Daily Fantasy Hockey Value Update – January 8, 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.

Montréal Canadiens at Philadelphia Flyers

The Canadiens are coming off a win at home against Florida, which I guess is a big step for them considering they lost to them in that same situation less than a month ago. This gives the Habs four straight games without a regulation loss, but is back to back games without a power play goal again.

The Flyers are coming off a 3-2 overtime win in New Jersey last night where the Devils tied it up late but the Flyers were able to rebound and grab the extra point in the extra frame. Those two points pushed Philadelphia into second place in their division, a long climb after starting the season 1-7.

This will be the third meeting between these two teams this year, with each side taking a regulation win in their own barn. The Canadiens were outplayed in the game they played in Philadelphia, however, so it shouldn’t be a shock to see it happen again tonight.

The Canadiens also lost rookie forward Alex Galchenyuk to a hand injury and Galchenyuk is expected to be out until after the Olympic break. This rookie was third among their forwards in points and third as well in FenwickClose-percentage. Despite his downturn in ice-time recently, he was one of the Habs’ best players and isn’t replaceable by anyone in their lineup or in their system. I expect a high-scoring Flyers team to take this game, which makes Steve Mason a decent play tonight

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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