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Welcome back RotoBallers! The NHL season is now well into December for Week 11 and we have an excellent salary cap contest for you over at OwnersBox!
For those who do not know, OwnersBox is a fantastic weekly fantasy sports platform that offers plenty of game setups to fulfill your desire to draft throughout the season. And the big one that we're focusing on right now: NHL weekly salary cap contests!
In this article, I will be providing you with my weekly fantasy hockey lineup picks on OwnersBox for the Contest of the Week for Week 11! (Dec 18-Dec 27). This contest is not anything like a standard DFS contest or your season-long leagues. Read my picks below, and then join us in this tournament as we battle it out for the cash prizes!
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$2K Contest for Week 11 Hockey Fans!
OwnersBox is hooking up RotoBaller readers to celebrate the launch of their new salary cap style contests, so be sure to take advantage of these promo offers!
- Join this week's freeroll on OwnersBox - the contest is completely free to enter for new users with code NHL10, and there's a $2,000 cash guaranteed prize pool. You can also enter up to seven lineups at $10 per lineup if you want more chances to win.
You can enter up until Saturday, December 18th at 6:55 pm ET.
OwnersBox Forward Picks
On OwnersBox, you have the option of picking five forwards in all. The forwards can play up to 16 games total. That is the max. Once one exceeds that total, the lineup reverts to the best ball format. Also, one can swap players with a 20% fee. Again note this week that games flow into the Monday following the holiday weekend.
Nazem Kadri, COL ($7,200) - vs TB, DET,BUF, BOS, VGK
If one is just wants to ride the wave, Nazem Kadri plays five times next week and is priced a little low compared to his production volume. The problem with certain laws is that reality does bite. However, it can be good in other ways. Kadri has ten points in his last five games which is something a McDavid, Draisaitl, or MacKinnon normally provides.
The good thing is looking at more numbers as sustainable. Kadri has 11 goals and 37 points in just 23 games. The center has just 15% while in Colorado before. That came two years ago during his first year in town.
Now, could Kadri approach or exceed 15 points per game? Absolutely. His salary here is a risk but again it is that idea of playing five times in a week. It is nice to see the carrot dangled at least for everyone involved.
Max Pacioretty, VGK ($10,500) - vs NYI, TB, LAK, COL
It's been a crazy season for Max Pacioretty. He has 12 goals in 12 games though. This forward is averaging almost 5.5 shots per game in the early going. Yes, that likely does not continue but the winger could come close. Now, there are some wingers who play five games but taking advantage of COVID conditions can be a fun and yet worthwhile gamble. Look at
Anyway, the Vegas Golden Knights play a fun and interesting brand of hockey. All four teams they play next week have the potential to exceed goal expectations. The only risk those New York Islanders who tend to play low-flow hockey. However, Vegas can often just throttle and take advantage of the slower Islanders' team defense.
There are some other ways to utilize Pacioretty in stack-like scenarios. There is Zach Whitecloud, Nic Roy, and even Alex Pietrangelo along with Jonathan Marchessault.
Editor's note: Wait and see what some teams do due to COVID, there will feel like a rotating band of forwards at times.
OwnersBox Defensemen Picks
Roman Josi, NSH ($7,200) - vs CAR, WPG, FLA, DAL
Another week rolls on by and COVID has begun so spike in the truest earnest. The key with this week is to watch out for COVID changes as one will see quite a few changes there.
Overall, Josi stands at 28 points in 29 games. He has ten goals on a whopping 103 shots and the scoring chances are increasing. It is hard to believe that he was languishing last year.
Again, it is the role that helps Josi. He has no choice but to lead by almost himself. Hopefully, COVID protocol does not claim Josi as well. That is the one big hope
Please again note that several nice defensive options are out there this week. The best thing to do is just dig through the interface and explore. It is a different sort of week because of that extra Monday. There will be that three day holiday weekend so expect yes more craziness.
From the cheaper bin err pricing section, Jacob Trouba and Dmitry Orlov are still out there. For those spending at the highest tier, Adam Fox is awfully hard to pass up for the high-paced New York Rangers.
OwnersBox Goaltender Picks
Ilya Sorokin, NYI ($11,200) - vs VGK, MON, WSH, BUF
Cam Talbot is a nice alternative still but Ilya Sorokin could get on a roll with a schedule that expects him to play three out of the four games the New York Islanders are scheduled to play.
The goaltender is 8-7-4 in 19 starts with a sterling 2.40 goals-against-average and a solid .930 save percentage. That is far from average for a goalie who had struggled a bit early on in the season. Sorokin also has 11 quality starts on the season and
Honestly, the winning streak will start eventually and the goaltender has gone on runs like this before. They often extend themselves a bit longer than any streak.
Thatcher Demko, VAN ($10,900) - vs TOR, SJ, ANA, SEA
The Vancouver Canucks are starting to look like a team again the past couple weeks The best part is the Demko comes in at a solid price when it comes to goaltenders on OwnersBox. Demko has stopped 66 of his last 67 shots faced. At the very least, he will face a lot of shots against Toronto especially. Even San Jose could easily top 30 shots on goal later next week.
Another option to watch maybe to just scour for even cheaper backups who just play once. It is a cheap way to stream then play the swap fee to accumulate more points. Among the goalies that may play once. Dan Vladar may be worth it. He is also cheap and will likely draw a very good matchup. Does one risk things and try to play a Jacob Markstrom, or Andrei Vasilevskiy? This week might be a decent gamble.
Sample Lineup
Here's a lineup I built using some of the players from this article and yes, this uses all of the $200,000 cap. This allows some later wiggle room, if needed:
