10 Most Undervalued Players in Fantasy Hockey

Apr 13, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; New York Islanders center Frans Nielsen (51) waits for the official to drop the puck for a face-off against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center. Islanders beat Buffalo 4 to 3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

9. Frans Nielsen, Centre, New York Islanders

When it comes to the Islanders, most will focus their attention to superstar John Tavares or his wingman Kyle Okposo. While that attention is certainly warranted, it often causes people to overlook the value that Frans Nielsen could provide in the later rounds.

Nielsen is a very versatile player for the Islanders, logging top unit minutes on both the penalty kill and powerplay. If your league counts special teams goals or points, that’s excellent news considering he averaged over two minutes on the PK and over three minutes with the man advantage, where he produced 20 points, the second-highest total on the team (Tavares, 25).

He also ranked third on the team by a wide margin with 58 points, outscoring players likely drafted ahead of him like Jeff Carter, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Scott Hartnell.

Nielsen is also quite durable, missing just two games in the last three years.

With a stronger supporting cast, he should be able to provide you with at least similar, if not better value than last season. He would be an especially astute pick-up for any Tavares owners as he would likely get first line minutes in the event of another injury to the Isles’ franchise player.