Underdog Fantasy Champions Picks for November 23rd
Four Players to Pick for Saturday's Slate
My first Underdog Fantasy Champions pick on this publication was rough, as I only hit one of four (Aleksander Barkov for over 2.5 shots). So, I will try it again for the Saturday slate with a different strategy and focus on picks.
I decided to focus only on fantasy points regarding my selections.
I play the Saturday Slapshot, an NHL daily “best ball” format in which you draft a team for the day in six-team draft rooms. I feel I have a better feel for picking players based on the Underdog fantasy point system, as I have had success in these best ball formats, not just in NHL but in MLB, NBA, and NFL drafts.
For context, here is my Saturday Slapshot team for today’s slate.
And here’s how the draft went. I picked fourth in this particular Saturday Slapshot draft.
It wasn’t my best draft, as I got sniped on two picks, particularly Alex Tuch in round five and Rasmus Dahlin in round three. I planned to pick both, but the team selected them before me in those rounds. The timer is only 30 seconds, so you must pivot quickly when your ideal queue doesn’t quite pan out.
Anyway, I planned on targeting fantasy points for my over/under picks in the Underdog Fantasy Champions today with the hope that my familiarity with Underdog Fantasy scoring will help me succeed more in today’s contest than Thursday’s.
For context, this is how fantasy scoring works in Underdog for hockey:
Skaters (points)
Goal: 6.0
Assist: 4.0
PPP: 0.5
Shot: 1.0
Block: 1.0
Hit: 0.5
Goalie (points)
Win: 6.0
Save: 0.6
Goal Against: -3.0
Here are the four players I selected for Champions on Saturday.
Macklin Celebrini, SJS, Over 7.0 Points
Please put me on the Celebrini bandwagon, especially after his performance against St. Louis, where he had two assists, 1 PPP, and 3 SOG (though to be honest, it’s not hard to get on the bandwagon as a Sharks fan). He had a bit of a dud against Dallas with only 1 SOG and little else, but he did have one goal and six SOG against Detroit at home. The Sharks are retiring Joe Thornton’s number on Saturday against Buffalo, and I think Celebrini plays off the energy and surpasses that seven-point mark.
Nathan MacKinnon, COL, Under 10.55 Points
MacKinnon has been sensational this year. He has 18 points in 10 games, suitable for a 1.80 PTS/G mark. Most of his points have been assists, as he has 16 assists to two goals. The Avs have a tough matchup tonight as they go against Sergei Bobrovsky and the Panthers in Florida. MacKinnon only has a 5.6% SH% this year, so I feel good that he’s not going to get a goal, and I think the Panthers’s defense keeps him and the Avs in check tonight (or at least in single-digit fantasy points for MacKinnon).
Jack Eichel, VGK, Over 9.55 Points
I’m invested in Eichel tonight. Not only do I have him in my season-long Yahoo head-to-head categories league, but I also selected him for my Saturday Slapshot draft today. Thus, I decided to lean in and pick the over on fantasy points for the 28-year-old Golden Knights center. He’s on a hot stretch with 13 points in his last eight games, and he had a goal and four SOG against Ottawa on Thursday. Montreal has been a little hard to predict, as they’ve been playing better lately, but I like Eichel scoring and garnering enough in other categories to surpass that 9.55 mark against the Canadiens.
Justin Faulk, STL, Under 7.05 Points
Faulk has been pretty frigid this year for the Blues, especially lately. He has zero points in his last 13 games played. He will get some banger stats, as he has five hits and three blocks in his previous three games. He also has 11 shots in his last three contests, which is serviceable for a blue-liner. However, he’s been pretty absent on the point-scoring end, and I don’t think that improves against the Islanders on the road. Thus, that puts a lot of pressure on him to hit that fantasy point mark on banger stats and shots, which may be too big of an ask from the 32-year-old.
Photo Credit: David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images