Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – February 4

I will mention that 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 DraftStreet 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.

Winnipeg Jets at Carolina Hurricanes

Winnipeg has been running wild ever since Paul Maurice took over, posting an 8-2 record which has actually vaulted them into the playoff conversation.

The biggest difference for the Jets’ resurgence is steadying play in net. Of those 10 games, seven of them resulted in two goals or fewer against. It’s starting to correct itself a bit as Ondrej Pavelec went five game allowing just eight goals against and has now allowed 11 goals against in his last three. Neither goalie is confirmed yet but I’m getting back into my “be scared of Pavelectricity” mode.

Carolina has also been playing very well lately, or at least their record shows that, as the month of January saw the team go 10-4 and they are one of the teams in the playoff hunt. A big reason for this is the balance that they now have among their forwards; with all their big guns healthy, the ‘Canes can throw out three lines that can all score. Goaltending, too, has been a big help as Anton Khudobin posted a .927 save percentage for the month of January and started all 14 games for the team.

These are two teams that are riding pretty solid hot streaks right now. The biggest difference I see is in net and, with no Evander Kane for Winnipeg until after the Olympic break, there’s a little less offensive punch around. I’ll risk Khudobin in net tonight along with a couple of their forwards.

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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