty kill of the Ottawa Senators which is encouraging.

A road game against the Philadelphia Flyers isn't typically ideal, but the Arizona Coyotes have been a surprise team in the possession game, sitting ninth in the NHL with a 52.01 CF%. The top line is comprised of Clayton Keller, Alex Galchenyuk and Lawson Crouse, with Galchenyuk and Keller remaining together on the top power play unit. This makes the two of them a fantastic mini-stack. The Flyers will be rolling out Calvin Pickard between the pipes and his numbers haven't been great this season. Despite being 3-1-1, he has a 3.94 goals against average and .876 save percentage. The Coyotes should have plenty of scoring opportunities against a goalie that is struggling to keep the puck out of the net.

The Arizona Coyotes have quietly put up high-end possession numbers with a 51.01 CF% which is ninth-best in the NHL. They are home to the Philadelphia Flyers tonight, a team with a dead-even 50.0 CF%, but struggling goaltending. The Flyers are allowing 3.86 goals against per game which is the third-worst in the NHL. While Arizona isn't scoring much — just 2.83 goals per game which ranks 25th — they've scored 24 goals in the 5 games since Alex Galchenyuk has returned to the lineup. This recent scoring boom makes Galchenyuk and his linemates Clayton Keller and Richard Panik interesting plays tonight.

In his four games since returning from injury, Alex Galchenyuk has put up one goal and four points while firing off nine shots. He's centering the top line with Clayton Keller and Richard Panik on his wings. The Arizona Coyotes have been one of the better possession teams in the NHL this season. They have an impressive 53.08 CF% which is the eighth-best in the league. Galchenyuk and Keller remain together on the top power play unit so if you feel like leaving Panik off your line stack, the mini-stack of Galch/Keller has full-game correlation.

This will likely come as a surprise to you, but the Arizona Coyotes are fifth in the NHL with a 53.14 CF%. Tonight they'll take on an Ottawa Senators team that has the second-worst CF% at 41.76. The Coyotes have struggled to score this season averaging just 2.50 goals per game, but on the other side once again the Senators have struggled allowing 3.90 goals against per game. With the Coyotes on home ice, I like their chances to come out on top here and the top line of Clayton Keller, Alex Galchenyuk and Richard Panik is in a great spot. Panik doesn't get any power play time, but Keller and Galchenyuk are on the top unit together so a two-man mini-stack is in play.

Joining Clayton Keller on the top line are Lawson Crouse and Alex Galchenyuk who is expected to play his first game as an Arizona Coyote this evening. He was acquired via trade with the Montreal Canadiens for Max Domi in the summer and the Coyotes have eagerly awaited his offensive talent to help this team score some goals. It's tough to know what to expect from Galchenyuk tonight but playing with Keller will help and considering Arizona is dead last in the NHL with 1.43 goals per game, they need his offense. It's a tough matchup against Sergei Bobrovsky in Columbus, but this line should be very low owned in tournaments.

Now on the second line, Galchenyuk could be a nice value play as he arises from the gulag that is the fourth line. Playing next to Jonathan Drouin is major improvement, and Galchenyuk saw close to 18 minutes of ice time last night. With the Blackhawks likely to use their top defensive assignments against Max Pacioretty, Galchenyuk and the second line have a favorable draw. The Blackhawks are among the league leaders in expected goals allowed, shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger shot attempts at 5v5.

Alex Galchenyuk's one point in seven games will not do much to inspire confidence, but he joined Montreal's talented top line with Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Drouin last time out. Those three figure to stay together for tonight's road matchup against a banged-up bunch of Ducks. The Canadiens are desperate for a win, and normally taking visitors to Anaheim is not the best decision, but Galchenyuk is far too cheap across the industry. On FanDuel, Alex checks in at $3,700, and he is similarly priced on DraftKings ($4,100). Galchenyuk is also an excellent source of salary relief on FantasyDraft ($8,200). The matchup is not ideal, and there is no guarantee that Galchenyuk will stay on the top line, but at a next-to-nothing price, Galchenyuk emerges as a fantastic option in all formats.