Fantasy Hockey

Daily Fantasy Hockey: Value Picks, February 9th

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, FanDuel and Fantasy Draft 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 here.

FanDuel

Jonas Hiller—Calgary Flames–$7000

This pick really makes me question my life. Hiller has been a complete disaster this season, yet he’ll somehow end up in my lineup come 7:00 ET. The Flames net minder has an above-average matchup against the Tyler Bozak-less Toronto Maple Leafs. Just to give you an idea of how bad Toronto will be tonight, their second line consists of Daniel Winnik, Nick Spaling and Josh Levio. The Leafs won’t be able to slow down Calgary, and they have no chance of scoring two-plus goals either. If Hiller can pick up the win and allow less than three goals, he should hit value.

Francois Beauchemin—Colorado Avalanche–$3200

It’s no secret that the Colorado Avalanche are a terrible puck possession team, but tonight, that doesn’t bother me. See, the Vancouver Canucks aren’t a really good hockey team and Jacob Markstrom is confirmed to get the start. He’s been pretty solid over his last five starts—allowing two or less goals in four of five games—but he hasn’t made a start since January 21 and Colorado has a lot of dangerous players that can score goals. Beauchemin is seeing some time on the second power play unit and is paired with Erik Johnson on the top pairing. At the bargain price of $3200, there isn’t much risk to take. If you need a cheap defenseman that’s seeing over 25 minutes a game, start him.

DraftKings

Mikhail Grigorenko—Colorado Avalanche–$2800

It hasn’t been easy for Mikail Grigorenko to stay in the lineup every night, but he seems to have found a home on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene for now. Anytime a player gets a chance to play with the best players on the team, you need to consider them. Not only is Grigorenko seeing top line minutes, but he is also seeing power play time on the second unit. He played just over 17 minutes on Saturday, and we should expect to see about the same tonight. The risk here is extremely minimal and the upside is just too good to pass up.

Cal Clutterbuck—New York Islanders–$2700

The easiest decision you will make tonight is stacking the Islanders in cash games. They will be heavily owned, but after thumping Edmonton 8-1 on Sunday, fading them would just be a mistake. Since everyone will be on New York’s top two lines, you’ll need to get creative if you want exposure to this game but not be stuck with high ownership players.

Here’s where Cal Clutterbuck comes in- the perfect mix of salary relief, low ownership and goal scoring ability. Clutterbuck is playing on the fourth line, but he’s seeing about 11 minutes per game and has 11 goals so far this season—more than Nikolay Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski. He doesn’t see any power play time, but his line should matchup up with Columbus’ fourth line, which isn’t very good. I’m not saying he’s an excellent cash game option, but he certainly won’t make your lineup worse. If you need to fit the superstars in, Clutterbuck will certainly help you do that.

Fantasy Draft

Scottie Upshall—St. Louis Blues–$4700

Upshall has somehow found his way onto the top line with Alexander Steen and David Backes. Does he belong there? Absolutely not, but is he a fantasy option because he’s on the top line? Yes. He’s not seeing any power play time and will probably play between 10-13 minutes tonight. His upside is limited, but should he be able to record one point against the Jets, he would hit his value. Considering the average salary on Fantasy Draft is $12,500, he’s 62% below the average player cost, so any points he can accumulate is like hitting the lotto. He could easily do nothing and pick up a big fat zero, but I’ll gladly take that risk if it allows me to roster some high-priced players.

Calvin de Haan—New York Islanders–$7300

If Calvin de Haan isn’t in your Fantasy Draft lineup tonight, you’re doing DFS wrong. I’ve yet to grasp why he’s so underpriced. Yes, he doesn’t put up a ton of points, but what he lacks in point production he makes up in blocked shots. The 24-year-old is averaging 2.5 blocked shots per game. He’s got a real chance to pick up points tonight against a weak Blue Jackets team, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he finishes with double-digit points. If there’s one player you don’t fade tonight, make it de Haan.

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