Following American Thanksgiving, we’re back to our regularly schedule programming with Tuesday (10 games), Thursday (10) and Saturday (12) being the busy nights again.

The Kraken are the only team that play just twice in Week 9, and 15 teams play four games. That means there will be plenty of options; if you want to squeeze five games out of a roster spot, you may want to stream a player that plays twice from Monday to Wednesday (Ducks, Flyers, Sabres are ideal) and then another player that plays three times from Thursday to Sunday (perhaps Avs or Panthers).

There is a slight wrinkle where the Hawks play in Los Angeles in consecutive games on Thursday and Saturday, and then there’s an Isles-Lightning and Sabres-Jets home-and-home series, though they have a break in-between. The Isles have arguably the toughest schedule in Week 9 facing the Lightning (twice), Avs and Panthers, and will be without Kyle Palmieri for basically the rest of the season.

Sunday’s eight-game slate also promises a lot of last-ditch opportunities for managers to gain some extra stats. The Panthers and Hurricanes, in particular, would be the teams I would target, though things may change depending on how the start of the week plays out.

All positions and rostered percentages are courtesy of Yahoo Fantasy.

Schedule

Pick players from teams at the top of the schedule matrix to maximize games and matchups. Green is good. Red is bad. Points percentages are as of Sunday morning.

Season-long adds (< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Mats Zuccarello, RW, MIN (26% rostered)

We simply can’t write off Zuccarello, and during the Wild’s seven-game winning streak he put up seven points. Zuccarello provides really solid value in points leagues because he’s such a consistent and elite playmaker, though in multi-category leagues he can get overlooked due to his lack of peripherals, including shots. With a road trip through Western Canada coming up, the Wild should have no problems scoring goals.

Mid-term holds (< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Jared McCann, C/LW, SEA (29% rostered)

McCann returned Wednesday and notched an assist, and also bumped Eeli Tolvanen off PP1. I like McCann because he’s an under-the-radar offensive player, though his fantasy value is sometimes hurt by the Kraken’s desire to spread out the ice time with their balanced depth. McCann notched a point, six shots and six hits in two games last week.

Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (28% rostered)

Perhaps it took Landeskog a month to find his legs, but it is really interesting Landeskog’s numbers have really jumped in November. After scoring just three assists with 17 shots in 12 games in October, Landeskog has scored nine points with 29 shots in 13 games in November with ice time that peaked at 21:11 against the Wild. The Avs are an absolute wagon so nearly every player on that team has fantasy value, but with injuries up front and some added PP1 minutes, Landeskog’s ice time will surely continue to creep up. He’s an intriguing player right now with the potential for more, so he’s worth at least a speculative pickup in deeper leagues.

Beckett Sennecke, RW, Ducks (27% rostered)

An assist against the Hawks on Sunday stretches Sennecke’s points streak to seven games, the most consistent and best stretch of hockey he’s played this season. With the Blues and Mammoth coming up, I think Sennecke has a good chance to keep it going.

Nick Paul, C/LW, TB (5% rostered)  

Paul has scored a point in three straight games and he's filling as the Lightning's 2C with Brayden Point on the shelf. Anthony Cirelli (37% rostered) is also a viable mid-term hold as their 1C, but I do like Paul a bit more because he shoots the puck slightly more and plays with the better PP unit. 

Darren Raddysh, D, TB (37% rostered)

With three assists against the Rangers, Raddysh continues to rake in the points in Victor Hedman’s absence. The Lightning have torn through the league with seven straight victories with an offense that keeps striking despite missing some key players. As long as Hedman is out, Raddysh is worth rostering.

Dan Vladar, G, PHI (44% rostered)

You’ll definitely want to avoid Sunday’s contest against the Avs, but there could be a lot of short-term value at the beginning of the week with the Flyers hosting the Pens and Sabres on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, at home. Vladar has won four straight games with a save percentage no lower than .906 in any of those games. The Flyers have been surprisingly good so far this season and a big reason for that is Vladar’s strong campaign. He’s worth rostering as long as he keeps this level of play.

Cam Talbot, G, DET (27% rostered)

His numbers have not been good and the Wings are mired in a four-game losing streak, but I do see some opportunity with matchups against the Jackets and Kraken on the road; Talbot defeated both teams earlier in November at home. With nine wins in 13 starts, the long-term bet is the Wings realize that Talbot is the better option than Gibson and should get the bulk of the starts. It is frustrating, however, that every time Talbot gets a chance to run away with the starting job, he flubs it.

Short-term streamers (< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL (22% rostered)

At this point of his career, Benn is better suited for a bottom-six role, but in the right situation he can still be effective. Since returning to the lineup, Benn has scored two goals and five points in six games with steady shot volume and hits. The lack of PP TOI is expected, but interesting that Benn is playing L1 with Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen. As long as Benn is in this spot, he’ll produce, though you do wonder if this deployment is just temporary until Matt Duchene returns.

Danila Yurov, RW, MIN (1% rostered)

No C eligibility for Yurov just yet even though he's been their 1C. The production has been modest -- two points in four games -- but I still like the short-term value especially with the Wild going on a trip through Western Canada. Marco Rossi may return soon, and when he does Yurov will certainly see his fantasy value plummet. 

Carter Hart, G, VGK (22% rostered)

Hart has officially been called up to the Knights and may make his debut as soon as Tuesday at home against the Hawks. This will be a major dice roll, but with four losses in their past five, I think the Knights are curious to see what Hart can do. There’s a chance we see a Hart-Schmid tandem until Hill returns. The Knights are a good team and should give Hart a good chance to get wins.

Brandon Bussi, G, CAR (16% rostered)

I thought it was interesting the Canes went back to Bussi on Sunday. Yes, he faced just 13 shots Friday against the Jets and maybe the Canes wanted to see him get more work, but clearly the desire to see Bussi in net again superseded the desire to maintain a strict goalie rotation. There is no timeline for Pyotr Kochetkov’s return, and there is no hurry, so I suspect we will see Bussi at least a few more times. The Canes play a back-to-back at home on the weekend.

Devin Cooley, G, CGY (8% rostered)

I think giving Cooley the net for three straight starts is a short-term blip since Dustin Wolf is their franchise goalie, but there’s no denying Cooley has outplayed him recently. It’s always a wise decision to play the better goalie even if the Flames’ more immediate goal is to secure a higher draft pick. If Cooley gets the road start in Nashville on Tuesday, I think he’d be a solid streaming play.

Thomas Milic, G, WPG (1% rostered)Mats

Milic was tagged with a loss in his NHL debut but I thought he looked good enough that the Jets shouldn’t hesitate to give him another start. Milic held the Canes to just one goal before a four-goal barrage in the third period – two goals in 47 seconds and then another two in the final 1:03 – and finished with a .882 SP on 34 shots. Eric Comrie will likely continue to get the bulk of the starts, but we should see Milic at least once in Week 9, most likely Friday at home against the Sabres in their first game of a back-to-back.

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