NHLKia Fantasy Tips

Beginning of Story Content

Each week, Jordan will try to provide you with guidance and inside information as you pick your lineup in the Hockey Night in Canada Fantasy Pool presented by Kia, with a focus on finding "sleeper" picks to help fill the roster when cap space is low.

An interesting anomaly presents itself in Week 21 of the Hockey Night in Canada Hockey Pool presented by Kia. Two teams will take to the ice in five games, something that has never happened this fantasy season. These two teams are sort of trending in opposite directions but nevertheless this cannot be ignored. 

The team on the rise is the Vancouver Canucks. They currently sit in second place in the Western Conference with 76pts (3rd in the NHL). The Canucks have lots of strong candidates for fantasy including the Sedin twins, Alexander Edler, and Roberto Luongo. 

The team on the slide is the Dallas Stars. They sit in tenth position in the Western Conference with 59pts (20th in the NHL). Dallas has some strong fantasy forwards like Jamie Benn but not as many obvious choices on the blue-line and in goal. 

Either way, the advantage for a player to play in 5 games versus someone skating in 3 is huge and it may be a week to consider some players on these two teams who are not as obvious for fantasy selection.

Here are my selections for Week 21 in the Hockey Night in Canada Hockey Pool presented by Kia:

Goalies

In goal I think you should give serious consideration to selecting both Vancouver goalies. I know this would only get you 5 goalie starts but they would be 5 guaranteed starts. Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider have combined for 35 wins this season, good enough for 3rd in the NHL. 

They have collectively earned wins in 63% of games and have earned fantasy points in 73% of games. Since Vancouver plays 4 of those 5 games on the road, Canuck goalies have earned fantasy points in 70% of their road games. I should also mention that Vancouver holds the NHL's second best road record of 19-9-2 and have not lost in regulation since January 15th (4-2 loss VS Anaheim). 

Although this investment will cost you a total player value of '7' you should be good for about 10pts based on the above trends. Although Week 21 features two back to back situations I would stick the goalie 'Star' player selection on Roberto Luongo as he has been getting the bulk of the workload for the past 2 months.

Defence 

Keeping with the 5 games theme, I think you might find excellent value in selecting Dallas Stars defencemen Alex Goligoski. Over the past 2 weeks Goligoski has recorded 7pts in 8 games which ranks him second amongst defencemen in that timeframe. He leads all Stars defencemen with an average time on ice of 22:35, and in power play points with 9. 

The best part of Goligoski is he can be on your team this week for a player value of '1'!  This is an early example of a player whose stock is rising after the Kia Fantasy Pool altered player values.  Even though Dallas hasn't been playing their best hockey as of late, they do play in 5 games (@ PHO, VS NAS, @ MTL, @ CHI, VS MIN) this week. 

Since this pool rewards goals and assists for defencemen, Goligoski will get plenty of minutes to provide your team with much needed points. I think based on volume of games and time on ice Goligoski should be your defencemen 'Star' player selection.

Forwards 

I want to make this week's pick under the assumption that you will be taking Henrik Sedni, Daniel Sedin, and Jamie Benn. Those guys are not cheap but with both Dallas and Vancouver playing 5 games they are must adds. 

Going with that strategy you might have a really hard time finding some cheaper but valuable pieces due to the limited cap room you will have left.

I like P.A Parenteau of the New York Islanders. He ranks in the top 20 in points for the NHL and is 5th in assists. He plays on the top line with John Tavares and Matt Moulson and is part of the Islanders top power play unit. At a player value of '2' he is a steal. He has points in 32 of 56 games played and has recorded multi-point games on 16 occasions. 

The Islanders play in 4 games in Week 21 (VS CAR, VS OTT, @ BUF, @ NYR) and are picking up steam going 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.

Good luck this week and be sure to have your picks in place in time for the Saturday February 18th, 1pm/et deadline.

End of Story Content

Back to accessibility links