Daily Fantasy Hockey 2015: NHL DraftKings Primer for Feb. 18

What a time to be an NHL fan, as Wednesday marks the seventh straight night in which five or more games are on the slate.

Six games are on tap with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast, as the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators face off, the Detroit Red Wings travel to face the Chicago Blackhawks and the Calgary Flames host the Minnesota Wild. At 10 p.m. ET, a trifecta of games will drop the puck as the Edmonton Oilers host the Boston Bruins, the Anaheim Ducks face the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche take on the Los Angeles Kings.

With 12 teams in action, often times a notable player with a great chance to impact the scoreboard can be snatched up on the cheap. Here's a primer for some of the players worth targeting on DraftKings for Wednesday evening.

Pos.	Player (Team)	Opp (OPRK)	Last 10 Games	Salary
C	Anze Kopitar (Kings)	COL (22nd)	1 goal, 6 assists	$5,400
C	David Desharnais (Canadiens)	OTT (18th)	2 goals, 6 assists	$3,600
W	Mike Hoffman (Senators)	MON (11th)	5 goals, 5 assists	$4,500
W	Thomas Vanek (Wild)	CGY (26th)	3 goals, 4 assists	$5,300
D	Torey Krug (Bruins)	EDM (28th)	3 goals, 2 assists	$4,600
D	Tom Gilbert (Canadiens)	OTT (30th)	2 assists	$2,900
G	Jonas Hiller (Flames)	MIN (20th)	6-3-0, 228/246 saves	$7,900

Centers: Anze Kopitar ($5,400) and David Desharnais ($3,600)

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Kings top-line center Anze Kopitar broke his nearly month-long goal drought Monday, but he's shown an increased ability to create chances with six of his 30 assists coming in the last 10 games. He's nearing a pace to set a career high for assists and should help to create more opportunities against an Avalanche squad that has conceded 14 goals in its last four appearances.

Despite a lower price tag, David Desharnais might be a safer bet. The Montreal Canadiens center has broken out over the month of February, scoring twice and adding six assists to go along with a plus-eight rating on the month despite not notching a point in his last three games.

Desharnais' Wednesday night opponent, the Ottawa Senators, gave up six goals at home Monday night to Carolina, so the Canadiens should follow suit and put up plenty of goals.

Wingers: Mike Hoffman ($4,500) and Thomas Vanek ($5,300)

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There aren't many players in all of the NHL hotter than Mike Hoffman at the moment. Ottawa's potent scoring winger has accrued five goals and added five assists in his last 10 games, and he has a great chance to make it three straight games with a goal Wednesday against Montreal.

Thomas Vanek is another good winger buy for Wednesday, as he looks to keep up the pace following a two-goal, one-assist performance on Valentine's Day. He has 12 goals and 24 assists on the season for Minnesota and has been improving game by game.

Defenseman: Torey Krug ($4,600) and Tom Gilbert ($2,900)

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When it comes to defensemen in Daily Fantasy, targeting regular scorers is the way to go, and Torey Krug fits perfectly in that category. He has three goals and two assists in his last 10 games and is coming off a performance Monday night in which he tallied 23:56 of ice time.

Tom Gilbert is a less concrete selection, as he has been playing in replacement of Sergei Gonchar, who is day-to-day after suffering an upper-body injury but hasn't been in the fold in the last few games. If Gonchar doesn't go on Wednesday night, Gilbert will man the second defensive pairing again for the Montreal Canadiens and will be well worth the low price tag.

Goalie: Jonas Hiller ($7,900)

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Calgary Flames goaltender Jonas Hiller helped to save the day by coming on in relief of Karri Ramo in Monday's comeback over Boston, and he's set to get the start Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild, according to the team's Twitter account:

His season record (19-16-2) is more or less average, but the Flames have picked up their play with Hiller in net of late. He's 6-3-0 in his last 10 starts, notching a 2.07 goals-against average in that span with a .927 save percentage.