Fantasy buzz: Zibanejad of Rangers, Talbot of Oilers sidelined

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.

6 p.m.

DraftKings picks for Thursday

CENTER

Value pick: Charlie Coyle, MIN ($4,300 vs. VGK):The Minnesota Wild forward has five points (one goal, four assists) in eight games, including three points (one goal, two assists) in five games since returning from a leg injury. In his most-recent game, he was centering a line with Jason Zucker ($5,700) or playing wing with Zucker and center Eric Staal ($6,000). He's averaging 1:27 per game on the second power-play unit with mostly Staal and Zucker since returning. The Vegas Golden Knights are 6-5-1 on the road but have allowed 40 goals in 12 such games (3.3 per game).
Spend up for: Anze Kopitar, LAK ($6,900 at WSH)

WING

Value pick: Alex DeBrincat, CHI ($4,100 vs. DAL):The Chicago Blackhawks rookie has become a must-start player with 11 points (seven goals, four assists), two blocks and 23 shots on goal over his past 10 games. He's playing on mostly the third line with Patrick Sharp and Ryan Hartman but on a power-play unit with Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith of late. He had four points (three goals, one assist) in his most-recent home game, and the Dallas Stars have been outscored 46-29 in 13 road games.
Spend up for: Filip Forsberg, NSH ($7,000 vs. VAN)

DEFENSEMAN

Value pick: Cody Franson, CHI ($3,300 vs. DAL)
Spend up for: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI ($5,400 at CGY):Priced fifth among defensemen Thursday, Ekman-Larsson is a high-floor DFS option worth rostering during his six-game point streak. He has eight points (four goals, four assists), 17 blocked shots and 35 shots on goal over his past 10 games (4.6 DraftKings points per game) with at least 4.5 DraftKings points in seven of the games. He has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) and 57 shots on goal in 26 career games against the Calgary Flames.

GOALTENDER

Pekka Rinne, NSH ($8,100 vs. VAN):The Nashville Predators goaltender is 9-0-1 with a .919 save percentage in 10 home games and 9-1-0 with a .926 SV% in his past 10 games. He leads all starting goaltenders for Thurday in DraftKings points per game (6.2) and will likely have high ownership, but is still worth spending up for on this seven-game night with the Vancouver Canucks playing the final game of a six-game road trip. The Predators are averaging 4.2 goals per game through six home games since acquiring center Kyle Turris ($5,200).
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1:30 p.m.

Zibanejad sidelined for Rangers with concussion

New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad
is out indefinitely with a concussion
. He missed their game against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday because of the injury.
Zibanejad (C, 71 percent owned) has had a breakout fantasy season as the Rangers' top-line center prior to this injury. He ranks 60th overall in Yahoo and leads New York in goals (11), points (22) and power-play points (11).
The Rangers do not have much center depth to begin with and will now rely heavily on a combination of J.T. Miller (C/LW/RW; 35 percent owned), Kevin Hayes (C/RW, 12 percent) and David Desharnais (C, owned in fewer than 1 percent). Desharnais had three assists against the Panthers in Zibanejad's spot alongside Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich at even strength and with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk on the first power-play unit.
Desharnais should be a glaring DraftKings value play again at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
For outside replacement options after you slot Zibanejad onto an IR or IR+ spot in Yahoo, refer to
NHL.com's top 100 forward rankings
and
top 10 waiver wire pickups
for this week.

Talbot placed on injured reserve; Brossoit to start Thursday

The Edmonton Oilers have placed goaltender Cam Talbot
on injured reserve with an upper-body injury
. Backup Laurent Brossoit will start against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, TSN4, NHL.TV).
Talbot was a buy-low fantasy candidate prior to his injury after three straight wins, but the Oilers are now in a serious bind losing their workhorse goaltender. Talbot had the most starts (95) of any goaltender by far over the past two seasons combined. He was 10-10-1 with a .903 save percentage and one shutout in 22 games this season, falling way short of his high average draft position (25.4; 277th in Yahoo).
Brossoit was 4-4-1 with a .928 SV% last season but is 0-3-1 with an .881 SV% this season. He's a risky play for $7,200 in DraftKings against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday considering Toronto has a potent offense and Edmonton has the worst penalty kill in the NHL (73.2 percent). The Oilers have the second-fewest points (22) in the Western Conference, ahead of the Arizona Coyotes (16).

In season-long formats, outside replacement options for Talbot include Tristan Jarry (PIT; 38 percent owned), Anton Khudobin (BOS; 37 percent), Malcolm Subban (VGK; 43 percent) and Aaron Dell (SJS; 22 percent). Staff writer David Satriano has updated
fantasy top 25 goalie rankings after Talbot's injury
.
READ:
Fantasy projected starting goaltenders for Thu. Nov. 30

Trade impact: Vatanen to Devils; Henrique to Ducks

Right-shooting defenseman Sami Vatanen has been traded to the New Jersey Devils from the Anaheim Ducks for forwards Adam Henrique and Joseph Blandisi.
Vatanen (12 percent owned in Yahoo) and Henrique (C, 13 percent) each has renewed fantasy appeal after this change of scenery. Read more about the
fantasy implications of this trade
.