Andreas Athanasiou Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Let's get this out of the way immediately, I view this is a two-man stack option with Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou. I don't view Luke Glendening as an option as his offensive potential is minimal. Mantha and Athanasiou play on the top power play unit together, too, which is great for their upside. Now, Mantha has been on fire as of late with 7 points in his last 4 games with 23 shots in the process. They weren't the strongest opponents as they faced Philadelphia twice, and Chicago and Ottawa once each. However, tonight they host the Minnesota Wild who on the tail-end of a back to back and will have back-up goalie Alex Stalock in net. He has struggled this season with a 3.08 GAA and an .890 SV% which the Red Wings should be able to take advantage of.

Dylan Larkin extended his point streak to 13 games last time out in Dallas, taking a whopping nine shots on goal. The ever-dangerous Andreas Athanasiou is set to skate with Larkin again tonight as Nyquist moves down to the second line. Andreas has been cold recently, but skating with Larkin should do wonders for him rather than with Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek and the like. Athanasiou is dirt-cheap across the industry and we have seen him flash multi-point upside earlier this season when he was healthy. A matchup with a Florida team playing their third game in four nights is exploitable.

While Andreas Athanasiou is priced excessively on DraftKings ($6,900) where he checks in $100 more than superstar Nikita Kucherov, FanDuel seems to have missed the memo (along with some other players like Thomas Chabot) about Andreas as he is a baffling $4,800 on that site. The Detroit speedster has been electric in November, posting a goal and an assist in three consecutive games as the Red Wings have won four straight games. A matchup with Ottawa is one to target as the Senators have allowed 4.22 goals per game -- by far the worst mark in the National Hockey League. A slow and sloppy Senator defense is a recipe for disaster against the speedy Athanasiou. Andreas is an easy pass on DraftKings at the elevated price tag, but he checks in as a premier play on FanDuel in all formats. Teammate Anthony Mantha (DraftKings - $4,900 & FanDuel - $4,000) is viable on both sites.

Since the calendar turned to 2018, Andreas Athanasiou has lead the Detroit Red Wings in points. With 4 goals, 10 points and 33 shots in the 11 games, Athanasiou has been the Red Wings best offensive player and makes for a great play tonight against a Carolina Hurricanes team that is on a tail-end of a back to back. Stacking Athanasiou with his linemates Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha is certainly in play, but going with a mini-stack of just AA and Mantha makes the most sense. The duo not only play at even strength together but also join Henrik Zetterberg, Martin Frk and Niklas Kronwall on the top power play unit. Carolina is likely to be throwing Scott Darling in net, a goaltender that has struggled this season. In his first year in Carolina, Darling has a 9-13-6 record with a 3.02 goals against average and a .892 save percentage.

Outside of the Toronto Maple Leafs offense I am also big on Alexander Ovechkin and the New York Islanders top line tonight, but it will be difficult to fit them all in, so instead I will talk about some value. The San Jose Sharks defensive game has gone in the tank recently (especially on the road), and I think we see a home and rested Detroit Red Wings squad take advantage of this struggling Sharks team playing their second game in as many nights. The Detroit Red Wings second line is young, fast, and talented, and I think they dominate while on the ice. This trio also correlates well on the Red Wings second power play unit, and they have multi-goal upside tonight at the Little Caesars Arena. In cash games, Dylan Larkin is the top draw, with his linemates making excellent value options. In GPPs, this stack is your top point-per-dollar line stack on the night.

It's a perfect matchup for Athanasiou tonight as the Blackhawks play at the fastest pace in the entire NHL and AA's game is built around his elite speed. The Red Wings winger has racked up four goals and dished out six assists in just nine games during the month of January and appears to be developing a very strong rapport with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. Athanasiou picked up a pair of assists when these two teams squared off earlier this season and his shot volume (93 SOG in 37 games) gives him a high enough floor to consider in cash games as well as GPP's.

Andreas Athanasiou has gone pointless in consecutive games after starting the new year with a bang (four points in two games), but now is not the time to get shy, even against Jeff Glass who has filled in admirably for the shelved Corey Crawford. Andreas has taken 19 shots on goal in four January games as he continues to be a big part of the Red Wings' future plans. While Chicago is rested and Detroit is on the tail end of a back to back after Pittsburgh dispatched them yesterday afternoon, Andreas is a fine tournament play given his talent. In limited minutes last season, Athanasiou potted two goals in two games against the division rival Blackhawks. He will surely fly under the radar again, even on this short Sunday slate.

After riding pine for most of November, including a season-low 8:34 of ice time against the Boston Bruins, Andreas Athanasiou has seen a surge in minutes, and that's for good reason: he has taken 15 shots on goal (and that's even after failing to register a shot on goal against Pittsburgh) in his last three games while potting three goals in the process. Andreas checks in at just $3,900 on FanDuel and is a great source of salary relief in all formats. Tonight features a number of stud forwards who are worth paying up for, so turn to Athanasiou to free up some salary.

Andreas Athanasiou dazzles every time he is on the ice, unfortunately that isn't with any regularity as he is often buried on the fourth line by Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill. Well, he's back on the second line and expected to play alongside Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar. Blashill is an enigma that loves to make changes to his lines constantly, but AA has seen 20+ minutes of ice time in each of his last two games including a game in which he had eight shots on goal. It is unclear if he will get this much ice time again tonight, but given his projected role it is certainly possible. This is a small two game slate, so we will need to dig a bit deeper to be unique in large-field tournaments and this is one way to do so. Detroit is hosting the Ottawa Senators who will have Craig Anderson between the pipes tonight. He has really struggled this season with a 3.12 goals against average and a .896 save percentage which puts the Red Wings in a great spot to pile on the goals.

If you're looking to pick on the league's worst team tonight, consider taking Detroit's second line which features talented young playmakers Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, and Andreas Athanasiou. With 10 points in his first 12 games this season, Larkin and his linemates draw a juicy matchup against an Arizona squad that has just one win during the first month of the season. Also seeing time on Detroit's second power play unit, I especially like this line's chances of breaking through on the power play tonight against an Arizona team that ranks dead last in penalty kill percentage this season.