Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Week 10 Primer

I know this is the time of the year to be giving and thankful… but what if you’re having a thankless fantasy hockey season? When do you give up?

Depending on your league settings, the holidays are a good time to re-assess your team. In head-to-head leagues that count only one win per week regardless of how many categories are won, the battle is far from over. We’re only entering Week 10 into a 25-week fantasy season. But if you’re in a roto league, or a head-to-head league where each matchup can yield multiple wins and losses because each category is counted separately, and you’re just too far away from the lead, now’s the time to think about getting draft picks for next year.

A slew of injuries this past week has complicated things, including Red Wings captain and top center Dylan Larkin (upper body), Jackets captain Boone Jenner (broken jaw), Leafs netminder Joseph Woll (high ankle sprain) and Flames veteran stopper Jacob Markstrom (hand).

It’s going to push a lot of role players to the forefront, so be sure to keep an eye out on the replacements, including Joe Veleno for the Wings, Dustin Wolf for the Flames and a return to the spotlight for Ilya Samsonov for the Leafs.

Week 10 will feature 10 teams that will play four games apiece, and four teams that play twice. There are eight teams that will play back-to-back even though they play three games, which means plenty of backups will be in action once again. Only a few teams may stick with one goalie all week, and that may include Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner, Seattle’s Joey Daccord and Anaheim’s John Gibson.

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 as of Saturday.

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo, on teams with 4 games this week)

Hits/GP

Simon Benoit, D, TOR – 3.00
Dakota Joshua, C/LW, VAN – 2.96
Noah Juulsen, D, VAN – 2.53
Martin Pospisil, C/RW, CGY – 2.47
Cal Clutterbuck, RW, NYI – 2.35

Blocks/GP

Jake Walman, D, DET – 2.88
Scott Mayfield, D, NYI – 2.84
Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, OTT – 2.71
TJ Brodie, D, TOR – 2.58
Chris Tanev, D, CGY – 2.41

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Casey Mittelstadt, C, Sabres (24% rostered)

With Tage Thompson moving to the right wing, Mittelstadt has emerged as the Sabres’ top center with Dylan Cozens centering the second line. Mittelstadt has continued where he left off last season and he’s currently the Sabres’ top playmaker with 16 assists. He’s played over 21 minutes (!) in five of the past six games and shows no signs of slowing down. He’s a high-usage, low-ceiling option for points.

Sean Couturier, C, Flyers (22% rostered)

Couturier’s on a five-game points streak after scoring just one goal in his previous five games. Though his offense runs hot and cold, he’s being used in all situations by John Tortorella and he’s undoubtedly their top center. With 19 points in 25 games and plenty of faceoff wins, Couturier should be a good addition in all formats. He’s been mentioned in this space far too many times already.

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Mason Marchment, LW, Stars (23% rostered)

Marchment’s garnered a lot of attention over the past week with five goals in his past six games, bringing his total to 18 points in 26 games. Strike while the iron is hot with Marchment playing on a veteran scoring line with Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene. The Stars play the Wings on Monday before getting a three-day break and playing back-to-back Friday and Saturday against the Sens and Blues; all three matchups should feature plenty of goals from the Stars.

Jason Zucker, LW, Coyotes (9% rostered)

Zucker moved up to the first line while Nick Schmaltz shifted to center during the Coyotes’ most recent lineup shuffle. Logan Cooley, who was promoted to the top line in Barrett Hayton’s absence but struggled to score points and play at both ends of the ice, was dropped down the lineup. Zucker’s a great addition; he brings finishing ability with four points in his past three games, and also brings some edge with plenty of hits for multi-category coverage.

Dan Vladar (6% rostered) and Dustin Wolf (10% rostered), G, Flames

Wolf being rostered in more leagues than Vladar is an indication of what the public feels about Wolf’s potential. At this point, it looks like Wolf and Vladar will likely split the starts until one of them upstages the other, and it’s going to be tough with a hard schedule coming up; they’ve got Colorado and Vegas back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday, and then Minnesota and Tampa Bay. They’re viable options if you’re desperate for goalies, but wins might be really hard to come by.

Anton Forsberg, G, Senators (7% rostered)

Joonas Korpisalo allowed only one goal in a win against the Wings but Forsberg’s recently shown that he deserves a bit more of the playing time. He’s won three of his past five starts with only three goals allowed in those wins. He can be inconsistent, but in a season rife with inconsistent goalies, the increase in playing time gives him the edge over other fringe fantasy goalies.

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Sam Lafferty, C/RW, Canucks (6% rostered)

For banger leagues, Lafferty’s your best option. Playing on a scoring line with Elias Pettersson, Lafferty provides broad category coverage in faceoffs and hits, and he’s recently added points to his repertoire with three goals and five points in his past four games.

Anthony Cirelli, C, Lightning (3% rostered)

I’ve learned not to trust Cirelli in fantasy because his offense tends to run ice cold far more often than it runs hot. However, with a shortage of forwards as Steven Stamkos sits out due to illness, Cirelli has picked up the slack with four goals and six points in his past four games. None of the three western Canadian teams defend particularly well, which opens up an opportunity for Cirelli to score points in the short term.

Joey Daccord, G, Kraken (5% rostered)

With Philipp Grubauer placed on IR, he’s going to miss a minimum of four games. The Kraken called up Chris Driedger but Daccord has the inside track on the No. 1 job. He started the season well but also seen his recent play dip, and the Kraken don’t provide good support for wins. If you’re looking for a few starts and saves, however, Daccord’s a good option due to the quantity of starts he will receive.