Wednesday Daily Puck: Phil It Up

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Updated on March 1, 2017 4:45AM EST

It's trade deadline day in the National Hockey League, and it's like a holiday for fans of contending teams. There are just two games scheduled, so all of the guys changing zip codes or postal codes will have plenty of time to get to their new home, meet their teammates and practice a time or two before donning that new game sweater for the first time.

Featured Matchups
Hurricanes (PP: 24, PK: 1) at Lightning (PP: 2, PK: 16), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Eddie Lack (2-4-1, 3.24, .883), Andrei Vasilevskiy (12-13-5, 2.75, .912)
Key Injuries:Bryan Bickell (illness), Brock McGinn (upper body), Jeff Skinner (upper body), Ryan Callahan (hip), Steven Stamkos (knee)

The No. 1 penalty-kill unit will be on the display against the No. 2 power-play unit in the NHL. Carolina will be a bit shorthanded, as Jeff Skinner (upper body) returned to Raleigh yesterday for further evaluation and the team dealt Viktor Stalberg to the Senators. To make matters worse, Brock McGinn aggravated his upper-body injury. Sebastian Aho continues to be a bright spot, potting his 18th goal of the season against the Panthers. He has slowed his scoring since earlier, but has been a pleasant surprise. Victor Rask has rebounded from a lengthy scoring drought to post a three-game point streak. Victor Hedman has been an outstanding source of offense in Tampa, lighting the lamp 10 times with 51 points while also stepping in front of 96 shots.

Penguins (PP: 9, PK: 20) at Blackhawks (PP: 16, PK: 28), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Marc-Andre Fleury (15-7-5, 3.16, .906), Scott Darling (15-5-2, 2.18, .929)
Key Injuries:Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body), Jordin Tootoo (illness), Trevor Daley (knee), Kris Letang (upper body), Olli Maatta (hand),Bryan Rust (arm), Conor Sheary (upper body)

The Pens were on the short end of a 3-2 score in Dallas on Tuesday and they face a short turnaround against the Blackhawks in the Windy City. Chicago has had Pittsburgh's number in recent seasons, winning four straight meetings in the series. The Blackhawks are also 4-0 in their past four on home ice against the Penguins. Scott Darling might be a nice low-cost fantasy option despite the fact the team is without one of its key defensemen. The club placed Niklas Hjalmarsson on Injured Reserve on Tuesday due to an upper-body injury. While it's no big deal replacing his meager offense, the Swedish rearguard leads the Western Conference with 156 blocked shots. That's a huge loss for Chicago's defensive corps. Speaking of blocked shots, Ian Cole of the Penguins is a stud in the department, too, posting 151 to check in fifth in the NHL. His plus-24 rating, 128 hits and 58 penalty minutes also make him a fantasy favorite.

Recommended Pickup

Phil Di Giuseppe, LW, CAR - Di Giuseppe has been seeing time on the team's top scoring line with Jordan Staal. He has picked up three assists over his past four outings and he is seeing time on the power play, too. While he isn't worth adding in most standard fantasy leagues, he is worth stashing away in deeper pools. Di Giuseppe is also worth a roll of the dice in DFS as a salary saver with some upside.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.