DraftKings – McKeen's Hockey

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag: It’s Teuvo Time

Chris Wassel — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:16:05 +0000

The first full week of 2015 is here and we have another quick hitting edition of the "Fantasy Hockey Mailbag". Please note that as 2015 goes on, there will be a bit of a scouting angle and possibly will be fielding some questions as far the 2015 NHL Draft and fantasy implications. People often forget that most of us in the business have many hats.

It is time to quickly get down to business, Please keep in mind that Week 14 is about the time where time stands still till about the All Star Break. Anyway, here we go.

Fantasy Hockey Mailba

So what do you expect from "Teuvo Time" in Chicago this time around?

Everyone needs to relax about the Chicago Blackhawks super prospect. The key thing is Teuvo Teravainen can be eased in on the fourth line this time. Kris Versteeg's injury opened up the spot which should be for almost a month. Do not expect magic promotions to the top six on a permanent basis for the 18th pick of the 2012 draft. Instead, you should inspect some occasional shifts with the top six which should bolster his ice time on some nights. There could be a wide range of 12-15 minutes a night depending on the night and the circumstances of how the game flows, etc.

His time in Rockford has served him well and ten points in his last 13 games there turned enough heads to make this call-up a reality. Watching him skate in the game against Dallas, Teravainen looks more polished and not as rushed as he did last season. Are there still rough edges? Naturally. However, after one game, it is a bit difficult to get too judgmental.

Also, the game between Dallas and Chicago was a bit of a wild one. It is fortunate that the Finn can be eased in to many situations without being thrown to the wolves. It is like getting the sampler for an appetizer. Here is a little of this situation and that one. See what you see and then adjust and learn from it. The key also is how the forward progresses from practice to practice. His hands are off the charts and vision but can he put everything together in this month long visit?

At this point if Teravainen can get say 5-7 points, I would consider that pretty good. If he gets more, that would be a bonus. He is a talented forward and as the month progresses, the skill will become more and more apparent. What happens at the end of the month may be more intriguing.

Saturday night saw a whopping 74 goals in 10 games. Can we expect more of these occasional outbursts?

The answer is undoubtedly yes! Now for daily fantasy, this is a frustrating experience. It drives up the threshold of what it takes to cash basically. There were 50/50's where 55 points did not cash. On normal nights, 36-40 points is likely enough. Whether the format is DraftKings, FanDuel, Victiv, Fantasy Aces, or whatever. The more goals usually equals more widespread scoring which means less variance between placings.

In English it means there are a greater amount of chances to find success only to see almost the same amount of success by the masses. This happens even more in tournaments because of the amount of entrants and multiple entries at that. Scoring is slowly becoming more frequent on high slate nights. There have been several in the last few weeks where over 6.5 goals per game have been scored. It really is only a matter of time. The key to winning on these nights is to be able to pile enough scorers and find that goalie that benefits from a lopsided game.

Just be sensible and ride the wave. Scoring is going to go up especially after the All Star Break and then things may tighten after the trade deadline with less frequent outbursts. Teams usually play tighter the last few weeks of the season also. Stay tuned! We are in for a bumpy ride. Good luck!

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See you next week with more questions. Good luck this week!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag — Happy New Year

Chris Wassel — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 15:54:13 +0000

It has been a long and strange season so far but we close out 2014 quickly with just a couple questions on the mailbag. You can always follow me on Twitter @ChrisWasselTHW. Questions will always be answered and no I won't hide from them. There are two main questions I got this week. One is daily and one is a team inquiry if you will. Either way, this looks to be full of fireworks and honestly there is no other way to go here. Expect some answers that may irk a few people.

Anyway, let's get cracking on those questions. They do not answer themselves!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag

Is there really anyone on the New Jersey Devils worth having as a fantasy hockey option?

Again, they are awful and nothing much is going to change from here on out. New Jersey has scored just 68 goals in their last 35 games (yes we threw out the 11 goal outburst in the first two). That is good for dead last in the league. Travis Zajac has eight points in 29 games while getting first line center minutes and Scott Gomez has almost as many points in about half the games while Adam Henrique has more points and plays several minutes a night less.

The strings are being pulled by Lou Lamoriello and the reality is with this "Odd Couple" coaching arrangement, the last 45 games have become open mic night in Newark. I wish I was kidding but do not be surprised to see Keith Kinkaid start more games than he has for the rest of the season. With the year lost, it is time to play out the string. Even Cory Schneider, who has been pretty good but just not consistent enough, will be a player you don't want in the second half unless you are in a deep league.

Jaromir Jagr is on about a 45-50 point pace which is a good ways off from that nearly 70 point year in 2013-14. Damon Severson had such promise in the early going with eight points but got sucked into the abyss and will miss another month with a break in his ankle. There have been injuries, mumps, and players just in another world. The bottom line is can the team even complete three straight passes? The fundamentals are pretty poor for a team so laden with veterans.

You could bag skate this team to death and it likely will not matter. Yes the effort will be there but the execution has to just happen and it is not. Just tread carefully with Devils players and know they can go into long slumps. Consider they have not won three games in a row since the start of the year.

What was with the value night on Saturday in DraftKings?

It was a pretty high scoring night on DraftKings and part of the reason why the amazing value in mid-line centers. Derek Stepan and several other centers were in the $4,500 to $5,500 range and around four points a night which is too good to pass up. That allowed you to take two centers and then spend a bit more on wing and defense. If you added a fairly cheap Ben Bishop at $6,700 on Saturday, it gave a player even more options to go higher up the food chain.

There was a 50-50 I was in last night where it took over 50 points just to cash. That's nuts! It really is. Typically you can get away with 35-40 points depending on the slate. Expect more nights like this during the next week as the schedule gets a little weird with a heavy Monday and Wednesday.

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Do not forget to bring the questions and I will answer them. See you next week!

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag — What The Hell Florida?

Chris Wassel — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 13:59:47 +0000

There are times ladies and gentlemen where we just stop the list of questions and go in a completely different direction. When you see such wacky performances and unexpected events, one just has to acknowledge it in some way. Today's mailbag delves into the oddities in a subtle way by asking what the hell man, what the hell?

You have everything from players defying regression to players completely hitting the flusher repeatedly on the toilet. Panic has set in for some and others are just in a state of total bewilderment. This fantasy hockey season really has brought us a bit of everything and it is only mid-November. Just think of what is in store for a second and then it gets that much more scary.

The questions this week reflect more of this thought process and here we go.

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag -- What The HELL

What do you make of the Florida Panthers' 6-4-4 start? Is this legit or are they going to fall backwards?

This really may be legit. Florida is a better team than most give them credit for. Maybe more people from the Miami area will get that message. For fantasy hockey owners, more and more Panthers are being added into lineups for a reason. They got off to a really slow start because of some seriously bad puck luck and an awful shooting percentage (29th in NHL). However, there are some positive anomalies as well.

Take a look at the possession numbers of Aaron Ekblad. Is he a nearly 60% Corsi and Fenwick close player as an 18 year old? Jussi Jokinen will come back to Earth. Roberto Luongo cannot be this good 5 on 5 right? Some of these may slide back but some may not.

Then there is Nick Bjugstad, who had four points Sunday night in Anaheim but could have had six...yes SIX POINTS! He hit a post and crossbar in the 6-2 rout at Honda Center. For people asking who is top six caliber in Florida, just be patient. That time has come for Bjugstad.

Now three more games are on this road trip including the other two California teams (Los Angeles and San Jose). Then they have one more road tilt in Nashville before going home. It is the first of many tests for a team that wants to show people they belong. This will also show fantasy hockey owners a thing or two too.

What do you think about some of the price differences between daily fantasy sites?

This is another age old question that people often have to understand a crucial fact. Every one of these sites has a different salary cap so there are going to be different price structures. Also, point structures are not the same. For example, most use nine players for a roster but DraftKings has a $50,000 cap while FanDuel has a $55,000 cap. Check each league you enter. It is extremely important. Personally I am more worried about point differences among sites than price differences. Yes, there are some exploitative values that have seemingly gone on for far too long but a few players tend to not see a value bump right away.

Sometimes price rises and falls are very predictable. If anyone remembers how the old Smallworld salary cap worked, it was very similar to what you see on daily sites today. This is not something revolutionary as fantasy hockey veterans have seen this basic framework for almost 20 years. Now, individual price discrepancies from daily site to site is a completely different story and something that will be answered right now because we have a true oddity.

Why is Dylan Olsen $5,700 on FanDuel and normally price on other daily sites?

This was something picked up on Sunday morning but honestly I just ignored it because who would take this guy who averages less than one daily point per outing anyway? However, people saw the price tag and were rightfully stunned.

This is a very telling and a bad FanDuel glitch that has to be addressed (File Photo)

Some of the names Olsen is priced higher than is crazy. Now we only took the names from the Florida-Los Angeles game and there are four players that jump right out at you -- Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Jacob Muzzin, and Aaron Ekblad. Yes. Martinez is out but even then that is three defenseman that are far better yet Olsen is somehow $1,800 higher than Ekblad. There are just no words for this at all. None!

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See you next week and bring those questions! Thanks for reading.