Zach Werenski Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Columbus is another team playing tonight with playoff implications on the line. They secured their playoff spot last night with a shoot out win, but they are also looking to avoid Tampa Bay in the first round. Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson, and Matt Duchene draw a great matchup as they visit Ottawa. Ottawa has been a defensive disaster all season and there is no reason not to keep targeting against them. Zach Werenski is the power-play quarterback on the top unit that correlates with this potent line stack.

Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson, and Pierre-Luc Dubois will travel to Chicago to face the rejuvenated Blackhawks tonight. While Chicago has been hot and popular in DFS, I am looking at both teams in this one. Columbus may go under owned in a great spot. Despite the probability of facing Chicago’s top line, the Blue Jacket’s top line has multi goal upside. We know Chicago has not been stellar in defense/goaltending this year. In the past 30 days Chicago owns the highest HDCA/60 at 14.87. Expect Panarin and company to see convert on some of these chances. Adding Zach Werenski to the stack gives you a full power-play stack as well.

Zachary Werenski's talents have never been in question. The bigger issue has been opportunities, as he's been playing in Seth Jones' shadow for the past few years. When Jones has been out due to injury, Werenski has proved he can handle the load, but the team has seemed reluctant to give it to him when both are healthy. Lately, that has changed as Werenski has been given the PP1 quarterbacking responsibilities, while Jones is on the PP2. Columbus has a tasty matchup against the Devils, who are on the second of a back-to-back. I expect Werenski to find the scoresheet at least one, likely on the power play.

Zachary Werenski had an excellent rookie season, but had seemingly regressed last year and at the start of this year. His coach seems to have regained his faith in him, and it's been reflected in his ice time. He's seen 21+ minutes in his last seven games and is now on the number one power play. His teammate Seth Jones will receive more attention, but he's much more expensive on all sites. Werenski gets a dream matchup against the Senators, who possess the league's worst defense.

After spending time on the third pairing for a while, Werenski is back on the top pairing with Seth Jones. Not only that, Werenski has been the quarterback on the team's top power play unit. Accordingly, Werenski has picked up a point in three consecutive games including a game-tying goal with just minutes remaining in last night's contest against the New York Rangers. Even on this short slate, Werenski, whose price is under $5,000 on both sites, will not see significant ownership. He makes for an excellent tournament play against a Toronto team that tends to give up points to opposing defensemen.

While most of the defenseman attention this evening with be on the dynamic duo of Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, there is merit to going a different route. Seth Jones’ trip to the IR means Zach Werenski will see all the ice time he can handle, including with the man advantage. Columbus is favored in a game with an over/under of six goals, and has the highest implied team total on the slate at 3.3 goals. Werenski is an excellent stacking companion with the other power play #1 linemates, Panarin, Atkinson, Dubois, and Foligno.

If you're looking to differentiate your lineup from the masses that will be rostering Penguins and Lightning tonight, consider taking the top line from Columbus which features talented young playmakers Panarin, Dubois, and Anderson. They draw a fantastic matchup against a struggling Islanders team that has allowed the second most goals per game during December. This bodes well for this underrated trio of forwards, who lead Columbus in scoring chances generated this season. Also seeing time on CBJ's power play, look for this line to break out in a big way against an Islanders penalty kill that ranks 30th in the NHL this season.

The Edmonton Oilers are by no means a weak defensive team, but I do think we can pick on them tonight. With Cam Talbot remaining out due to injury, the Oilers will continue to receive sub-par goaltending, and with the Oilers also owning the National Hockey Leagues worst ranked penalty kill, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones instantly become great targets in all formats. Both of these offensive minded defensemen play a ton of minutes and have multi-point upside this evening at the Nationwide Arena. Keep in mind, if you are looking to add either blue liner with a line stack, Werenski plays with the top line, while Jones is skating with the second unit.

Zach Werenski burst onto the scene last year and tallied 47 points in 78 games in his rookie season. The 20-year-old shows no signs of slowing down as he's now scored three goals (and added an assist) in his last five games and owns 16 points on the young season. He's averaging 23 minutes of ice-time per game this season and holds the reigns as the point-man of the Blue Jacket's top power-play unit. Arizona will enter Nationwide Arena owning an ugly 4-11-4 road record on the season and have coughed up an NHL worst 3.52 goals against per game. Carrying a very reasonable price-tag, Werenski is one of the top dollar-for-dollar options on the blue-line this evening.

If you're looking to differentiate your lineup from the masses that will be rostering Penguins and Lightning tonight, consider taking the top line from Columbus which features talented young playmakers Panarin, Dubois, and Anderson. They draw a fantastic matchup against a formerly stingy Devils team that has allowed the second most shot attempts and scoring chances among available road teams tonight. This bodes well for this underrated trio of forwards, who lead Columbus in scoring chances generated this season. All moderately priced, Panarin, Dubois, and Anderson make for an affordable line stack that could go overlooked on tonight's 10 game slate.