This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
It's officially the dredges of the hockey season. The World Junior Hockey Championships are in the rear-view mirror, the All-Star Game isn't for a few weeks (for those who get excited for that kind of thing), and the playoff races won't be heating up until after that. The best way to stay on top of things on the ice is through daily fantasy, and that includes the World Fantasy Hockey Championship qualifiers on FanDuel.
Here are some value plays – all skaters are under $4,000 – to use on different days this week. At the end will be a cheaper GPP goalie to use.
Center
Colin Wilson, Nashville ($3,800)
The Predators made some necessary upgrades in the offseason, but it's Wilson that has been one of the more understated surprises this season. Wilson has 11 goals already, the same amount he had last year, and is on pace for career highs in goals and assists. If he plays 80 games, Wilson should push for 200 shots on goal, a staggering number considering his previous career best is 114.
What's more is that with the addition of names like James Neal and Mike Ribeiro, there are more favorable matchups for Wilson to exploit. This, in part, has helped Wilson lead all Nashville forwards in CorsiRelative, which means Nashville outshoots their opponents more often with Wilson on the ice than any other forward. That's helped Wilson post a very stout plus-16 rating, an important component of value on FanDuel.
Nashville has Carolina and Dallas to start the week, and then Minnesota later on. Wilson is a fine cash game play against Dallas, while making for a good punt option in GPPs for Carolina and Minnesota.
Left Wing
Jonathan Drouin, Tampa Bay ($3,800)
It's been an up-and-down year for the rookie Drouin. He's been injured, he's been scratched, he's been on the fourth line, and he's been on the first line. A player that was hyped as a front-runner for Rookie of the Year has been a yo-yo more than anything.
Of late, Drouin has been skating on the fourth line in Tampa Bay, which depresses his value (and that's reflected in his price). That has led to less ice time, with 14:08 being his highest mark in the past six games. Of course, there are other ways to get value.
Tampa Bay has just two games this week: one against Montreal, and then a great matchup at home against Buffalo on Friday. Friday is a short slate with just five games, so expect a lot of people to be on the Lightning. Drouin is still on the top power-play unit with Steven Stamkos, which means he's a good way to get exposure to that unit without spending on expensive players.
Right Wing
Dmitrij Jaskin, St. Louis ($3,300)
It was bound to happen for St. Louis. With the start that the Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko line had, other lines would have to pick up the slack. Lehtera has just five points in his last 15 games, while Schwartz is just returning from injury (though he did have a goal and an assist in his first game back). The health of the lineup has forced Paul Stastny back to his usual role on the third line, with Jaskin beside him.
Jaskin is a goal scorer. Drafted in the second round of the 2011 Entry Draft, Jaskin scored 46 goals in 51 games in his only year of Junior, and had 29 points in 42 games as a 20-year-old last year in the AHL. It's a small sample, but in 14 games this year, he also leads Blues forwards in CorsiRelative.
St. Louis plays Arizona, San Jose, and Carolina this week. Arizona is one of the worst teams in the NHL, and San Jose was destroyed by St. Louis on the weekend 7-2 without Joe Thornton in the lineup. For either of those two games, Jaskin is a decent punt play in cash games.
Defenseman
Danny DeKeyser, Detroit ($3,500)
It's been a tough year to pinpoint secondary defensive options from Detroit after Niklas Kronwall. At times, it's been Jakub Kindl that has run the second power-play unit. In other games, it's been Xavier Ouellet. With Kindl on the injured reserve list, though, that distinction has gone to DeKeyser of late. That second unit includes very good offensive options like Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar.
DeKeyser is a 24-year-old defenceman, but like most Detroit prospects, he didn't rush to the NHL. He finished his time playing college hockey before playing a handful of games at the end of the lockout-shortened season. He was given over 21 minutes a game last year, and is nearly at 21 minutes a game this year.
DeKeyser is second among Detroit defensemen in CorsiRelative, though he is just under a break-even player on that team. This week, Detroit has Edmonton, Calgary, and Washington on the docket, all on the road. The thing about those teams (besides none of them being great) is that all of them are in the bottom-third of the NHL in penalty-kill percentage. DeKeyser is a fine punt play in GPPs in any of those games.
Goaltender
Petr Mrazek, Detroit ($7,200)
As I just mentioned, Detroit has at least two pretty good matchups this week. The Calgary and Edmonton games, however, are back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, and coach Mike Babcock figures to rest Jimmy Howard for one of those games.
Mrazek was called up when Jonas Gustavsson hit the injured reserve list. While he hasn't other-worldly, he's been good with a .917 save percentage. In fact, so far this year on FanDuel, Mrazek has been averaging more points per game than Howard.
Whichever game he plays between Edmonton and Calgary, Mrazek is a very good GPP start. He should get the win, and that will get Mrazek at least 70 percent of his value alone.
