2024-25 Fantasy Hockey Week 22 Primer and Pickups: 11 Teams Playing Back-to-Backs on Weekends; Jarry and Mrazek Ascend

2024-25 Fantasy Hockey Week 22 Primer and Pickups:

It’s fantasy hockey playoff time.

Most leagues wrapped up their regular season this past week – hopefully you’ve made it this far. If you haven’t, there’s always next season. And the season after that. The one thing about fantasy geeks is that we’re gluttons for punishment, so no matter how frustrating or sad it gets, we’re always back for more. Just imagine yourself being a Leafs fan.

If you have made the playoffs, this is make-it-or-break-it time. Because each week is do-or-die, you’ll have to be pretty ruthless with your roster decisions. Swapping a depth player who plays four games versus a good player but plays two games? You might have to bite the bullet and take that risk because there is no next week.

As usual, below is the Week 22 fantasy schedule and also a breakdown of games per day, games per week and total games remaining for each team. The number of games counted are as of Monday, March 17 to the end of the season on April 17.

Specific teams to target or fade down the stretch will be covered more in depth on the Sleepers and Keepers fantasy hockey podcast, which will be published Monday at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET.

Schedule

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. Points percentages are as of the conclusion of Saturday’s games.

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

Dylan Cozens, C, Senators (41% rostered)

Cozens’ points streak was snapped against the Leafs but still managed to provide a shot, three hits, three blocks and six faceoff wins in just 14:16 TOI. He continues to be a fantastic multi-category contributor and I like the upcoming matchups against the Habs and Devils for some potential points.

Karel Vejmelka, G, Utah (44% rostered)

He’s going to be Utah’s starter the rest of the way, and with no back-to-back until March 27-28, that’s potentially four more consecutive starts. His numbers aren’t always outstanding, but he makes up for it with quantity. It’s conceivable he ends the season in the top 10 in both games started and minutes played. The drawback is 11 of Utah’s remaining 15 games are played on the busy nights.

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

Patrik Laine, LW/RW, Canadiens (40% rostered)

You’ll have to live with a few games every now and then where Laine contributes zero, but his scoring has picked up thanks to the power play. He doesn’t score much at even strength and doesn’t play very minutes, but note in his upcoming games against the Sens and Isles, they rank 18th and 31st on the PK. That bodes well for Laine.

Mackie Samoskevich, RW, Panthers (24% rostered)

Samoskevich was a very popular streaming option in Week 21 for good reason. Since returning to the lineup on Feb. 6, he’s scored six goals and three assists in 12 games while adding 28 shots and 32 hits. He has a plum role on PP1, which is where he gets a lot of his offensive production.

Justin Faulk, D, Blues (22% rostered)

Faulk now has five assists in his past five games, and a lot of that has to do with the Blues power play and how good Dylan Holloway and Jake Neighbours have been lately. I think Faulk is a short-term play rather than a ROS play because the Blues offense isn’t always reliable, but note the upcoming matchups in Week 22 – Preds, Canucks, Hawks – is quite attractive. The Canucks are a tough defensive squad but the Preds and Hawks are particularly vulnerable.

Tristan Jarry, G, Penguins (20% rostered)

Seriously impressive stuff with four straight wins, but with a declining save percentage in each consecutive game, we’re all afraid of where this is headed. However, note the Pens face the Isles and Jackets next, two teams that they’ve had plenty of success against in the past. I’m wary of Jarry, but as I mentioned in the daily articles, I don’t mind riding the hot streak; just pick your matchups wisely. Jarry’s hot streak is no fluke, either, with 7.06 (!) goals saved above average at 5-on-5, per naturalstattrick.com. Even when his hot streak ends, I do think the Pens still prefer him over Alex Nedeljkovic.

Petr Mrazek, G, Red Wings (11% rostered)

We’ll take Mrazek’s shutout against the Knights with a grain of salt; he faced just 18 shots. Regardless, it was very interesting the Wings started Mrazek in three consecutive games. Alex Lyon can be dropped; the Wings never seemed to have a lot of confidence in him and only started him during his hot streaks. Cam Talbot’s been better this season but he’s clearly taken a backseat, and he’s only worth holding if you have the roster space. The Wings have hit a really rough patch and they’re still not great defensively, which hurts Mrazek’s chances of putting up good numbers. Now’s the time to drop them, anyway; the Wings play just twice in Week 22, and they’re tough road matchups in D.C. and Vegas.

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

Darren Raddysh, D, Lightning (11% rostered)

Raddysh’s ice time really fluctuates, depending on how he’s deployed. When the Lightning go with seven defensemen – which Jon Cooper does more often than any other coach, I believe – Raddysh is used more like a forward. He’s ceded the PP2 spot to Ryan McDonagh, but with D position eligibility in Yahoo leagues, it’s actually beneficial because he’s responsible for generating more offense as a forward. He played just 11:27 against the Bruins but scored two points and the Lightning play four games in Week 22. He’s a sneaky add for offense in the ‘D’ position slot.  

Artyom Levshunov, D, Blackhawks (5% rostered)

The Blackhawks are a mess, but Levshunov is worth highlighting since he’s taken over PP1 for Alex Vlasic. He’s their top prospect on the blue line but not their best defender right now by any means, but with nothing to play for, the Hawks are giving Levshunov plenty of looks. He collected his first point against the Canucks on Saturday and averaging 21 minutes per game through three games. His fantasy ceiling is TBD, but so far with one hit and seven blocks, he’s providing value in multiple categories.  

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