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Welcome back RotoBallers! The NHL season is now well into December for Week 10 and we have an excellent salary cap contest for you over at OwnersBox!
For those who do not know, OwnersBox is a fantastic weekly fantasy sports platform that offers plenty of game setups to fulfill your desire to draft throughout the season. And the big one that we're focusing on right now: NHL weekly salary cap contests!
In this article, I will be providing you with my weekly fantasy hockey lineup picks on OwnersBox for the Saturday-Friday Contest of the Week for Week 10! (Dec 11-Dec 17). This contest is not anything like a standard DFS contest or your season-long leagues. Read my picks below, and then join us in this tournament as we battle it out for the cash prizes!
$2K Contest for Week 10 Hockey Fans!
OwnersBox is hooking up RotoBaller readers to celebrate the launch of their new salary cap style contests, so be sure to take advantage of these promo offers!
- Join this week's freeroll on OwnersBox - the contest is completely free to enter for new users with code NHL10, and there's a $2,000 cash guaranteed prize pool. You can also enter up to six lineups at $10 per lineup if you want more chances to win.
You can enter up until Saturday, December 11th at 6:55 pm ET.
OwnersBox Forward Picks
On OwnersBox, you have the option of picking five forwards in all. The forwards can play up to 16 games total. That is the max. Once one exceeds that total, the lineup reverts to the best ball format. Also, one can swap players with a 20% fee.
Auston Matthews, TOR ($11,200) - vs CHI, EDM, CGY
If one is just wants to ride the wave, Auston Matthews may just be that player for the next week. Matthews finds ways to score goals. In four games last week, the Toronto Maple Leafs' center had seven points and four goals. If one goes back further, Matthews simply has cranked up the production level.
The good thing is looking at more numbers as sustainable. Matthews is only shooting at 15.2%. His career percentage was 16.5% coming into this season. He has 17 goals on a league-leading 112 shots at press time. Matthews' 12 of his 29 points have come on the man advantage including six of those being goals.
Now, could Matthews approach or exceed 15 points per game? Absolutely. His salary here is a risk but Edmonton and Chicago can allows a lot of goals still. . Also, with Matthews, there are some fun options to stack with William Nylander and even Morgan Rielly.
Artemi Panarin, NYR ($8,200) - vs NSH, COL, ARZ, VGK
It's been an odd sort of season for Artemi Panarin. Last week, the winger had eight points and 11 shots on goal in just three games. The expectation is his numbers should be high this week as well.
Anyway, the New York Rangers play a fun and interesting brand of hockey. All four teams they play next week have the potential to exceed goal expectations. The only risk is Panarin's penchant for points. The Russian has nine goals and 22 assists in 25 games.
There are some other ways to use Panarin like looking at Ryan Strome, Adam Fox, and even Filip Chytil for a fun risk.
Editor's note: Wait and see who Colorado puts out as a center this weekend and week. With injuries mounting, there will be an update.
OwnersBox Defensemen Picks
Nic Hague, VGK ($4,800) - vs MIN, BOS, NJD, NYR
Another week rolls on by and Nic Hague has a nice Week 10 schedule set up with four games in all including one each versus the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
Overall, Hague stands at 12 points in 25 games. He has just three goals on 60 shots but the scoring chances are increasing. It is hard to believe that he was languishing last year.
Again, it is the role that helps Hague. The defenseman has 5+ shots on goal in three of his last five games. It is that volume which gets people encouraged.
Please again note that several nice defensive options are out there this week. Devon Toews plays three times this week like Cale Makar and is $1,600 cheaper while enjoying about the same, overall point production. The struggle to save a little money is weird.
From the cheaper bin err pricing section, Jacob Trouba and Dmitry Orlov are still out there. For those spending at the highest tier, Adam Fox is awfully hard to pass up for the high-paced New York Rangers.
OwnersBox Goaltender Picks
Cam Talbot, MIN ($10,900) - vs VGK, CAR
Cam Talbot is on a roll with six straight wins for the Minnesota Wild. That includes some masterful performances like the one against San Jose on Friday night.
The goaltender is 15-5 in 20 starts with a sterling 2.59 goals-against-average and a solid .920 save percentage. That is far from average for a goalie who had been around a 3.00 just a few weeks ago. Talbot also has 13 quality starts on the season and
Honestly, the winning streak will end eventually but the goaltender has gone on runs like this before. They often extend themselves a bit longer than any streak.
Thatcher Demko, VAN ($10,500) - vs CAR, CLS, SJ
The Vancouver Canucks are starting to look like a team again the past two nights. The best part is the Demko comes in at a pretty cheap price when it comes to goaltenders on OwnersBox. Demko has stopped 66 of his last 67 shots faced. At the very least, he will face a lot of shots against Carolina and Columbus. Even San Jose could easily top 30 shots on goal later next week.
Another option to watch maybe to just scour for even cheaper backups who just play once. It is a cheap way to stream then play the swap fee to accumulate more points. Among the goalies that may play once. Dan Vladar may be worth it. He is also cheap and will likely draw a very good matchup. Does one risk things and try to play an Igor Shesterkin, Jacob Markstrom, or Andrei Vasilevskiy? This week might be a decent gamble.
Sample Lineup
Here's a lineup I built using some of the players from this article and yes, this uses almost all but $900 of the $200,000 cap. This allows some later wiggle room, if needed:
