2026-27 NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 5 Primer And Pickups

In case you live under a rock, the Jets ended a month-long saga and traded Connor Hellebuyck to the Devils on Friday upon the conclusion of his suspension and before Sunday’s Heritage Classic.

The trade puts the Devils in a good position to be the second-best team in a relatively weak Metro behind the Hurricanes, and the Jets can move forward without any distractions and seem committed to having Stuart Skinner be their No. 1 for the foreseeable future.

Though Dylan Larkin added the Devils to his expanded list of trade destinations, the Hellebuyck trade pretty much shuts the door on that scenario, barring another blockbuster trade where the Devils move significantly more salary to accommodate Larkin’s $8.7-million cap hit and potentially adding Quinn Hughes later.

Fantasy managers who drafted Hellebuyck after his value slid during the holdout can now breathe a sigh of relief. There are still 70-something games to go in the season, but you do wonder how quickly Hellebuyck can get up to speed. There is a history of players underperforming after missing camp, most recently with Jeremy Swayman. Hellebuyck has now missed camp and the first month of the season, and also coming off a very poor season asides from his performance at the Olympics.

The Devils have a back-to-back on the road in Dallas and Colorado and then visit Vegas later in the week, so Hellebuyck is going to get tossed into the fire pretty quickly with some really tough tests. We’ll see how he responds, but he’s undoubtedly the No. 1 goalie moving forward no matter how he plays in his first few starts. The game everyone will have their eyes on, however, is on Nov. 10 when the Devils visit Winnipeg. If the reception for Brady Tkachuk in his return to Ottawa was any indication, Hellebuyck should prepare for the worst in Winnipeg.

Week 5 proves to be an odd schedule for a few teams. There are five teams playing four games (EDM, OTT, WPG, LA, CGY) and seven (TB, SEA, COL, NYR, VGK, FLA, PIT) that play only twice. The Rangers have the weirdest of them all, playing Monday against the Kings and then Sunday against the Oilers, though that also makes a good source of streaming options because both games are on less busy nights.

There aren’t many back-to-backs in Week 5, which means the options for streaming backups will be limited. We’re looking at Matt Tomkins in either Long Island or Manhattan, Jake Allen in either Colorado or Dallas, and Clay Stevenson against one of the two Florida teams on the road as potential options – all of them seem pretty daunting.

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 2026-27 season.

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

Jack Quinn, RW, BUF (54% rostered)

Quinn extended his points streak to four games with a goal Saturday against the Caps. He’s on a hot streak with four goals and seven points during that span. He’ll be a fixture in the top six and PP1 and 60-70 points is well within reach. He’s now rostered in over half of Yahoo leagues after being sub-30 percent rostered last week, so this may be your last chance.

Dylan Cozens, C, OTT (47% rostered)

Cozens is worth rostering all season for multi-category contributions and should have a strong week with the Sens playing four games. Though they’re all on the road, none of the three California teams defend particularly well. Cozens is a fixture in the Sens’ top six and PP1. It was slow start with only two helpers in his first nine games but now has three points in his past three games.

Jimmy Snuggerud, RW, STL (45% rostered)

A bit of a slow start but the Blues’ top line with Snuggerud, Dylan Holloway and Robert Thomas seems to have woken up. They were shut out Saturday against the Canes but prior to that Snuggerud and Holloway were both on three-game points streaks, and Thomas had a point in two of the three games.

Matvei Michkov, LW/RW, PHI (43% rostered)

Michkov has now played at least 18 minutes in two straight games but it’s misleading because the Flyers have gotten a ton of power plays; the Ducks and Sabres took 54 minutes’ worth of penalties against them. Michkov has taken advantage of it with an offense that has a lot of upside and clearly underperformed through the first few weeks of the season.

Dylan Strome, C, WSH (43% rostered)

Strome trailed only Alex Tuch in ice time among Caps forwards in Saturday’s win against the Sabres, and the Caps might’ve found something that works. Strome and Tuch have formed a strong combo, and along with Jordan Kyrou is Spencer Carbery’s most-used line combo with strong underlying metrics.

With nine points in 10 games, Strome is on track to have another season he might flirt with point-per-game status, and he’s still their most creative playmaker at center. The rest of the roster will require some figuring out – the Caps have now gone with 1A and 1B power play units – but Strome should be rostered in all leagues. If he’s been dropped recently, he’s worth picking up.  

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

Alex Laferriere, C/LW/RW, LA (43% rostered)

Laferriere was skating on the top line even before Quinton Byfield’s injury, and that alone tells you the state of the Kings’ offense. Regardless, with four games in Week 5, this is a great time to pick up Laferriere, and he’s potentially worth rostering all season for his points and hits. He scored 21 goals and registered 255 hits last season; he should hover around those numbers, or even improve on them slightly, given the increased ice time lately, averaging over 20 minutes in his past four games.

Jack Roslovic, C/RW, TOR (36% rostered)

There’s usually a two-month stretch every season where Roslovic scores like a top-line forward, and the first month is almost over. The chemistry with Auston Matthews as two-thirds of the ‘Superman Line’ certainly looks intact, and maybe Roslovic stays hot until the end of the season, but we’ll believe it when we see it. Roslovic is worth rostering while on a hot streak and playing on L1, but it remains to be seen if it’s a season-long hold.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, RW, DET (24% rostered)

The sample size is bigger and it just keeps confirming the eye test: Brandsegg-Nygard is really good. He scored 10 points in 10 games entering Saturday’s game against the Flames and the second line with Emmitt Finnie and Alex DeBrincat ranks ninth out of 83 lines in expected goals per 60 minutes (min. 40 TOI), per moneypuck.com. Brandsegg-Nygard is racking up the points and hits and could join the likes of Will Cuylle and Tom Wilson as one of the few players in fantasy hockey who can record 200-plus hits and 20-plus goals.

Arseny Gritsyuk, LW/RW, NJ (12% rostered)

Speaking of Gritsyuk, the second-year pro looks like he’s breaking out. The 2021-22 rookie of the year in the KHL and a Gagarin Cup champion, Gritsyuk has a ton of tantalizing skill and skated all season with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, putting him a great situation to score points. He scored a goal Saturday against the Kings, his fifth goal in five games.

Oliver Kapanen, C, MTL (10% rostered)

The Blackhawks had five power plays so that skewed the ice time a bit, and Martin St-Louis ended up spreading out his even-strength ice time pretty evenly among his four centers; ironically, the fourth line did most of the scoring.

Slightly concerning is that Kapanen’s line was the only line that was out-chanced by the Hawks in a game where the Habs dominated at 5-on-5. The upside is we didn’t get a great look at what Kapanen can do on L1, and he’s expected to skate in that same spot for the Heritage Classic. He’s still probably the Habs’ best choice, so the bet is on some near-term value as long as Suzuki is out.

Neal Pionk, D, WPG (53% rostered)

No return date set for Josh Morrissey so Pionk’s going to continue to play a ton. He played 29:42 (!) in Dallas and the Jets just lost more depth Saturday when Jack St. Ivany was claimed off waivers by the Caps. Even without PP1 upon Morrissey’s return, Pionk still has a lot of value as a modest multi-category contributor.

Dmitry Orlov, D, SJ (19% rostered)

Orlov scored another power-play goal Saturday in Boston and led all Sharks defensemen with 4:55 PP TOI, ahead of Jacob Trouba’s 2:57 and the 20 seconds split between three others. He scored basically half of his career-best 37 points last season on the power play, and he’s tracking to do something similar for the second straight season.

Luca Cagnoni isn’t consistent or good enough at 5-on-5 to stay in the lineup, Sam Dickinson’s not getting any chances so Orlov remains the best option; he’s worth rostering for the rest of the season if he can play PP1 full-time.

Charle-Edouard D’Astous, D, TB (13% rostered)

The Lightning power play went 1-for-3 on Saturday against the Mammoth, and it means the D’Astous vs. Carlson debate won’t end this week. Carlson played PP1 on the Lightning’s first power play and edged D’Astous in total PP TOI (3:10 vs. 2:09), but Carlson only played PP1 on the first power play opportunity because D’Astous and Emile Lilleberg had just finished a shift. For the rest of the game, the Lightning stuck with D’Astous on PP1.

The Lightning’s special teams (PP ranks 26th, PK ranks 20th) have not been good dating back to last season, and they’re still figuring out what works best, including playing both D’Astous on Carlson on PP1. We’ll see different iterations and rotations until the Lightning find something that works, though D’Astous is the preferred PP1 option right now should they play only one defenseman on PP1.

D’Astous’ fantasy value will be akin to Shayne Gostisbehere’s, where it’s mostly or all power-play points and few peripherals, but at a smaller scale. The Lightning clearly don’t hesitate to use either D’Astous or Carlson on PP1, and there’s a chance they never find anything that works all season.

(Note Anthony Cirelli is pulling a bit of double duty, taking some draws with PP1 and then getting off the ice for Brandon Hagel after the faceoff. No matter the case, everything still runs through Nikita Kucherov, and as long as opposing PK's focus on him, I don't think the Lightning power play will be much better regardless if it's Carlson or D'Astous on the point). 

Fantasy managers should keep rostering Carlson because I think he’ll still play an important role on the power play for the entire season, and pick up D’Astous right now for the opportunities he’s getting, but know the situation could change on a dime.  

Tristan Jarry, G, EDM (28% rostered)

A dominant win by the Leafs did not help Jarry’s case for increased fantasy value after becoming the starter with Devon Levi injured. Jarry will get the bulk of the starts, but this is already the second time in four starts he’s allowed six goals, and the Oilers will soon go on a road trip through the tri-state area before facing the Leafs on Nov. 14 again. There might be a few good starts sprinkled here and there, but Jarry’s fantasy value will come from wins in high-scoring games thanks to the Oilers offense.

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

T.J. Hughes, RW, COL (4% rostered)

Of the 296 forwards who have played at least 10 games this season, Hughes ranks 258th in even-strength ice time per game (10:56), but 40th in power-play ice time per game (3:45), which also ranks second on the Avs trailing only Nathan MacKinnon (4:04 PP). It’s ironic only one of Hughes’ four points this season have come on the power play, though Jared Bednar has stuck with him on PP1.

Hughes is really good with the puck and reads the play well, but he’s below the 50th percentile in almost every skating metric tracked by EDGE Advanced Stats on a team that likes to skate and play really fast. The Avs power play is infamous for underperforming relative to its talent, and this season they’re still very mid and ranked 20th. In deeper leagues, Hughes remains a speculative add for power play exposure, especially one that has a ton of potential, and the longer he remains on the top unit, the more his fantasy value continues to increase.

Tye Kartye, LW, NYR (3% rostered)

Kartye is a good role player currently playing L2 with J.T. Miller and Pavel Dorofeyev on a line that can be very good on offense but also very inconsistent. Miller’s always been quite mercurial, but Dorofeyev seems to be heating up, and that’s good for Kartye when a rising tide raises all ships. He’s scored two points in his past three games, giving him eight points in 13 games this season. Even if he doesn’t score, Kartye can be a good source for hits. The Rangers are one of five teams that play four times in Week 5.  

Stephen Halliday, C/LW, OTT (1% rostered)

The Sens already play their fourth line very sparingly, and there’s always one player who gets so little you wonder why Travis Green even bothers dressing a 12th forward. Most recently, it’s Halliday, who skated a season-low 5:39 against the Rangers.

What’s attractive about Halliday’s fantasy value, however, is his usage on the power play in that Rangers game (1:45 PP TOI) and overall, ranking fourth among Sens in average power play ice time per game. On a road trip where the Sens face the 31st (Kings), 22nd (Ducks) and 16th-ranked (Sharks) penalty kills, the bet is on Halliday to skate more than he did against the Rangers with ample power play for some offensive upside.

Devin Cooley, G, CGY (12% rostered)

With three straight wins and only four goals allowed, Cooley’s hot streak makes him a viable streaming option – just know it could end at any time in a potential blowout loss. He allowed just three goals against two tough teams – Canes and Wild – and has two tough matchups coming up against the Leafs and Oilers. I’m not sure how long this streak will last, but he’s clearly better than Dustin Wolf right now. Cooley’s a high-risk, high-reward option because the Flames are still expected to be a bottom-three team.

James Reimer, G, NYR (0% rostered)

The Rangers signed Reimer to a one-year contract Sunday morning after a posting a 35-save shutout in his lone start in the AHL on a professional tryout agreement. The signing comes after Dylan Garand started seven straight games in 14 days and lost four of his past five, including two straight with 10 goals allowed on 57 shots (.825 SP). Clearly, the Rangers don’t trust Spencer Martin at all; seven straight starts is an insane workload, especially for a rookie since even the top workhorses don’t do that anymore.

It's the second straight season where Reimer’s gotten the call to replace an injured goalie – he played well enough for the Sens last season – and he’ll get a chance to see if he can provide quality goaltending right away. The Rangers host the Kings on Monday and break for five days before hosting the Oilers on Sunday. Assume Reimer will get one of those starts.

Reimer has short-term streaming value on a team that looks vastly improved from last season, and worth stashing in case his workload gets bigger than expected.

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