Eric Staal Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Jordan Greenway has been seeing time on the first line with Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund. While he hasn't been turning it into elite fantasy stats, opportunities generally breed production in this industry. Greenway has been seeing about 15 minutes of ice time lately, and is also on the number two power play unit. At just $2700 on DraftKings, you're just looking for an appearance on the scoresheet, which I think is attainable tonight.

With both Alex Edler and Chris Tanev hurt for the Vancouver Canucks, their defense is depleted and their already questionable defense and goaltending is going to have a tough test tonight. The Minnesota Wild line of Eric Staal, Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter is the one I'm focusing on tonight as two of them (Zucker and Nino) are on the top power play unit as well which gets you some solid correlation. The Wild shoot only 30.3 times per game on average which is just 23rd-best, they should get plenty of opportunities tonight.

Eric Staal is just $5,500 on DraftKings, and even on FanDuel, where he is $6,900, he makes a lot of sense in tournaments. While no one expected Staal to match last season's comeback story of 76 points in 82 games, Staal is averaging over three shots on goal per game this season and centers the team's top power play unit. Semyon Varlamov has been tough to crack, which will keep ownership down, so Staal and linemates Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter are an attractive route in tournaments.

I want to call Eric Staal, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jason Zucker the top line in Minnesota but it is probably more of a 1a/1b situation. Either way, they have a premium matchup tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. So far this season, Chicago has surprised in the goal-scoring department. However, they are also giving up 4.67 goals per game. Additionally, Cam Ward is starting tonight and he has been horrific despite being 2-0-1. He has an ugly 4.63 goals against

average and .843 save percentage. The Blackhawks are also giving up 29.7 shots per game, which isn't much and further shows the struggles of Ward.

The Coyotes sometimes snuff out of the flame of opposing top lines visiting the desert, but there is plenty of reason to remain optimistic with Staal tonight. For one, the Coyotes remain...well, bad. Another reason is that despite the fact Arizona has some solid defensive players that can be deployed as the Yotes see fit at home, Staal is centering a high-powered top line with the underlying numbers that point to a unit that should be successful against all but the toughest assignments. Finally, usual buzzkill Antti Raanta is making just his first start in two weeks after missing time (and having a setback) with a lower body injury. Staal is centering a line with Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker that is attempting nearly 76 shot attempts, over 40 scoring chances, and an absurd 21 high-danger shot attempts per hour at 5v5. They should be able to breakthrough an Arizona defense that still has one of the highest rates of scoring chances allowed on home ice as the Wild fight for a playoff spot in the waning days of the regular season.

The Colorado Avalanche are having a very good season (36-24-8), and they may very well be the most surprising team in the National Hockey League this season. With that being said, we have seen some cracks in their defensive armor over the last six weeks (sitting 28th overall in CA/60, and 21st in both HDCA/60 and SCA/60), and they can certainly be exploited on the road, where they are allowing the second-most goals against per game (3.53). The Minnesota Wild are having a great offensive month (averaging 3.77 goals per game, good for fourth overall), and they have been a top nine offense on home ice this year. In cash games, I am all about Eric Staal, but I am perfectly fine going with either of his linemates (Mikael Granlund or Jason Zucker), if you are using your Center spots elsewhere. In tournament play, I am definitely going to be stacking the Wilds number one line (while adding either Ryan Suter or Jared Spurgeon whenever possible), but we do have other options to consider. The Wilds top line is not cheap, and they will likely see heavy ownership, but their second line has shown signs of life recently, and they (along with defenseman Mathew Dumba) make for a nice low-owned contrarian stack.

Eric Staal is playing like he is 23, not 33. After a couple down seasons, Staal has rejuvenated his career in Minnesota. He has been on an absolute tear this season, with 36 goals and 67 points in 67 games. Over his last 10 games he has been scoring at will picking up 10 goals in that span. He is lining up with Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund tonight and they are an elite line stack. Granlund and Zucker play on the same PP unit while Staal is on the other one, but that should not deter you from going with the full stack tonight.

After struggling for much of the early part of this year, veteran Eric Staal has proven he has plenty of gas left in the tank; entering tonight's game with 12 points over his last 10 games. Skating alongside talented playmakers Nino Niederreiter and Tyler Ennis on Minnesota's top scoring line, Staal should get plenty of opportunities to continue his resurgence against a depleted Rangers defense that will be without their top defensemen in Ryan McDonagh tonight. He's not the sexiest pick in the world, and Minnesota rarely blows the opposition out of the water, but with New York's struggles on the road continuing through the start of the new year, Staal becomes a terrific all around play with his moderate price in a game the Wild should have no problems finding the back of the net.

After a couple disappointing seasons in Carolina followed by a short stint in New York, Eric Staal has completely revived his career in Minnesota. Staal is on pace for his best season since the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season. His goal-scoring rate his gone up as well and is on pace for his first 35+ goal season in almost a decade. Minnesota is hosting the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, a team that is not nearly as elite as they used to be. Over their last 10 games, Chicago has a 62.03 CA/60 which is the fifth worst in the NHL and their 51.43 CF% ranks 14th. Staal is expecting to centre Tyler Ennis and Nino Niederreiter which is a decent stack, but a mini-stack of Staal and Niederreiter is a better play as they stay together on the top power play unit.

It is assumed that Jeff Glass will be in net tonight. A journeyman goaltender that made his NHL debut this season as a 32 year old. His numbers have been poor with a 3.51 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. The Minnesota Wild are in Chicago tonight with both teams on the tail end of a back to back. Eric Staal leads the Wild in goals with 19 and points with 37. He is projected to centre Zach Parise and Tyler Ennis this evening as the teams top line. However it is worth noting that Charlie Coyle played in place of Ennis on this line for much of last game so this is worth keeping an eye on in pregame warmps. The Staal, Parise, Ennis trio sticks together on the power which would make the full line stack a great upside tournament play.