Weekend Outlook : Winning the Weekend

Happy Friday everyone! We got a fun weekend slate upcoming here that no doubt will have big fantasy implications with many league standings extremely close.

Ville Husso, Detroit Red Wings (Rostered in 76% of ESPN leagues, 90% Fantrax, 80% Yahoo) 42 starts, 23 wins, 5 OTL, 2.85 GA/G, .907Sv%, 3 SO

He may be the highest rostered goaltender that we’ll highlight here going into the weekend, but I like the upside that Ville Husso has moving forward.

Husso has won eight of his last 10 games and over the past week has sported a .929 save percentage on a Detroit Red Wings team that has been very good as of late. Husso hit a rough patch in December causing a lot of fantasy owners and DFS players to stay away but I think he makes some sense this weekend and beyond. He’ll likely face Tampa on Saturday and sure that’s no cake walk playing this Bolts team, but he will be a unique play for DFS. In fantasy Detroit plays five times next week, and that is going to mean plenty of starts to help fill your roster.

Dan Vladar, Calgary Flames (Rostered in 21% of ESPN leagues, 38% Fantrax, 38% Yahoo) 21 starts, 12 wins, 5 OTL, 2.90 GA/G, .898Sv%, 0 SO

Dan Vladar hasn’t really lit the world on fire in net, but he’s been arguably better than Jacob Markstrom and should start tomorrow against the Colorado Avalanche.

With Markstrom getting the Flames previous start in net against Vegas on a back-to-back, one would have to think that Vladar will be named the starter on Saturday. Like Husso against the Bolts, Vladar going up against the Avs isn’t the easiest task, but I like this for two reasons. One, as we’ve talked about, he’ll see plenty of volume which helps in fantasy and DFS. The second being he’s lower rostered and will be a very unique play. Just eye test, Calgary’s defense has been helping more in their own end to take pressure off whoever starts in net, maybe this is the way this club will look the next month or so? For the time being though I think Vladar makes for a good start if you need someone in net on Saturday.

Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets (Rostered in 3% of ESPN leagues, 29% Fantrax, 12% Yahoo) 25 starts, 10 wins, 3 OTL, 3.10 GA/G, .914Sv%, 0 SO

Okay don’t laugh here, yeah it’s Columbus, but the underlying stats for Joonas Korpisalo haven’t been awful this season despite playing for this Blue Jackets club. That and he is leaps and bounds better than Elvis Merzlikins this season.

The Jackets will have a home back-to-back this weekend with games against Edmonton and Minnesota, with Korpisalo definitely starting one of them. Good news for us here is that Columbus is one of the very few, if not only clubs, that tend to announce who’s starting a day in advance at times. There’s been times this season where they have just gone out and said who will be starting each day and I appreciate that about you, Columbus. Last week Korpisalo looked great with two wins allowing just a goal in each, and I thought last night he looked good against Minnesota, just didn’t really have any offensive help beyond the second period. If he’s the Saturday starter he may be more of a DFS play to get different with a lineup, they’ll be plenty of better spots for fantasy on a busier slate but it’s Sunday where things get interesting. If he starts on the smaller Sunday slate, he may be a good option to see volume and maybe sneak out a win as a lower rostered option.

For continued fantasy news and notes throughout the season, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz