Underdog Fantasy Champions Picks for November 30th

Four Players to Pick for Saturday's Slate

On Wednesday, it was another successful day of NHL selections, as I hit three of my four picks on Underdog Fantasy Champions Pick ‘Em. The only one I didn’t hit was Jason Robertson under 0.5 points, as he did collect 1 point in the Stars’ 6-2 loss to the Blackhawks in Chicago.

For the year, I’m 7-for-12 in pure pick selection and am 1-for-4, 3-for-4, and 3-for-4 in my last three group selections on Underdog. I will probably create some form to collect and keep track of my Champions picks for this season and see if any trends emerge. I may look at doing something like that next weekend.

With 12 NHL games on Saturday, let’s look at my Underdog Fantasy Champions selections from today’s slate of games. Since fantasy points were an available category today, I decided to focus my picks on over/under fantasy points in this post.

Leon Draisaitl, EDM (Over 8.1 Points)

The second-line Oiler center has been on a tear, as he has 10 points in his last six games, including five goals and five assists. He’s averaging 1.37 PTS/G, a shot percentage of 24.2%, and 3.5 SOG/G over that time frame. Last night against Utah, he scored a goal, had an assist, and had a PPP with 5 SOG. In Underdog fantasy scoring, goals are worth six points, assists are four, shots are worth one, and PPP is worth 0.5. Thus, Draisaitl will get the kind of point volume needed to surpass that 8.1-point mark, especially against an Avalanche team that gives up a lot of goals (3.71 GA/G) and just made a trade with Nashville to shore up their goaltending struggles this season.

Erik Karlsson, PIT (Under 7.5 Points)

Karlsson has recently been playing well for a Penguins team that’s starting to get it together after a slow start. He has six points in his last six games, suitable for a 0.86 PTS/G average. On the other hand, all six of his points have come by assist. He has been averaging 2.4 SOG/G and is seeing a lot of time on the power play with 72.5% PP%. That said, the Penguins just played a challenging game in Boston on Friday night, and I think they may be battling fatigue against a Calgary Flames blue line that only gives up 2.83 GA/G. Hence, it may be difficult for Karlsson to reach that 7.05 mark, especially if he’s not scoring any goals.

Jordan Kyrou, STL (Over 7.0 Points)

I’m leaning on Blues players in fantasy this week, especially with the club returning Philp Broberg on the blue line and the team responding well to new head coach Jim Montgomery.

Kyrou has been okay numbers-wise over the past two weeks. He has four points in his last seven games, with two goals and two assists. He’s also averaging 0.57 PTS/G and 2.4 SOG/G during that span of games. However, what makes Kyrou a nice pickup on Saturday for Champions is the Blues’ favorable matchup against the Flyers. They played against the Rangers in Philadelphia on Friday and now have to play in St. Louis on Saturday night. That presents a tired Flyers team going against a fresh and rejuvenated Blues team that could score big, with Kyrou being the primary beneficiary.

Ryan O’Reilly, NSH (Under 7.5 Points)

The Predators are a bit of a mess right now. Their 19 points are the second-worst mark in the NHL, only one point better than the Chicago Blackhawks. Furthermore, their offense has failed to get going recently, with only six goals in their last three games. O’Reilly, the Predators center, has been doing okay in his previous seven games, with three points and a goal. However, he only has 1.1 SOG/G over that time frame, and his 5-on-5 SH% is paltry at 4.2%. With linemates Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault not exactly lighting things up lately for Nashville, O’Reilly will have a hard time getting points, especially on the road against a Minnesota team that has 34 points, the second-best mark in the NHL.

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