A handful of players could return to action from injuries after the NHL's all-star break. Jason Chen looks over the players to watch for fantasy hockey.
A handful of players could return to action from injuries after the NHL's all-star break. Jason Chen looks over the players to watch for fantasy hockey.
Finally, we can go back to games that actually count for something. With the NHL's All-Star Game cutting last week short, this will be a mini-update for the second part of Week 17 in fantasy head-to-head matchups.
The NHL is using this week for teams to catch up, which means nine teams will play a week-high four games while seven teams will only play one game and return to action Saturday with the extended break. As usual, teams playing four games have a back-to-back set, so look for backup goalies to be in action.
Obviously, those teams aren’t ideal for this week’s matchup except for the Leafs, who play twice in a back-to-back home-and-home against the Blue Jackets, giving them the easiest schedule of the week based on points percentage. (Alternatively, the Jackets have the toughest schedule this week). The Jets and Bruins also have easy schedules facing the Hawks and Capitals, respectively, on home ice.
The extended break means a few players might be returning to action. Some notables:
Forwards
- Valeri Nichushkin, LW/RW, COL – expected to play Tuesday versus Pittsburgh
- Kasperi Kapanen, RW, PIT – game-time decision for Tuesday versus Colorado
- Josh Archibald, LW/RW, PIT – good for hits, game-time decision for Tuesday versus - Colorado
- Wade Allison, RW, PHI – good for hits, game-time decision for Monday versus NY Islanders
- Tyler Johnson, LW/RW, CHI – expected to play Tuesday versus Anaheim
Defense
- Bowen Byram, D, COL – expected to play Tuesday versus Pittsburgh
- Noah Dobson, D, NYI – will travel to Philadelphia, questionable to play Monday
- John Marino, D, NJ – game-time decision for Monday versus Vancouver
- Jarred Tinordi, D, CHI – banger-league material, could possibly return Friday versus Arizona
- Zach Whitecloud, D, VEG – banger-league material, questionable Tuesday versus - Nashville
Goalies
- Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight, G, FLA – both practised Sunday and are expected to return soon
As a side note, the Coyotes have re-assigned top prospect Dylan Guenther to the WHL. He’ll re-join the club next season, barring some sort of emergency call-up.
Here’s your Week 17.5 schedule breakdown.
Legend:
P% = season points percentage
Opp. P% = opponents’ season points percentage
Diff. = difference between P% and Opp. P%
Pick players from teams at the top of the schedule matrix to maximize games and matchups. Green is good. Red is bad. All advanced stats courtesy naturalstatrick.com. All positions and rostered percentages are courtesy of Yahoo fantasy.
Top 10 Weekly Bangers (< 50 percent rostered on Yahoo, on teams with four games this week):
Blocked Shots (BkS/GP):
1. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI (2.39)
2. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, PHI (2.23)
3. Scott Mayfield, D, NYI (2.12)
4. Mikhail Sergachev, D, TB (2.11)
5. Adam Larsson, D, SEA (2.04)
6. Jacob Middleton, D, MIN (1.87)
7. Alexander Romanov, D, NYI (1.85)
8. Jamie Oleksiak, D, DAL (1.74)
9. Dmitry Kulikov, D, ANA (1.72)
10. Nick Seeler, D, PHI (1.71)
Hits (Hits/GP):
1. Nicolas Deslauriers, LW, PHI (3.96)
2. Matt Martin, LW, NYI (3.88)
3. Marcus Foligno, LW/RW, MIN (3.59)
4. Erik Cernak, D, TB (3.18)
5. Brandon Duhaime, LW/RW, MIN (3.04)
6. Sammy Blais, LW/RW, NYR (2.97)
7. Wade Allison, RW, PHI (2.94)*
8. Patrick Brown, C, PHI (2.88)
9. Klim Kostin, LW/RW, EDM (2.85)
10. Adam Larsson, D, SEA (2.80)
*game-time decision for Monday
Short-Term Streamers (< 50 percent rostered on Yahoo):
Dylan Holloway, C/LW, Oilers (One percent rostered)
With four games for the Oilers, Holloway’s an under-the-radar option for some points playing on the top line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. The Oilers have four straight road games, but it’s easy competition since all of their opponents are likely to miss the playoffs.
Eeli Tolvanen, LW/RW, Kraken (12 percent rostered)
Let’s see if Tolvanen can keep his three-game goal streak going. The Kraken are fading again with a 3-2-1 record in their past six games, and they’ll likely face Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin this week.
Josh Bailey, LW/RW, Islanders (One percent rostered)
Bailey’s had a tough season, and he’s reaching close to the end of his NHL career at his current progression. However, he drew the top-line assignment with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat during Sunday’s skate.
Anthony Beauvillier, LW/RW, Canucks (Three percent rostered)
Beauvillier replaced Ilya Mikheyev on the Canucks’ top line, skating with Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. Beauvillier never developed into a scoring winger, but playing with elite offensive talent might change that, and he’ll also factor into the Canucks’ power play.
Vasily Podkolzin, LW/RW, Canucks (15 percent rostered)
Podkolzin was called up after a very good 28-game stretch with AHL Abbotsford. He’ll skate on the third line, but it’s built to score rather than check with Sheldon Dries at center and Brock Boeser on the right wing.