Fantasy buzz: Donskoi, DeBrusk worth look in deeper leagues

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 picks for Tuesday

CENTER
Value pick: Chris Tierney, SJS ($3,400 at ARI):The San Jose Sharks center has a favorable matchup against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A Plus, NBCSCA, NHL.TV). Tierney has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games and is centering the Sharks third line with wings Joonas Donskoi ($3,500) and Mikkel Boedker ($3,100). Stacking Tierney with Donskoi or Boedker is a high-risk, high-reward strategy; the Coyotes are allowing the second-most DraftKings points to opposing centers.
Spend up for: Claude Giroux, PHI ($6,700 at NYR)
WING
Value pick: Ivan Barbashev, STL ($3,500 at TOR):The St. Louis Blues wing is worth rostering against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, FS-MW, NHL.TV) because he's playing left wing on the Blues top line with exposure to center Paul Stastny ($5,500) and right wing Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,400). Barbashev has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past three games since being promoted to the top line.
Spend up for: Alexander Radulov, DAL ($6,200 at DET)
Worth noting: Nashville Predators wing Viktor Arvidsson (undisclosed) will not play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; SN, FS-TN, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV). Arvidsson's injury leaves another void on Nashville's top line centered by Ryan Johansen ($4,900); the Predators are also without left wing Filip Forsberg (upper body; injured reserve).
DEFENSEMEN
Value pick: Will Butcher, NJD ($3,600 at NYI):The New Jersey Devils have lost six straight games and visit the New York Islanders on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG 2+, NHL.TV). Butcher has three assists and nine SOG in the past four games and is averaging 14:40 per game. He's a sneaky option running the point on New Jersey's second power-play unit with fellow defenseman Damon Severson ($3,100) and forwards Jesper Bratt ($4,800), Brian Boyle ($3,900) and Pavel Zacha ($2,800) against the Islanders, who will be on the second leg of a back-to-back set and have the second-worst penalty kill in the League (73.9 percent).
Spend up for: P.K. Subban, NSH ($5,300 vs. VGK)
GOALTENDER
Juuse Saros, NSH ($7,300 vs VGK):The Predators host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday after a six-day break, and Saros is expected to start over Pekka Rinne. Saros is 2-0-2 over his past five games and has stopped 148 of 154 shots in that span (.961 save percentage). He has helped the Predators earn at least one point in each of his past seven decisions.
READ:
Projected starting goaltenders for Tue. Jan. 16

Sharks forwards Donskoi, Hertl making case for fantasy ownership

San Jose Sharks wing Joonas Donskoi is a prime second-half sleeper candidate. In his past five games, Donskoi has six points (two goals, four assists) and is averaging 15:09.
Donskoi (LW/RW, 4 percent) has 10 goals in 36 games, one shy of his NHL career high (11 in 2015-16) and leads the Sharks in 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes (2.28). He skates on the Sharks third line with center Chris Tierney (2 percent) and Mikkel Boedker (LW/RW, 1 percent). Tierney has five points (three goals, two assists) in the past five games and ranks third on the Sharks in goals (11) behind Logan Couture (17) and Tomas Hertl (12).

The Sharks are tied for fourth with the Vegas Golden Knights in goals per game since Dec. 7 (3.3) and lead the League in power-play goals during the span (19). Hertl (C/LW/RW, 36 percent) leads the team in goals with seven over those 16 games. Hertl plays on the first power-play unit with exposure to fantasy-relevant forwards Joe Pavelski (88th in Yahoo), Joe Thornton (44 percent; 115th), Couture (142nd) and elite defenseman Brent Burns (63rd).
Donskoi and Hertl each is an intriguing option in deeper leagues and remains a DFS value target. The Sharks have four more games this week, and DFS owners should ride the hot hand with Donskoi ($3,900 in DraftKings) against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A Plus, NBCSCA, NHL.TV).

DeBrusk, Krejci finding chemistry on Bruins second line

Boston Bruins rookie Jake DeBrusk is a forward worth monitoring in deeper leagues. In his past five games, DeBrusk has four points (two goals, two assists) and is averaging 15:26.

DeBrusk (LW, 8 percent) plays on the Bruins second line with center David Krejci (22 percent) and forward Ryan Spooner (C/LW, 4 percent). The trio also plays together on Boston's second power-play unit with forward David Backes (C/RW, 47 percent) and rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy (70 percent). DeBrusk ranks 11th among rookie forwards with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) and 10th among all rookies with 88 shots on goal in 38 games.

The Bruins lead the League in goals per game since Dec. 1 (3.7), and Krejci is a proven fantasy commodity when healthy. He missed nearly one month because of an upper-body injury, but has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) and is averaging 17:02 in 18 games since returning Nov. 16. The Bruins power play ranks 11th in the League at 20.7 percent, and Krejci played 4:01 with the man-advantage against the Dallas Stars on Monday. Boston has three games remaining this week, making Krejci and/or DeBrusk worth rostering in many fantasy formats.
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