If your fantasy hockey team is still alive in the playoffs, Jason Chen gives the rundown of what to expect this week in the NHL with potential players to add.

The quirk about Week 23 is that no team plays fewer than three games. The regular season will end in less than a month, and by now, you should be in the midst of the fantasy hockey playoffs. 

It’s do-or-die time, and with no more than five games on either Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday, be sure that your roster isn’t completely empty on those days. With 26 teams in action on Tuesday and 30 teams on Saturday, most fantasy rosters will be full.

It's also worth noting the Hurricanes have the hardest schedules this week, with a home-and-home series against the Rangers and then hosting the Leafs and Bruins on back-to-back nights. They’re already lost three of their past five, including two shutout losses and a loss to the Leafs, and Frederik Andersen is slumping at a pretty bad time. It might not be a bad idea to fade the Canes this week.

Here’s your Week 23 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. Chris Tanev, D, CGY (2.05)

2. Connor Murphy, D, CHI (1.91)

3. T.J. Brodie, D, TOR (1.89)

4. Travis Hamonic, D, OTT (1.88)

5. Mark Giordano, D, TOR (1.85)

6. Justin Holl, D, TOR (1.84)

7. Jake Sanderson, D, OTT (1.78)

8. Colton Parayko, D, STL (1.76)

9. Tyler Myers, D, VAN (1.75)

10. Brian Dumoulin, D, PIT (1.71)

Hits (Hits/GP):

1. Luke Schenn, D, TOR (4.61)

2. Radko Gudas, D, FLA (4.19)

3. Liam O’Brien, LW/RW, ARI (3.84)

4. Jeremy Lauzon, D, NSH (3.64)

5. Jamie McBain, C, ARI (3.53)

6. Sammy Blais, LW/RW, STL (3.35)

7. Kyle Burroughs, D, VAN (3.34)

8. Josh Archibald, LW/RW, PIT (3.28)

9. Garnet Hathaway, RW, BOS (3.27)

10. Jarred Tinordi, D, CHI (3.26)

Goalies:

Joel Hofer, Blues

Hofer was outstanding in both of his starts, allowing just two goals on 67 shots (.970 SP), further cementing his place as Jordan Binnington’s backup next season. 

With the playoffs out of reach, the Blues may want to give Hofer additional looks even though carrying three goalies is unwieldy, not to mention AHL Springfield will need Hofer for their playoff run. With Hofer, the Blues have a talented young goalie on a hot streak who’s worth streaming, and two games against the Wings and another against the Ducks this week present some favorable matchups if he stays with the big club.

Alex Stalock, Blackhawks

The Hawks don’t play a back-to-back until the weekend, which means Stalock will be the starter for at least another week while Petr Mrazek is injured. Anton Khudobin was called up to be the backup, but he last saw action in the NHL two seasons ago, and he has a .899 SP the AHL this season. 

The Hawks have a pretty tough schedule this week – and it always will be when you’re one of the NHL’s worst teams – but perhaps Thursday against the Caps, who may not have Evgeny Kuznetsov due to injury, and the visiting Canucks on Sunday, who are playing the second half of a back-to-back with travel, would be worth streaming.

Short-Term Streamers (< 50 percent rostered on Yahoo):

Owen Tippett, LW/RW, Flyers

Tippett scored a hat trick against the Sabres and followed that up with two helpers against the Canes. On a team short on offense, Tippett won’t get much help, but the upside is that he gets tons of playing time. He went from averaging around 16 minutes for most of the season to over 21 minutes per game through eight games in March. It’s more about quantity than quality with Tippett’s fantasy value. Over the past two weeks, no one has recorded more shots than Tippett’s 36.

Mid-Term Holds (< 50 percent rostered on Yahoo):

Barrett Hayton, C, Coyotes

I’ve been banging the drum on Hayton and Nick Schmaltz all season, and the tune has not changed. It’ll be a tough week with the Oilers and Avs, but Hayton’s proven that he should be worth rostering for the rest of the season as long as he centers Clayton Keller.

Alex Killorn, LW/RW, Lightning

A goal Sunday against the Devils was Killorn’s seventh in his past 10 games. He was quiet for most of the season, but now that the playoffs are around the corner, the wily veteran seems to have ramped up his play. The Lightning face a tough matchup Saturday against the Bruins but visit the Habs on Tuesday and the Sens on Thursday, both potentially high-scoring games.