NHL Fantasy: Hansen a good option on DraftKings

Joe Cervenka breaks down who fans should be targeting in this week's NHL fantasy fix.

In daily fantasy sports, hockey or otherwise, it can take a while for prices to reflect reality. In football, if a team’s top receiver is injured, the salary of the second receiver on the team usually doesn’t jump for at least a week; in baseball, a bench player who is hitting leadoff in a day game doesn’t often see a price jump for that day. For hockey players that are moved to new lines, it can take days, if not weeks, to see a salary change. At the start of the season, the Blues’ Jori Lehtera wasn’t very far above minimum pricing for about a month, despite playing between Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. And therein lay the value.

Here are some players to use tonight on DraftKings who have seen their situation change for the better offensively, but their salary has not. In cash games like 50/50s, it helps get exposure to top players without spending top dollars. In tournaments, it does the same, but also saves money in order to stack more top tier skaters.

Jannik Hansen (W – Vancouver) – $3,000

For much of this year, it has been off-season acquisition Radim Vrbata playing alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin. At their last practice, though, it was Hansen lined up with the Sedins, and Vrbata on the second line with Nick Bonino. Bonino had been struggling of late, so it’s likely just a way to get the offence going other than the top line.

From 2011 through the end of last season, Hansen played over 411 minutes at 5 on 5 with Daniel Sedin (via Hockey Analysis). With those minutes, Hansen managed 15 points. That translates to a mark of 2.19 points per 60 minutes at 5 on 5. That is better than what some stars like Claude Giroux (2.08), Nathan MacKinnon (2.07), and Ryan Johansen (2.01) had last season. This is a good spot for Hansen, and he is very cheap.

Speaking of the Sedins, they were part of the final trio released yesterday on Sportsnet’s Pick ‘n Play, powered by Kia. Henrik Sedin is matched up for tonight’s game against the Rangers with Derek Stepan. It looks to be a good night for the Canucks, so I would lean to Henrik in that particular matchup.

Jason Zucker (W – Minnesota) – $3,800

Minnesota, like most teams at this point, have had their fair share of injuries. It has forced the Wild to spread around the offence, with lines staying the same for the last few games. It put together a second line of Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, and Jason Zucker.
It’s quietly been a breakout season for Zucker with 10 goals so far this season, putting him on pace for a 30-goal year. Before this season, hee had eight goals in 47 games. After averaging less than 12 minutes a game in October, Zucker is now over 15 minutes – and it has led to him averaging 2.72 shots per game since Nov. 1.

Zucker and line mates were given the lion’s share of offensive zone starts in their last game (via War On Ice), and are generally among the top two lines to get good zone starts. He’s in a good position offensively, and Saturday’s game against Arizona is a very good matchup.


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Jakub Kindl (D – Detroit) – $2,500

Detroit played on Friday, which should make daily owners pause before using their players Saturday. With that said, Toronto is one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL, so it doesn’t make Detroit toxic. The Leafs do boast a top-10 penalty kill, coming in at ninth by percentage. Detroit has a top-10 power play of its own, coming in at eighth in conversion percentage at 22 per cent.

This is the fourth game this year between the two teams. In the first three games, the Red Wings went 0-for-14 against the Leafs on the power play. That means against the rest of the NHL, the Wings are an even 25 per cent on the man advantage, but against Toronto, a big, fat zero.

I don’t like playing the “they’re due” game in daily fantasy, but with the skill and proficiency otherwise on the power play this year, it seems like the Wings are due on the power play tonight. Kindl runs the second power-play unit as the lone defenceman, a unit that includes Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Tatar, and Riley Sheahan. For a minimum-priced defenceman, Kindl is in a very good spot.

Looking ahead to next week’s Sportnset Fantasy Hockey Pool, Kindl makes a very solid play. Detroit has three games, two of them against Columbus and the New York Islanders. As of Saturday, those two teams are in the bottom five teams on the penalty kill. With Kindl costing just one of a possible four points, he’s a very cheap cost with two very good matchups.

Jason Spezza (C – Dallas) – $5,300

Spezza isn’t necessarily a “value” play, but is a guy that has been put in an exceptional situation to succeed. With injuries, and Dallas’s struggles, Dallas has gone back to a top line of Spezza centering Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

Though it’s a small sample – a shade over 128 minutes at 5 on 5 – Dallas’s top trio has been very productive. Spezza has averaged 3.28 points/60 minutes while playing with Seguin this year. That mark would have led the NHL last year. Again, it’s a small sample, but the expectation is that they would be elite together, and they are.

Of the three, Spezza is the cheapest, and is a full $4,000 less than Seguin. It’s probably a good idea to get exposure to that top line Saturday at home against New Jersey, and Spezza is the chepest way to do it.

*Some stats courtesy of Hockey Analysis, Hockey Reference, War On Ice, and NHL.com.

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