Fantasy buzz: Impact of Matthews returning for Maple Leafs

All season long, NHL.com's fantasy hockey staff will have you covered with daily lineup news, production trends and injury notes from around the League. We will identify how these developments affect fantasy owners in year-long (Yahoo) and daily (DraftKings) formats.

DraftKings value picks for Saturday (7 p.m. ET)

CENTER
Value pick: Brian Boyle, NJD ($3,500 vs. CHI): The New Jersey Devils forward has been one of the feel-good stories of the season and is a DFS value pick against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, WGN, NHL.TV). Boyle has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past 10 games and a three-game point streak totaling three goals, four assists, two power-play points and nine shots on goal. He is skating on the Devils' first power-play unit and has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) and 25 shots on goal in 11 home games (4.2 DraftKings points per game).
Spend up for: Vincent Trocheck, FLA ($6,700 vs. OTT)

WING
Value pick: Kevin Labanc, SJS ($3,500 vs. LAK):The San Jose Sharks forward has stepped up on the Sharks second line with center Logan Couture (concussion) sidelined. Labanc has back-to-back multipoint games totaling one goal, five assists (three on power play), and seven shots on goal. He has scored points in four of his past six games (one goal, eight assists), and nine of his 17 points have come on the power play. Labanc has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) and seven power-play points in 15 home games.
Spend up for: Kevin Fiala, NSH ($5,600 at DAL)

WORTH NOTING: Minnesota Wild wing Nino Niederreiter is day to day with an ankle injury and will miss their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-N, NHL.TV). Joel Eriksson Ek ($3,000) is projected to replace Niederreiter alongside Eric Staal ($6,300) and Charlie Coyle ($4,500) on Minnesota's second line. Eriksson Ek has two assists and 10 shots on goal in his past six games.
DEFENSEMEN
Value pick: Matt Dumba, MIN ($4,700 at TBL):The Minnesota Wild defenseman had a power-play assist and two shots on goal against the Florida Panthers on Friday, extending his point streak to four games. Dumba has three goals, two assists, nine blocked shots and 10 shots on goal on his current scoring streak, averaging more than 5.5 DraftKings points per game over that span. He is skating on their top pair and first power-play unit with Ryan Suter ($4,900).
Spend up for: Victor Hedman, TBL ($6,700 vs. MIN)

GOALTENDER
Frederik Andersen, TOR ($7,600 at NYR):The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender had another strong game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, stopping 32 of 33 shots faced in an 8-1 win. Andersen is 6-3-1 with a 2.19 goals against average and .939 save percentage in his past 10 games, averaging 6.4 DraftKings points per game in that span. He defeated the New York Rangers on Oct. 7 and is 9-6-1 with a 2.45 goals against average and .929 SV% in 16 road games.

Matthews to return against Rangers on Saturday

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews
will return to their lineup against the New York Rangers
on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, MSG, NHL.TV). Matthews has missed Toronto's past six games because of an upper-body injury sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 9.
Matthews was a top 30 fantasy player based on standard-category performance before his injury with 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists), six power-play points and 80 shots on goal in 26 games. Eleven of his 13 goals have come at even strength, and he is shooting 16.3 percent, higher than the 14.3 percent from his rookie season when he scored 40 goals. Matthews has missed 10 games because of injury this season and has dropped him to 95th in Yahoo.
The 20-year-old will be worth spending up for in DraftKings ($7,400). He is averaging 4.1 DraftKings points per game, eighth-best among centers for Saturday. The Rangers allow the sixth-most DraftKings points to opposing centers. Matthews skated with frequent linemate Zach Hyman (C/LW, 10 percent owned in Yahoo, $3,500 in DraftKings) and William Nylander (C/RW, 92 percent owned, $4,800) at practice Friday, making each an appealing DFS value pick.
Nylander (135th in Yahoo; average draft position: 51.0) has fallen short of fantasy expectations but is still on pace for 52 points over 82 games. He has points in back-to-back games and remains a buy-low candidate in the hope that Matthews sparks the production of his linemates. Hyman (211th in Yahoo) is tied for second on the Maple Leafs with a plus-9 (Matthews is plus-13), and scored four points (one goal, three assists) in Matthews' six-game absence.

Keller heating up again for Coyotes

Arizona Coyotes rookie forward Clayton Keller had one goal, one assist and six shots on goal in their
3-2 win against the Washington Capitals
on Friday. The multipoint game extended his point streak to four games totaling two goals, three assists, one power-play point and 12 SOG.
Keller (C/LW/RW, 50 percent owned) has seen his ownership in Yahoo leagues drop recently after a hot start, but is worth owning in more leagues after his bounce-back stretch. He has 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists), third among rookies behind Brock Boeser (33) of the Vancouver Canucks and Mathew Barzal (32) of the New York Islanders. His minus-19 makes him somewhat of a liability in shallow formats, but he leads all rookies with 105 SOG and has added value in a points-only league.

He is skating on Arizona's second line with Max Domi (LW, 33 percent) and Christian Fischer (RW, 1 percent). Keller ($4,800 in DraftKings) is a value wing against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, ALT 2, NHL.TV). He has 13 points (eight goals, five assists), 48 shots on goal and is averaging 4.0 DraftKings points per game in 16 home games. He has three points (one goal, two assists) and 10 SOG in five games played on no days rest.
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