First Puckjuckie Freeroll at Draftstreet.com in the books

Well, when Souray is your top fantasy points skater, you know you are in trouble. Giguere came through with the win as expected, but somehow the well-rested Sens managed only 14 shots on him as they got drubbed 7-1, leading to a disappointing 6 pts for Giguere. The Sens are going to have a llllooonnnngggg year.

Congrats to WChums, victor in the Puckjunkie freeroll tonight. WChums picked up uber heavy weights James Neal (9.4 pts), Matt Moulson (7.9 pts) and Kipper (12 pts) and rode them and a good supporting cast to a close victory over sabresbills04's great draft, Tavares (14.2 pts). I guess the Islanders are for real, and the Flames may be out of their slumber earlier than normal.

Have to say, after my first night, that one-day fantasy hockey salary cap drafts at draftstreet.com are way too much fun. Sign up at any time to find other free and pay-to-play games, and watch for another Puckjunkie.com freeroll later this month. (PJ-Chris)

Team PJ-Jonathan Picks

Cris gave a good summary below, but to summarize: spend $100,000 draft dollars over the following positions: 2 LW, 2RW, 2 C, 2 D, 1G, 1 Flex (utility)?

Skater Scoring:
Shot 0.3 pt
Goal 3 pts
Asst 2 pts
+/- 0.5 pt
PIM 0.25 pt
PPG 0.5 pt
PPA 0.5 pt
SHG 1 pt
SHA 1 pt
Blocked Shot 0.3 pt

Goaltender Scoring:
W 3 pts
GA -1.5 pt
Save 0.3 pts
SO 2 pts

My Draft Summary:

G: J. Halak $16,351 - Dallas is a fairly low scoring team so everything bodes well for a decent amount of points...good value here
D: S. Weber $10,230 - Booming shot, toughness and premium PP time. Why wouldn't you take this guy vs Phoenix
D: S. Souray $6,435 - When Dallas does score there's a good chance Souray is in on it. Great bargain here.
C: P. Sharp $14,398 - Playing against Winnipeg this is a no brainer...great all-round guy.
C: C. Hodgson $5,363 - Needed a low cost option here and not many 2nd line centers are coming in a less than $6k.
LW: A. Ovechkin $14,331 - Ovie's season hasn't really started yet, but a game against the Pens should perk him up.
LW: M. Michalek $9,152 - Another value play here. His season has started off well and will continue tonight vs. Colorado.
RW: C. Stewart $10,223 - Nice mix of points and PIMs.
RW: P. Hornqvist $7,667 - John Franzen Jr. will have a shot at a couple of goals tonight...at least he should.
Flex: A. Babchuk $5,681 - Sometimes it just makes sense to throw a d-man in here. And even a slow-starting Flame isn't a bad option.
Total Salary: $99, 831

Play against us tonight by registering for free at Draftstreet.com. We’ve partnered up with Draftstreet to do a FREE one-day fantasy league. (More details below.) The league closes at puck drop (7:00 pm Eastern).

Team PJ-Chris for Tonight's Draftstreet.com Salary Cap Draft

OK, 10 good games tonight so how to maximize $100,000 draft dollars over the following positions: 2 LW, 2RW, 2 C, 2 D, 1G, 1 Flex (utility)?

Here's what you need to know:

Skater Scoring:

Shot 0.3 pt

Goal 3 pts

Asst 2 pts

+/- 0.5 pt

PIM 0.25 pt

PPG 0.5 pt

PPA 0.5 pt

SHG 1 pt

SHA 1 pt

Blocked Shot 0.3 pt

Goaltender Scoring:

W 3 pts

GA -1.5 pt

Save 0.3 pts

SO 2 pts

Analysis and picks for tonight:

Colorado at Ottawa - Varlamov played great last night but will likely get tonight off versus the weak Sens (although Ottawa pulled out a win on their last outing). Giguere will likely get his first start, he'll see lots of shots, and he'll get the win. He's had success over the Sens in the past. Goalies are expensive and comparatively he's a bargain tonight, freeing up cap space for skaters. Hopefully the key scorers on the Avalanche finally get going.

Flames at Montreal

Even without Cammalleri, the Canadiens at home will have the edge over a struggling Flames team. Plekanec should continue his good play and we'll pick him at centre. No Flames scream out for selection yet. Montreal's Y. Weber is playing well at D and with Spacek out will see more TOI. And he's cheap.

Lighting at NYI

Although the Islanders somehow had Tampa's number last year, Tampa has the ability to score in bunches, even when they lose. The Islanders score a couple and hang on. Tampa breaks out tonight: Stamkos finally scores or gets frustrated and gets PIMs. Either way, his fantasy point total tonight should be his best this season.

Canucks at Wings

Two powerhouses here. Low score. Lots of high salaries with low leverage. Only stand-out value wise is Burrows on LW. PIMs count!

Caps at Penguins

Could be a high-scoring shoot-out, or could be a 2-1 OT win. Too many variables and risks. (You lose points for negative +/-). Can't afford to pick from this match-up.

Oilers at Wild

Dany Heatley once spurned the Oilers and now toils in Wild country. And the Oilers have lost 16 straight at the Xcel Energy Center. These are two considerably different teams from last year, and it should be a good match-up, but let's take Heatley at RW and see if continues his good start. And the Oilers are thin on RW, so Hemsky and Eberle will get lots of ice, and Eberle is cheap.

Kings at Devils

We need a big D-man who blocks the puck and may still contribute offensively: LA's Jack Johnson is good value.

Wow, the salary goes quick: $12, 686 left for two spots. Hmmmm.

Sheldon Souray (Stars) goes into the Flex spot: points, blocks, and PIMs possible.

And Paajarvi (Oilers) goes in as the best available LW for the remaining salary: he may get extra PP time this year.

Draft Summary:

G: Giguere $15,503

D: Y. Weber $6,375

D: J. Johnson $8,707

C: Plekanac $11,431

C: Stamkos $13,409

LW: Burrows $11,526

LW: Paajarvi $5,663

RW: Heatley $12,389

RW: Eberle $7,974

Flex: Souray $6,435

Total Salary: $99, 412 ($588 remaining)

OK, $100k doesn't go very far. We'll see how this first crack at the one day salary cap draft goes.

Play against us tonight by registering for free at Draftstreet.com. We’ve partnered up with Draftstreet to do a FREE one-day fantasy league. (More details below.) The league closes at puck drop (7:00 pm Eastern).

Puckjunkie.com One Day Challenge!

Hey Puckjunkies,

We're back in the blogosphere!

The season is off and running and there are already some recognizable patterns: the Flames have experienced a closed-door post-game meeting with Coach Sutter to discuss two dismal performances to start the season; Rick DiPietro is yet to play in the Islander net; and Tim Connolly (the new, expensive Leaf) started the season on the IR.

But there has also been lots of excitement, with some teams surprising in their first games, and lots of rookies already making their mark.

You've already drafted your fantasy team and settled in for a long season, but you'd also like another chance to test your drafting prowess. Well, now's your chance. Puckjunkie.com staffers will be participating in a FREE one day salary cap draft for this Thursday, Oct 13th. We'll post our picks in the blog and you can draft your own team...and maybe win some real $$$ and bragging rights.

One Day FREE Fantasy Contest - $100 in cash prizes

If you haven’t heard, there is a new trend in the world of fantasy sports. Fantasy enthusiasts all over North America are now participating in daily fantasy leagues for cash on DraftStreet.com. We’ve partnered up with Draftstreet to do a FREE one-day fantasy league with $100 in prizes exclusively for Puckjunkie members.

This is a salary cap league where everyone tries to assemble the best team out of the available players. You will have a $100,000 budget to build a team of 2 LW’s, 2 RW’s, 2 Center’s, 2 Defensive players, 1 Goalie, and a FLEX. Each NHL player has been allocated a price based on their expected fantasy performance. For example, star LW Alex Ovechkin costs $14,331 where as RW Jarome Iginla costs $12,256.

You can adjust your roster up until the contest start’s on Thursday 10/13 at 7:00pm ET at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.

CLICK HERE to sign up for free and register for the Puckjunkie $100 Freeroll on DraftStreet.com.