Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – January 16

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.

Detroit Red Wings at New York Rangers

The Red Wings finish their five-game road trip tonight, a trip that has seen them go 2-2 so far. Without Pavel Datsyuk – who will again miss tonight – the offense has been inconsistent: Detroit has scored 12 goals in their last three wins and three goals in their last three losses. It pretty much doesn’t matter which goalie they have in net, most goalies will win you games when you score 4+ goals and most goalies will lose you games when you score one, or none.

Even with their recent 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay, the Rangers can grab six of a possible eight points on this four-game home stand, which would be impressive considering they’ve only done that one other time while playing at home this year. That last loss was also a goaltending loss, as they were simply stoned by Ben Bishop all game long. New York has been playing much better hockey over the last month.

These two teams met back in October, a 3-2 overtime win for Detroit. A lot has changed for both teams since then so there isn’t a whole lot to draw on, though it should be noted that game was played with Datsyuk in the lineup.

Detroit has gone 0-for-25 in their last five games on the power play, which sounds about right seeing as they’re missing their top playmaker. I expect the Rangers to take tonight’s game handily, though I don’t know if they blow out the Wings.

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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