Daily Fantasy Hockey Value Update – January 7, 2014

I generally do not pick two players playing against each other in the same game for a daily fantasy hockey 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 goalies 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.

Games are color-coded as follows:

Green means load up. Yellow means grab a couple of players. Red means value plays only.

**note: the Buffalo/Carolina game has been postponed due to inclement weather

New York Islanders at Toronto Maple Leafs

The Islanders are coming off an offensive explosion last night at home against Dallas, where they scored seven goals, five of them coming via John Tavares goals or assists. They did lose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to a lower-body injury, however, leaving the goaltending duties to Kevin Poulin for the foreseeable future.

Toronto is coming off an embarrassing 7-1 loss at home to the New York Rangers on Saturday night, where the Rangers managed 50 shots on goal in regulation for the first time in a decade. Jonathan Bernier will get the start for Toronto, his sixth start in a row, despite being pulled after allowing five goals in that loss against the Rangers.

The Islanders have managed at least 31 shots on goal for six straight games now and have eight power play goals in their last four games. The last time they played Toronto, they managed 37 shots on goal but just powered two past Bernier in a 5-2 loss.

I would think the Maple Leafs come out firing tonight. After laying a complete egg on Saturday night, I would expect this team to come out guns blazing tonight, and they get the Islanders on the second game of a back-to-back.

Leafs skaters are looking good in this game, though Jonathan Bernier’s price is still a little high to feel comfortable with having him in net.

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');

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