The big wrinkle in the schedule this week is the Global Series on Friday and Sunday when the Penguins and Predators play a “home-and-home” series in Stockholm. Start times for those games will be early at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET on Friday and 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET on Sunday. Be sure to set your lineups accordingly, especially if you have Penguins players.
The Preds have more recent experience playing overseas, having played in Prague in 2022 and sweeping the Sharks. This is actually the second time the Pens are playing in Stockholm after playing there twice in 2008 for the NHL Premiere. It’s been a long time, but it’s worth mentioning because Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang were on those squads and remain the lone holdovers. This is also the second time the Pens and Preds are playing regular-season games against each other overseas, having opened their seasons in 2000 in Saitama, Japan with a two-game series that they split.
The long travel means the Preds and Pens aren’t ideal streaming options in Week 6. The Preds play an extra game on Monday in Manhattan, which may be a streaming opportunity considering how bad the Rangers have been at home. The Mammoth and Blackhawks are the only two other teams that play just twice this week.
There will be five teams playing a league-high four games, but asides from the Knights, the options aren’t appetizing. The Rangers play two games at home where they’ve scored just six goals – that cold streak will end, but until then it’s best to stay away – while the Oilers and Isles have tough schedules. I think the Jackets have been a little unlucky and remain stuck at .500, and they do have quite a few options for streaming.
Among players who were given additional position eligibility last week include Connor McMichael at C, who will likely remain at center since Pierre-Luc Dubois is out for an extended period of time, and Alex Newhook at LW, which gives him slightly more value because there is more depth at C than LW.
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)
Cole Perfetti, C/LW/RW, WPG (40% rostered)
Perfetti returned to the lineup Sunday, and if you missed out on any of the young breakout stars, Perfetti presents a rare opportunity to make up for it. The Jets’ secondary scoring right now is inconsistent and bordering on non-existent, and I think Perfetti is the best remedy. He’s coming off a 50-point season while averaging just 15:11 TOI/GP with low shot volume. I’d hesitate to say Perfetti is a season-long add without watching him play first, but there’s no harm in being a little aggressive and picking him up as a bench stash.
Evander Kane, LW, VAN (34% rostered)
Note both Brock Boeser (38% rostered) and Conor Garland (36% rostered) are available in most leagues and likely offer more offensive upside, but what Kane provides is higher shot volume and lots of hits. I think the Canucks like the edge that Kane brings to the lineup and he’s averaging nearly 18 minutes per game in a scoring role. I think his scoring touch isn’t what it used to be, but a 20-goal, 200-shot, 200-hit season isn’t out of the question.
Noah Hanifin, D, VGK (47% rostered)
In deeper leagues, Hanifin is an all-round defenseman who can get 30-35 points the rest of the way and add a modest amount of shots and blocks. Without Alex Pietrangelo, both Hanifin and Shea Theodore will taking a lot of his minutes. Hanifin’s upside isn’t high, but I do think he can provide a nice floor as a depth option in fantasy.
Mid-term holds (< 50% rostered on Yahoo)
Pavel Zacha, C/LW, BOS (42% rostered)
Casey Mittelstadt’s injury once again leaves the Bruins another center short, and Zacha is clearly their best option even though Marat Khustnutdinov lines up as their 1C with David Pastrnak. Zacha’s five-game points streak was snapped Saturday in Toronto, but I do think he can be a multi-category contributor scoring at a 60-point pace going forward as long as Elias Lindholm is out.
Chris Kreider, LW, ANA (42% rostered)
News flash: The Ducks are a fun team. Kreider and Troy Terry (60% rostered) have formed quite the scoring line with Leo Carlsson, and I like Beckett Sennecke (6% rostered) as a streaming option on those slower nights, too. Kreider’s insane goals streak is over, but he’s well on his way to another 30-goal season with 200-plus shot volume.
Jack Roslovic, C/RW, EDM (16% rostered)
Roslovic’s four-game points streak was snapped and his ice time fell to 16:29 but it was a blowout loss to the Avs on Saturday. His top-six and PP1 role is relatively safe for now so there’s some offensive upside here. The big change from previous seasons is the increased shot volume, which I think bodes well for Roslovic’s rest-of-season value.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, TOR (28% rostered)
Ekman-Larsson has been tabbed to run the Leafs power play, which is good for his fantasy value, but also bad because it’s been a moribund unit. To Ekman-Larsson’s credit, he had three assists in three games heading into Sunday’s game, though he was forced to leave that game early after blocking a shot. Should Ekman-Larsson escape injury, he has some fantasy value running a talented but underachieving PP unit.
Bowen Byram, D, BUF (12% rostered)
The Sabres only got one power play against the Canes so it was tough to gauge who would replace Rasmus Dahlin, but my sense it’s Byram, and he did edge Owen Power in ice time (1:20 vs. 0:40). I think Byram’s got the better skill set and offensive instincts, but the truth is the Sabres power play has been a bit of a mess all season. Byram’s fantasy value will certainly increase with the added PP TOI, but it’s a question of exactly how much.
I consider Byram more of a speculative add but I’m not too optimistic on the upside; he’s gotten many chances like this before but has never really produced the numbers you’d expect. It’s also possible Byram gets a long, extended look in that spot as there is no timetable for Dahlin’s return while he deals with a personal issue.
Arturs Silovs, G, PIT (30% rostered)
Cracks are starting to show with the Pens losing four of their past five, but three of those were one-goal losses so it’s not like the bottom’s falling out. I’m still somewhat skeptical of the Pens’ ability to sustain this winning pace, and there’s going to be added pressure on Silovs as he handles much of the workload left by the injured Tristan Jarry. At the very least, I expect Silovs to play both games against the Preds in Sweden, and that’s potentially two easy wins there.
Kevin Lankinen, G, VAN (11% rostered)
Lankinen started both games of a weekend back-to-back with Thatcher Demko held out for maintenance reasons. Given Demko’s lengthy injury history, there’s certainly some cause for concern. Should Demko miss more time, expect Lankinen to get the bulk of the starts since it’s clear the Canucks don’t trust third-string Jiri Patera quite yet.
Short-term streamers (< 50% rostered on Yahoo)
Dominic James, C, TB (0% rostered)
James is a very short term, band-aid fix right now with Anthony Cirelli day-to-day. A sixth-round pick in 2022, James signed with the Lightning after his rights with the Hawks expired. He’s up to four points in nine games this season filling in as a top-six center, and I do like his all-round play providing hits, face-off wins and some offense. The Lightning have a favorable schedule coming up especially over the weekend against the underachieving Panthers and shorthanded Canucks.
Carl Lindbom, G, VGK (2% rostered)
If the Knights weren’t concerned about Akira Schmid’s play, I do wonder why they’d alternate starts with Lindbom especially considering the tough competition with two games against the Lightning and one against the Avs. I wasn’t impressed with Schmid against the Ducks – he’s not great at tracking pucks – and I do feel Lindbom will continue to get looks going forward until Adin Hill returns or Carter Hart joins the club.
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