Underdog Fantasy Champions Picks for December 28th

Four Players to Pick for Saturday's Slate

Due to the busy nature of the holidays, I couldn’t create a set of Saturday picks last week. However, I did have one on December 14th, as I went two-for-four (again) in my Underdog Fantasy Champions picks.

I initially thought I got the three-for-four threshold that would net me some money. However, the official scorer pulled a secondary assist for Vegas’ Mark Stone in the Golden Knights-Oilers game. Thus, I ended up coming up empty money-wise on those Saturday picks. Those are the breaks sometimes.

At some point next week, I will do a collective look at all of my Champions picks and see what my success percentage has been this season. Until then, I will share my Underdog Fantasy Champions picks for this week, with my focus on being on points as well as defensemen.

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Shayne Gostisbehere, CAR, Higher 0.5 Points

Gostisbehere has been on a cold streak recently, with zero points in his last four games. He also had a pretty ho-hum performance in the Hurricanes’ first game back from the holiday break, with his lone stat being a hit in 15:52 TOI. He lost some power-play time against the Devils on Friday, as his 42% PP was his lowest percentage of the season. That is something to watch in the long term, especially for those who roster Gostisbehere in their fantasy leagues.

However, Gostisbehere has been stellar for Carolina in the power play. He is second on the Hurricanes with 18 PPP this season (only one PPP behind leader Martin Necas). In a back-to-back game with New Jersey, I see Gostisbehere returning to where he was on the power play and breaking his scoring streak against the Devils in Raleigh.

John Carlson, WAS, Higher 0.5 Points

Carlson is also on a cold streak for the Capitals, with zero points in his last five games. Like the Carolina defenseman, the 35-year-old Washington blue-liner is the Capitals’ power-play quarterback. He leads defensemen in PP TOI with a 3:16 mark and has eight PPPs this season (in addition to 23 points overall).

Carlson’s SH% is 3.7% this year (5.7% last year), but his SOG/G is up at 2.4 (from 2.1 last year). He is also averaging 0.68 PTS/G and is on pace for 55 points over 82 games, a three-point improvement from last season. The Capitals will be going against a Maple Leafs team that just played in Detroit on Friday, and their 81.3% PK% over the past two weeks has been mediocre. Thus, this matchup could be a prime opportunity for Carlson and the Capitals offense (seven goals in the last three games) to snap out of the cold streak.

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Charlie McAvoy, BOS, Higher 0.5 Points

The Bruins blue liner has been on a tear. He has scored five points in his last six games, though his five-game points streak did end on Friday on the road against Columbus (Boston lost 6-2). McAvoy has been an assist machine lately, with five assists in his last six games and all his points coming in even-strength situations.

It’s been a down year for McAvoy. He’s only averaging 0.43 PTS/G (16 points total this year), and his 82-game points pace is 35, down from 52 a season ago. His SOG/G of 2.0 is slightly up from last year (1.8), but his SH% of 6.8% is 2.2% down. His PDO (1015) and CF% (49.3%) are roughly similar to what he did last year, so it seems like positive regression is finally coming to fruition after such a slow start. Despite the rough Friday night, McAvoy should get back into form in a return to the Garden, especially against the Blue Jackets, whom they played the previous night.

MacKenzie Weegar, CGY, Higher 0.5 Points

The Flames’ first game after the holiday break will be today, as they travel to San Jose. Restarting after the holiday layoff on the road (and in a late game to boot) doesn’t seem advantageous, but the Sharks are coming off a tough 6-3 loss against Vegas on Friday. They also may be short-handed, with Jake Walman not playing last night and questionable for tonight (following the Sharks on Gameday Tweets will be essential today).

Weegar is a second-line defenseman for the Flames, but he’s seen a lot of time on the power play for Calgary. He’s averaging 2:39 PP TOI this season and a 55.8% PP%, both significant increases from a season ago. The Canadian blue liner has scored 18 points this year and is averaging 0.53 PTS/G, and has eight PPP (0.24 PPP/GP). He should get plenty of scoring opportunities tonight against the Sharks, who averaged the third-most SH time (5:33) and been mediocre in the penalty kill (75.6% PK%) over the last month.

Photo Credit: Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers