Daily Fantasy Hockey Value Picks: Happy Thanksgiving!

First things first, I wish a Happy American Thanksgiving to all my friends south of the border. Enjoy a day filled with great food, great company, and hopefully good football and hockey.

I will mention that I generally do not pick two players playing against each other in the same game for a daily lineup. The same applies for a goalie and a player from opposite teams. You might see two players among the “value picks” from opposite teams, but that doesn’t mean you should take them both. No matter the value, you’re also likely cannibalizing points, so any gains made below a certain price point – the point where production and cost intersect – can be lost if production declines overall as well.

There are many things that determine value: The player’s history (both short and long-term), the price, recent production, opponent, line matching at even-strength, power play time and injuries are just some of the factors to consider. The “Top Value” doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest player, either.

Finally, as far as goalie’s go, it’s the one position I’ll pay through the nose for if I really like the match-up. The same applies for back-ups with good match-ups. In a given night, with a full slate of games, I won’t have more than three different goalies across all my lineups, usually two. I’ll name the goalies I like specifically in the match-ups they appear in.

Here is today’s slate of games (and DraftDay values). Reminder: check Left Wing Lock for up-to-the-minute information on starting goalies.

Vancouver Canucks at Ottawa Senators

The Senators are playing on back-to-back nights following a back-and-forth 6-4 win over Washington last night. That means I would assume Robin Lehner gets the start tonight, but it’s not a great situation for him to be in. The Senators’ team defense last night was suspect at best, so I don’t assume that improve on an overnight flight home.

Vancouver should be coming into town well-rested, having not played since Monday night. The Canucks have at least 35 shots on goal in three straight games going into tonight, while the Senators have allowed an average of over 35 shots over their last three games. This one might not be close.

Edmonton Oilers at Nashville Predators

Edmonton got the wood laid to them on Monday against Chicago, but there’s not much shame in that. The only goalie confirmed tonight so far is Ilya Bryzgalov, and he’s my starting goalie today if I’m not rolling the dice on Lehner. I’m putting my money on the Edmonton power play finally cracking the Predators’ penalty kill.

Nashville is also coming off a win last night, a 4-0 shutout in Columbus. They have also killed off all 14 of their previous penalties. However, if Marek Mazanec starts in net for Nashville, there’s pretty good evidence that goalies playing on back-to-back nights do considerably worse than any other time. If he doesn’t, then it’s Carter Hutton time, who has allowed 3+ goals in six straight starts.

Good luck today, everyone, and enjoy your time with friends and family.

Michael Clifford

Michael Clifford was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and is a graduate of the Unviersity of New Brunswick. He writes about fantasy hockey and baseball for XNSports and FantasyTrade411.com. He can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy for any fantasy hockey questions. Follow @SlimCliffy !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');

See Full Bio