Thursday Night Fantasy Matchups

Each week we will be making an appearance on Kukla’s Korner to provide a few tips in building your roster. When building a team for a 1-day salary cap contest you need to spend your money wisely. You have 1 million fantasy dollars to build your team of 10 players. Let’s start by evaluating the top guys at each position.

Best of the Best

Center – Crosby $175,000 vs Stamkos $161,673

These two players each have 13 points in their last 7 games and neither of them are a bad pick tonight. Stamkos gets the nod tonight as he’s $14,000 cheaper and facing a Rangers team that has lost 4 in a row.

Left Wing – Neal $150,936 vs Vanek $150,629

The Sabres struggles have been well documented and Vanek’s hot start has come to a hault. Go with James Neal tonight as he has 11 points in his last 8 games. Keep in mind that he might take a hit with Malkin out of the lineup.

RW – Patrick Kane $144,800 vs Ilya Kovalchuk $142,346

While Kane has been consistent with points in 7 of his last 9 games we like Kovalchuk tonight. The Devils are looking for retribution and we suspect that Chicago will lose for the first time in regulation against the Blues.

D – Letang $113,509 or Byfuglien $93,875

It’s not often that you find a defenseman with points in 7 of his last 9 games. Letang has been producing consistently and if you can afford him he gets the nod over Byfuglien.

G – Rask 175,000 or Fleury $175,000

Keep an eye on who plays in net tonight for the Bruins. Expect a low scoring game between the Bruins and Senators with Boston coming out on top. Fleury has been too inconsistent for his price tag tonight.

Value Plays

Unfortunately you can’t draft all the top players or you’ll quickly find yourself without any fantasy cash to complete your roster. Here are 4 players we like tonight to help you stay under the cap in your daily fantasy lineup.

Devils ‘C’ Andrei Loktionov $46,937 – He has points in 3 consecutive games, and appears to be in his coach’s good graces. Look for the Devils to play hungry tonight to avenge their loss at home to the Jets in the conclusion of their back-to-back meetings.

Jets ‘LW’ Andrew Ladd $99,704 – You won’t often find a player under $100,000 who is averaging a point per game in his last 8 contests. Ladd has been consistent and has great value at his price point.

Oilers ‘LW’ Taylor Hall $91,114 – Hall is coming back from his 2 game suspension and we expect him to pick up where he left off. He had 6 points in his last 5 games and should be $30,000 more expensive than he currently is.

Stars ‘D’ Alex Goligoski $51,232 – He’s collected 3 assists in his last 3 games. Having him in your lineup allows you to spend a little more fantasy cash at other positions.

If you have any intentions of watching hockey tonight build a roster at Fantasy Feud tonight to practice before the showdown with Paul Kukla next week. It only takes 10 minutes to put a lineup together and you can follow the live scoreboard as you win the game.