Fantasy Hockey

Daily Fantasy Hockey: DraftKings Value Picks, November 12th

The Fix always has a full breakdown of significant NHL slates for our Front Office subscribers, but now we’re also going to be highlighting a few value plays for everyone on most days with big NHL slates. Below you’ll find three or four players who are cheap and undervalued in today’s DraftKings contests.

If you’d like to read our full breakdown of tonight’s slate, complete with player rankings, you can become a Front Office member or purchase today’s breakdown individually right here.

Leon Draisaitl – C – Edmonton Oilers – $3200

The bells and whistles went to all code red when we saw the price was still below $3,500. Draisaitl is still playing with Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle and is also on the top power play unit. The center is now logging over 19 minutes a game, and though his five game sample size is small, it is clear that he can keep up with his wingers very well.

Arizona is a hit or miss team to face, but they can definitely give up their fair share of goals. Mike Smith had six straight starts of less than a .900 save percentage. Not only that, Arizona’s defensemen after Oliver Ekman-Larsson can be attacked and often. Team defense with a youthful core is going to yield lots of chances. Frankly, chances and counters are going to come both ways. It could be an electric type of scoring night and that means there is a way to get value relief in your lineup.

Brett Connolly – RW – Boston Bruins – $3200

The injury to Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche means Reto Berra will likely be exposed more, which should be right up Boston’s alley on Thursday. There will be lots of options for mini-stacks with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand broken up, but Connolly is still the intriguing option despite a down tick in minutes played in his last game or two.

Connolly  is a pretty versatile player who does need to shoot more, but his ability to play on several lines is crucial since Boston has been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug. Colorado exploded for four goals in Philadelphia but had only averaged 1.83 goals per game on the road recently with a shots per 60 ranking in the bottom five. They have allowed a little over two goals per game on the road. However, Berra tends to get knocked around a bit as teams see him more. The Varlamov groin injury combined with Connolly seeing bottom pairing opposition makes this a pretty good match-up few will see coming.

Nick Holden – D – Colorado Avalanche – $3100

This is a short and sweet one but Holden has been piling up assists this season (eight in all). He had two assists in the game against Philadelphia on Tuesday night and faces a hit or miss Boston team on Thursday. Does anyone expect 40 shots again from the Avalanche? No. However, Holden is a pretty good offensive defenseman given his price point. On a night where relief is needed, the player is not a bad choice, especially if not so fundamental Boston shows up in this tilt.

Linus Ullmark – G – Buffalo Sabres – $6200

Buffalo is not the doormat they once were and Ullmark has shown he can play at least to or slightly above replacement level, which is more than Buffalo could say about Robin Lehner or Chad Johnson. Ullmark’s .918 save percentage in five starts has to be a revelation, and he stopped 35 of 37 in his last start. The Sabres have a chance to climb to .500 for the first time in what feels like forever. Florida will not be an easy opponent, but Ullmark has proven to at least be serviceable and at times very good.

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