2026-27 NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 1 Primer And Pickups

Fantasy hockey’s back!

As I’ve done for the past few seasons, the weekly primer will be published Sundays before the start of every weekly matchup in head-to-head leagues, highlighting the upcoming games for the week and offering suggestions for season-long adds, mid-term holds and short-term streamers.

It’s pretty self-explanatory, but season-long adds are players who I think are worth rostering all season even with volatile production, mid-term holds are players who are worth picking up with a wait-and-see approach to see if they’re worth rostering long term, and short-term streamers are goalies worth streaming or players on a hot streak for a week or two.

In case you missed it, I outlined five regression candidates, top 10 sleepers and notable rookies, top 10 breakout candidates, and also ranked the top 10 at each position: centers, left wingers, right wingers, defensemen, and goalies.

As has been the case in the past five seasons, the 2026-27 season will begin on a Tuesday on Sept. 29, a week earlier than usual to accommodate the new (old?) 84-game schedule. With no Olympic or international breaks, the h2h fantasy season is expected to run 23 to 24 weeks, depending on your league settings.

With five games on Tuesday, note the deadline for all 32 teams to submit their rosters is Monday at 5 p.m. ET. As of this publication, rosters have not been finalized.

The quickie notes for Week 1:

- The Canucks and Rangers both play a league-high four games each, so if you’re looking to squeeze an extra game out of your roster, consider: the Rangers’ Oliver Bjorkstrand, RW; Eeli Tolvanen, LW/RW; Noah Laba, C; Sean Durzi, D; and the Canucks’ Liam Ohgren, LW and Linus Karlsson, RW. I expect all to play middle-six minutes (or top-four for Durzi) with some PP2 and PK. Ohgren has the most upside given his role and preseason performances.

- The Sens play only once in Week 1 on Saturday, which means their depth players aren’t an option at all this week. If you’re wondering about William Eklund, LW/RW or Carter Yakemchuk, D, you can wait another week.

- Rangers, Canucks, Bruins, Canes, Flames, Flyers, Kraken, Leafs, Mammoth, Stars, Blues and Caps all play back-to-back, so we’ll get a look at some backups and goalie rotations early. Be quick on the trigger if Pyotr Kochetkov, Joseph Woll, and/or Anthony Stolarz play well. More on Kochetkov below.

Good luck this season and I’ll see you again next week. Enjoy the games!

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 from the 2025-26 season.

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

Dylan Strome, C, WSH (43% rostered)

Not sure how the Caps’ 1C slipped but Strome offers a minimum of 60 points, L1 and PP1 deployment, and a ton of faceoff wins. He’ll be the Caps’ top scoring center and should be rostered in all 10 to 12-team leagues. I suspect he’ll ‘graduate’ from this list by Week 2 or 3.

Alex Laferreire, C/LW/RW, LA (39% rostered)

If you’re looking for a useful bench player in multi-category leagues, Laferriere offers 20-goal, 200-shot, 200-hit potential. With triple-position eligibility, he’s the ultimate Swiss army knife on your roster with top-six minutes and some PP2. I predict he’ll be snapped up in over half of Yahoo leagues by the end of the month.

Kevin Fiala, LW, LA (38% rostered)

Fiala’s a notoriously slow starter and will miss at least the first month of the season recovering from a fractured leg suffered at the 2026 Olympics, so just stash him on your IR. Career 294 points in 431 games (0.68 P/GP) from October to January, and then 234 points in 276 games (0.85 P/GP) from February to May.

Luke Evangelista, LW/RW, NJ (38% rostered)

He’s terrific in transition, which is where the Devils should thrive. Evangelista had a breakout season with the Preds last year (56 points in 81 games) and offers 60-point, 200-shot upside as long as he can get consistent top-six minutes. It looks like he’ll open the season on L2 with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, but the big bonus is playing PP1 with Jack Hughes.

Will Cuylle, LW/RW, NYR (34% rostered)

Given the rising popularity of hits and blocks in fantasy in recent years, Cuylle’s an elite contributor in hits (302 last season, third in the league) and capable of scoring 20 goals. That’s rarefied air. The Rangers are suddenly deep on the wings after adding Pavel Dorofeyev, Eeli Tolvanen, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, but Cuylle’s value is unique and I don’t think he’ll lose much ice time to the added depth.

Pyotr Kochetkov, G, CAR (21% rostered)

I’m not convinced Brandon Bussi will be a 50-plus game starter because the track record is still tiny and it just doesn’t seem to be the Carolina way for one player to take all the playing time. Kochetkov was limited to just eight starts last season but won six of those games and only had one bad game against Tampa. I think Kochetkov will get at least 30 games and win over half of those, so there’s definitely some fantasy value here.

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

Anton Frondell, C, CHI (46% rostered)

Rarely am I so fond of a rookie but I thought Frondell looked very good in his late-season, 12-game showcase last season and he’s slated to start as the 1C while Connor Bedard is on the shelf. The upside is scoring and potentially some hits and blocks (eight and 13, respectively, in 12 games last season). My worry is Frondell is so weak in the dot they’ll be forced to move him to the right wing, but Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore are high-potential players he can skate with.

Mason Marchment, LW, SJ (28% rostered)

Potentially great value if he sticks with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith on L1. Marchment’s never flashed top-line scoring potential, but he can get hot for stretches and playing with the two wunderkinds might push him over 60 points and close to 200 shots with around 100 hits.

Michael Misa, C, SJ (26% rostered)

We’re in danger of glazing the Sharks too much, but if Misa and Ivar Stenberg – already 57 percent rostered – can form a second dynamic duo after Celebrini and Smith, the rest of the league better watch out. I suspect both will finish around 60 points for the season if they can stick together and form a reliable second line.

Gabe Perreault, RW, NYR (23% rostered)

I’d be pretty shocked if Perreault didn’t start the season with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere; they were very good together last season. I expect a significant increase in ice time from last season (15:59 TOI/GP) with 60 points and around 150 shots with the potential for more.

Vasily Podkolzin, LW/RW, EDM (17% rostered)

Podkolzin’s fantasy value is very dependent on deployment. If he’s taken off Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s line, he offers little else except hits. If Podkolzin can stay on the top line, he’s a great alternative to Cuylle with 20-goal potential and 200-plus hits.

Matthew Wood, C/RW, NSH (2% rostered)

I highlighted Mavrik Bourque in my preseason breakout candidates but admittedly starting to get more intrigued by Wood, especially if he’s opening as the 2C with the vastly underrated Filip Forsberg on his left wing.

Neither Bourque nor Wood should factor into more casual leagues, but I do think there’s an excellent chance both will be rostered in significantly more Yahoo leagues than they are now by the end of the season. Wood offers more goal-scoring potential, but I think Bourque will help their transition game a lot more and end up with more points.

Jamie Drysdale, D, PHI (8% rostered)

If you missed out on a PP1 QB, Drysdale’s your best option on the waiver wire right now. He’s not a high-end offensive player and wins the job almost by default – Cam York is a threat, though – but he’ll share the ice with Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone. On paper, that looks like it could be a lethal PP1. If Drysdale can get double-digit power-play points, I think he can get push for 50 total points.

Alexander Romanov, D, NYI (3% rostered)

A bit of a forgotten player because he only played 15 games last season, but when healthy Romanov is the rare defenseman who can offer 150 hits and 150 blocks. In deep banger leagues, Romanov should be rostered right away.  

Filip Gustavsson, G, MIN (33% rostered)

Gustavsson is a nice injury stash to start the season, and even though I think Jesper Wallstedt could be a top-10 goalie this season, Gustavsson should still get plenty of playing time upon returning. The Wild will have to give up one of them – Wallstedt is in a contract year and due for a big raise – so if Wallstedt becomes the trade chip, you can hedge your bet with Gustavsson. He’ll get a massive spike in fantasy value if the Wild keep him over Wallstedt.  

Darcy Kuemper, G, LA (38% rostered)

The Pacific stinks, which means Kuemper and the Kings should win a minimum of eight games in the 12 times they face the Kraken, Canucks, and Flames. I think the Kings were actually awful last season (third-last in regulation wins) but should be better this season under Peter Laviolette and a full season of Artemi Panarin. Once in a while, Kuemper will put together a better-than-expected season; here’s hoping 2026-27 is one of them.

Joey Daccord, G, SEA (23% rostered)

I really don’t like the team in front of him and still don’t think Philipp Grubauer is a threat, whose ‘comeback’ last season lasted all of three months. If you want volume, I think Daccord can provide it, but that’s really all he can provide.

Stuart Skinner, G, WPG (16% rostered)

There have been brief periods – very brief – where Skinner’s looked pretty good, but he’s just so unreliable. Like Daccord, Skinner’s fantasy value is all about volume, especially while Connor Hellebuyck sits out. I’m not sure how confident anyone should feel about rookie Domenic DiVincentiis being the backup.

Sergei Murashov, G, PIT (31% rostered)

I absolutely think the Pens overachieved last season, but they will be competitive. Arturs Silovs is having a horrible camp, and that’s opened the door for Murashov to potentially be the 1A option.

Adin Hill, G, VGK (10% rostered)

Hill was so bad last season (10-9-6, .870 SP, 3.04 GAA) he was barely a streaming option even on a good team. But I also thought Carter Hart was really poor in the Stanley Cup Final – .863 SP, 3.45 GAA – and the Knights should at least think about going back to Hill as their starter if Hart struggles. If you can afford the roster spot, I think Hill’s an intriguing insurance policy.

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

Casey DeSmith, G, DAL (5% rostered)

The Stars will be playing the second game of a back-to-back Saturday in Nashville and most likely it’ll be DeSmith in net. He was 15-8-6 last season including a win against the Preds where he allowed two goals on 25 shots (.920 SP). I think the Preds improved their roster in the offseason but the Stars still have a big advantage; they’ve won 11 of their past 15 meetings since the 2022-23 season.

Anthony Stolarz, G, TOR (11% rostered)

If Sergei Bobrovsky gets the season opener then Stolarz will likely get the Isles the night after. It’s not a particularly difficult matchup with Mathew Barzal potentially missing the game. The Isles were 25th in GF/GP last season.

Nico Daws, G, NJ (2% rostered)

If the Devils (and fantasy managers) are making a bet, better it be Daws than Dave Rittich, who is good for only one or two months every season. Daws is younger with more upside and the Devils have been vocal about giving him a chance. Unless Jake Allen is excellent in the season opener against the Flyers, I think Daws gets the next start at home against the Isles, and their offense – especially without Barzal – should be discounted until proven otherwise.  

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