FantasyDraft NHL: Sunday Values

Written by

Updated on December 31, 2017 11:23AM EST

Sunday is New Year's Eve. If you want to end 2017 with a bang, here are some players I'd recommend for your daily fantasy hockey lineup from the five games on the NHL contest slate.

GOALIE

Dallas Stars, DAL vs. SAN ($15,500):Ben Bishop has been playing well since missing three games due to injury, as he has a 2.28 GAA and a .923 save percentage in his last six starts. The Stars have also held opponents to 29.7 shots on net per game, the second-lowest rate in the league. Dallas has also been formidable at home (13-4-1) while San Jose has been only middling on the road (8-5-2).

CENTER

Nathan MacKinnon, COL vs. NYI ($15,000): MacKinnon is enjoying a stellar season, as he's notched 16 goals, 27 assists and 118 shots on net through 37 games. Now he's going against an Islanders team with a 3.47 GAA, the second-highest figure in the league. New York also has the 30th-ranked penalty kill, and MacKinnon has 14 points with the extra man.

Mikael Backlund, CGY vs. CHI ($9,400): Backlund has three points in his last four games. On top of that, he's put 25 shots on net in his last eight contests. Chicago, meanwhile, has allowed 32.8 shots on net per contest. However, with Corey Crawford out, Jeff Glass is starting for the Blackhawks. He did well in his season debut, but he's still a 32-year-old journeyman with zero track record of success.

WING

Anders Lee, NYI at COL ($14,200): Lee already has a staggering 24 goals through 38 games. Granted, he has a 25.5 shooting percentage almost guaranteed to drop, but this may not be the matchup where that starts. The Avalanche have a team GAA of 3.19 and a team save percentage of .900. Lee has also had a ton of power-play success, tallying 12 points with the extra man.

Patric Hornqvist, PIT at DET ($13,100): Hornqvist has had at least 21 goals in this last four seasons, and he already has 12 goals in 35 games this year. He's also put 117 shots on net, and in his last 15 contests, he's put 47 shots on goal. The Red Wings have a 3.16 team GAA, and in December, that number has shot up to 3.45.

Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG at EDM ($12,300): Ehlers is looking to cap a fine December, as he's notched 11 points and 45 shots on net through 14 games this month. The Oilers, for their part, have a 3.16 team GAA, bottom 10 in the leagues. The Dane also has 10 power-play points, and Edmonton has the league's worst penalty kill.

DEFENSEMEN

Tyler Myers, WPG at EDM ($8,900): Myers' scoring has dropped off a bit, but in his last seven games, he's notched 22 shots on net. Plus, he already has 11 power-play points in 39 games. That's a strong point in his favor, as the Oilers, as previously mentioned, have the worst penalty kill in the NHL.

Olli Maatta, PIT at DET ($8,500): Perhaps because Kris Letang and Justin Schultz are sidelined, Maatta is seeing major power-play time right now. In his last four games, he's averaged 3:39 minutes per game with the extra man. Detroit's penalty kill hasn't been particularly bad, but as noted, they've struggled defensively all year -- especially in December. At this price, and with a potentially larger role, Maatta could pay off on this modest investment.

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. Chris Morgan plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: cmorgan3, DraftKings: cmorgan3.