Samuel Girard Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Erik Johnson's absense opens the door from some added power-play time on the point of Colorado's second unit, and it looks like Samuel Girard will be the one soaking on these minutes. One of the main returns on the Matt Duchene deal earlier this season, Girard has flashed great puck moving abilities and the Avalanche should be eager to see what exactly they have in the former second round pick. Girard is consistently logging 20+ minutes of ice time per game lately and the added power-play minutes give him a nice fantasy boost this evening as Colorado will square off against Edmonton's league worst and absolutely abysmal 72.3% penalty kill.

One of the league's most dynamic all around forwards, Nathan MacKinnon along with linemates Landeskog and Rantanen have been fantasy gold on home ice this season; entering tonight's game with a combined 86 points in 21 games at the Pepsi Center. They should have plenty of opportunities to continue their strong start to the year tonight against a banged up Columbus team that allowed the fourth most goals per game during the most of December. Also featured on Colorado's fourth ranked power play on home ice, look for this trio to be very busy on the man advantage against a struggling Columbus penalty kill that ranks dead last in penalty kill percentage on the road this season.

Just what the rest of the NHL wanted to see was another Nashville blue-liner make his NHL debut and look extremely impressive in the process. Roman Josi's availablility could be a factor here, but Girard looked poised beyond his years in his first NHL game; logging nearly 19 minutes, picking up his first career assist and even seeing playing time on the point of the second power-play unit. Assuming he'll stick in the lineup (even if Josi returns), he's a strong value option as the Dallas Stars owned a comically terrible 73.9% penalty kill last season.