Mikael Granlund Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Luke Kunin has started to pick up steam as of late with three goals and seven points over his last seven games. He is expected to play with Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise on the Minnesota Wild's second line. He plays on the second power play unit with neither of his even strength linemates which is discouraging, so we are going to hope for this line to dominate at even strength. They are hosting the Anaheim Ducks, a team that has struggled mightily this season and with John Gibson on the IR, one would expect the downward spiral to continue. However, fill-in Kevin Boyle has played well and with Ryan Miller healthy again, who knows which Ducks goalie gets the nod more often down the stretch. Probably going with the hot hand.

At 34 years old, Zach Parise has turned back the clock a bit and is on pace for his best offensive season since 2014-2015 in goals, assists and points. He's going to be playing on the top line this evening with Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle as the Minnesota Wild host the New Jersey Devils. Over the last month, the Devils have been horrible with a league-worst possession at 43.31 CF%. On the flip side, the Wild have the third-best CF% at 54.24 which could end up being quite a mis-match tonight. Parise and Granlund also play on the top power play unit together which gives them more upside and perhaps a good play as a two-man mini stack.

Zach Parise has 22 goals and 48 points in 55 games which is very good considering he hasn't even broken 55 points per 82 games over the last three seasons. His current season pace is 72 points which would be his highest since 2009-2010, which is pretty crazy. Zach Parise just hasn't been the same player he had been since coming to Minnesota, but this season he's getting a bit of his juice back. He's playing on the top line tonight with Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle as the Minnesota Wild host the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers will be throwing Anthony Stolarz in net and he's struggled with a 3.26 GAA and .903 SV% which is pretty terrible. The Flyers have struggled recently despite their record, they have allowed a 66.4 CA/60 which is the second-worst mark over the last month as well as a 44.95 CF% which is also the second-worst over that time frame.

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.

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.

With Detroit in town, an abundance of shot volume may not manifest for the Wild. That is on a macro level for the team, as on a micro level, Granlund and the top line should thrive here. The Red Wings play a low event, slower paced game to mask some lack of quality on their blueline. However, since Eric Staal hopped up to the top line with Granlund and Jason Zucker, the Wild have one of the more dangerous lines in hockey. Though the sample is small (71 minutes), at 5v5 Granlund and the top line are producing over 24 high-danger shot attempts per hour. That is obscene. Granlund is a volume shooter, too, which gives him a good floor to go with a high ceiling. The Red Wings have generally struggled defensively away from Detroit, posting top ten rates of shot attempts and scoring chances allowed (with quality up, too).

While it feels like chasing points after his two goal, two assist effort last time out (against Rangers), Granlund is a dynamic player that has pushed his upside higher with a line change. Prior to last game, Bruce Boudreau changed his top six around, swapping Mikko Koivu and Eric Staal pivoting Granlund and Jason Zucker. No slight to Koivu, but this is a big (literal) upgrade at center. Staal and Granlund both have the ability to drive play extremely well and have finishing ability. Granlund will face a Shark defense that has struggled at times to suppress quality scoring chances, so there is not a ton of risk in the matchup.

Mikael Granlund has shaken off an early season slump to find points (2 goals, 5 assists) in his last four games. Although Minnesota has dropped two straight games, they could not ask for a better matchup than a Buffalo Sabre team that continues to be one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League. Granlund does not cost an arm and a leg, but there is massive potential tonight as Minnesota should dominate play for a majority of the time. With a red-hot Jason Zucker on his wing, as well as captain Mikko Koivu, Granlund will look to exploit a Buffalo team that has allowed the fifth-most goals per game (3.33) in November.