Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Primer: Blackwood or Vanecek?

Welcome back. After the three-day holiday break, the NHL returns to its usual schedule. 

With the Sabres-Blue Jackets matchup postponed, Tuesday will feature 11 games instead of 12, followed by 11 games on Thursday and then 12 games on Saturday. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday will be a light slate again. This year’s Winter Classic will be played the day after New Year’s Day on Monday, Jan. 2, making it a Week 13 matchup.

Since Monday was part of the holiday break, we’re looking at a condensed schedule again with only six days of action. The Sabres were supposed to be one of four teams playing a week-high four games this week, but they will end up playing just three games, and more games may be postponed if the snow doesn’t clear up over the next few days. More games may get postponed, so perhaps it’s wise to avoid the Ontario and New York teams facing travel this week.

The Jackets now join the Flyers and Ducks with the lightest schedule with just two games. None of them have provided any noteworthy fantasy options this season, save for perhaps Travis Konecny, who is overlooked for playing on a bad team but is otherwise on pace to have a career season.

Here’s your breakdown for this week.

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 Banger Picks (< 50 percent rostered on Yahoo, on teams with four games this week):

Blocked Shots (BkS/GP):

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Hits (Hits/GP):

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Goalies:

Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood, Devils

The return of Blackwood certainly complicates things for Vanecek’s fantasy value. Vanecek was supposed to have a firm hold on the No. 1 job, but just before Blackwood’s return had lost five of his past six games. Vanecek was pulled after two periods in a 4-1 loss to the Canes, with Blackwood appearing in relief. In his start the night after, he stopped 34 shots in a 4-2 win against the Panthers. It earned Blackwood another start, but he struggled, allowing four goals in 18 shots before Vanecek replaced him.

It’ll take some time for Blackwood to get into a rhythm, but Lindy Ruff’s quick trigger showed that he wouldn’t be particularly loyal to either goalie. The path going forward is likely to be “win and you’re in.” Don’t forget that Vanecek can be streaky and that he was let go by the Caps last summer for a good reason. Vanecek has more fantasy value at this point as the presumptive 1A, but it could be a situation where fantasy managers are better off rostering both goalies if they can.

Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov, Hurricanes

Raanta took both the back-to-back starts before the holiday break, which showed us two things: one, Frederik Andersen is not healthy enough to even dress as the backup with Pyotr Kochetkov feeling less than 100 percent, and two, Raanta’s not going to be their guy going forward due to his pedestrian play. If there is to be a three-man rotation, Kochetkov deserves to be the top option with Raanta and Andersen fighting over the leftover starts. I would still buy Kochetkov’s fantasy value right now, with perhaps only a bit more caution going forward.

Pheonix Copley, Kings

Jonathan Quick showed well against the Coyotes despite the loss, but there’s still a chance Copley grabs a big chunk of the starts going forward. Copley has won four straight games and finished with a sub-.900 save percentage in one start. The offense provides enough goal support, and even if Copley doesn’t take the starting job, his presence seems to have at least pushed Quick to play a little better. Strange to see the Kings second in the Pacific despite such terrible goaltending for most of the season.

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

Erik Gustafsson, D, Capitals

Gustafsson presumably steps in as their PP QB, with John Carlson out indefinitely after getting hit in the head by an errant shot from Brenden Dillon. Dmitry Orlov will certainly get some looks, but his all-round game will be leaned on in other situations, so Gustafsson might see the bulk of Carlson’s power-play minutes. There will be a big fantasy boost to whoever is setting up Alex Ovechkin on the Caps’ PP.

Long-Term Holds (< 75 percent rostered on Yahoo):

Travis Konecny, RW, Flyers

It’s a little perplexing that Konecny is rostered in 62 percent of all Yahoo leagues. He’s scoring at better than a point-per-game pace and offers up a fair amount of shots, hits and blocked shots to be equally valuable in roto leagues. He gets overlooked because the Flyers aren’t very good, but note he’s getting more ice time than ever under John Tortorella.