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Chris Wassel highlights his top OwnersBox NHL lineup picks for Saturday-Friday of Week 13 of the NHL season. Enter the $2K fantasy hockey contest on OwnersBox for free!
Welcome back RotoBallers! The NHL season heads into January for Week 13 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 13! (Jan 1-Jan 7). 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!
Some games could be postponed due to COVID concerns. Also, some players are expected to come and go from the COVID protocol as well.
$2K Contest for Week 13 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, January 1st at 12:55 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 starts on Saturday afternoon.
Mika Zibanejad, NYR ($7,200) - vs TB, EDM, VGK
If one just lets Zibanejad, who plays with Artemi Panarin at times, play then he should be fine. The only potential game that may be problematic is the Edmonton Oilers. However, they are on their long East Coast road trip and will be in the area. Zibanejad should have a solid matchup in all three games and at a reasonable price.
The good thing is looking at more numbers as sustainable. The center has eight goals and 27 points in 31 games. Zibanejad has six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in his last three games at press time.
Now, could Zibanejad approach 12-14 points per game this week? That answer is yes.
David Pastrnak, BOS ($9,200) - vs BUF, DET,NJ, MIN
It's been a crazy season for David Pastrnak. Now, it has been more than two weeks since Pastrnak even played in a game. It looks like that will finally happen.
Anyway, the Bruins have very good matchups all week. Playing three of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference helps and then Minnesota can give up some goals as well. At least, Pastrnak does not have to worry about facing too much stiff competition.
There are some other ways to utilize Pastrnak in stack-like scenarios. His linemates as far as Bergeron and Marchand have come down in price. Then again, the winger is not going to shoot around 7% forever either.
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
Adam Fox, NYR ($7,500) - vs TB, EDM, VGK
Again, beware of COVID and the NYC area.
Overall, Fox stands at 31 points in 31 games. He has five goals on 60 shots but the scoring chances are increasing. It is hard to believe that he went from barely noticed to Norris Trophy winner last season.
Again, it is the role that aids Fox. Fox is just used to playing one way and that is to create scoring chances and opportunities. The crazy notion is that Charlie McAvoy is out there and he plays four times this week.
Please again note there are some other 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 COVID and the early Saturday start. Just remember that when making rosters.
From the cheaper bin err pricing section, Damon Severson is out there and Morgan Reilly too. Again, this is about being a bit different this week when it comes to selections.
OwnersBox Goaltender Picks
James Reimer, SJS ($10,600) - vs PIT, DET, BUF
James Reimer is a solid option this week in most of these leagues. The funny part is that San Jose should see a few more shots than usual this week.
The goaltender is 11-5-1 in 1 with a sterling 2.26 goals-against-average and a solid .928 save percentage. That is far from average for a goalie who had struggled a bit early on in the season. Reimer also has 12 quality starts on the season and is poised to add to that total.
Honestly, the goaltender has won four of his last five games and has faced 34 or more shots three times in that span. The idea is to look for goalies who can face a lot of shots and be able to still have a higher chance to win games.
Thatcher Demko, VAN ($10,900) - vs SEA, NYI
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 is rolling along and has now won six straight games. Vancouver had won seven of their last eight heading into this weekend.
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. Jonathan Quick and even Semyon Varlamov may be worth it. Both are solidly priced and will likely draw good matchups. 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 but $100 of the $200,000 cap. This allows some later wiggle room if needed:
