Thanksgiving week schedule with no games on Tuesday or Thursday, and recommended players including Cole Perfetti, JJ Peterka, Charlie Lindgren and more.
Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the U.S. Appropriately, there are no games schedule for Thursday, but strangely enough, there are also no games on Tuesday.
This deprives Week 7 of the two (usually) busiest days on the NHL schedule. That means Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be busy, including 14 games on Wednesday and 15 on Friday.
All four teams that participated in the Global Series in Stockholm have returned, but the Red Wings don't have much time to rest with three games in Week 7, while the Maple Leafs and Wild have two each and the Senators play once. Needless to say, this is not the week to load up on the Sens; the good news is there are eight teams that play four games, giving you plenty of options to choose from.
Among the team that play four times, the Oilers and Predators are in the best position with no back-to-backs. While the Oilers have the slightly harder schedule and a lower points percentage, they’re likely the better team to mine for fantasy options given the Preds don’t have many offensive weapons and they’re reeling amidst a poor season from Juuse Saros.
With 14 back-to-backs in Week 7, and all of them Friday-Saturday, look for backups to get in on the action and pay attention to the daily waiver wire articles to check out your options for streaming goalies.
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.
Schedule
Weekly Bangers
(< 50% rostered on Yahoo, on teams with 4 games this week)
Hits/GP
Dakota Joshua, LW, VAN – 3.00
Will Cuylle, LW, NYR – 2.67
Cole Smith, RW, NSH – 2.63
Yakov Trenin, C/LW, NSH – 2.53
Kiefer Sherwood, LW – 2.25
Blocks/GP
Alexandre Carrier, D, NSH – 2.94
Mario Ferraro, D, SJ – 2.82
Nick Bonino, C, NYR – 2.67
Chris Tanev, D, CGY – 2.53
Mac Weegar, D, CGY – 2.41
Season-long adds
(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)
Cole Perfetti, C, Jets (23% rostered)
The Jets can be frustrating because Rick Bowness keeps everyone’s ice time on a short leash unless your name is Kyle Connor or Mark Scheifele. Perfetti ranks 10th among Jets forwards in average ice time per game at 14 minutes despite ranking third in points (14 in 17 games). Regardless, Perfetti’s in the midst of a breakout season; his shooting percentage will regress but it’s unlikely to be significant, and at 5-on-5 generates the third-best expected goals percentage, per naturalstattrick.com.
Mid-term holds
(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)
JJ Peterka, RW, Sabres (21% rostered)
With the top line in a bit of turmoil without Tage Thompson (injured) and Alex Tuch underperforming, the Sabres’ second line has been their most reliable. Peterka has formed a very productive partnership with Casey Mittelstadt, and after scoring just two goals in the first seven games of the season, Peterka has since scored 10 points in 10 games. Pegged as a potential sleeper after scoring 32 points in 77 games last season, Peterka’s making good on those prognostications.
Mathieu Joseph, RW, Senators (8% rostered)
He has a reputation for being a checking-line player, but Joseph has been one of the Sens’ most reliable top-six players this season. He’s played at least 20 minutes in each of the past two games and currently tied with Tim Stützle for fourth in the league with 13 even-strength points. With L2 and PP2 deployment, Joseph has sneaky value in 12 to 14-team leagues.
Mattias Ekholm, D, Oilers (16% rostered)
Ekholm is past his prime at 33 years old but he’s getting a little fountain-of-youth bump under new coach Kris Knoblauch. In his past two games, Ekholm has scored two assists to with eight shots, two hits and four blocks. At his best, Ekholm is a multi-category contributor and a good depth defenseman in 12 or 14-team banger leagues.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, G, Sabres (17% rostered)
Luukkonen allowed just two goals on 26 shots in Sunday’s win against the Hawks, and he’s now started four of the past six games for the Sabres. With Eric Comrie returning from injury, the Sabres now have to rotate three goalies again, but it’s encouraging for Luukkonen’s fantasy value that he continues to get starts and play well. With three games over four days starting Wednesday, look for Luukkonen to get at least one more start, and if he plays well again, he’s going to demand a bigger share of the crease.
Joel Hofer, G, Blues (15% rostered)
The Blues are hard to figure out. First, they dismantle the Avs and Lightning by scores of 8-2 and 5-0, respectively, and then they lose 5-1 in each of the next two games, including one to the league-worst Sharks. Keeping that in mind, Hofer has started two of the past five games for the Blues, and before the season was a popular pick among backups who could take over the starting job. It at least looks like Hofer’s going to get more playing time going forward; he’ll be a good option on certain nights depending on the matchup, but just know the Blues can be very inconsistent.
Short-term streamers
(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)
Erik Haula, LW, Devils (14% rostered)
As long as Haula plays on Jack Hughes’ left wing, he’s going to have fantasy value. Haula scored a goal in Hughes’ return in a game against the Rangers and also extended his points streak to three games. The Devils may switch up the line, but they seem comfortable running Hughes, Dawson Mercer and Mike McLeod down the middle, and Lindy Ruff has also preferred to play Haula with Hughes in past seasons. Since last season, the pair share an excellent 58.53 CF% and 61.55 xGF% at 5-on-5.
Travis Boyd, C, Coyotes (0% rostered)
This is your chance to get in on the ground floor. Boyd was a surprising cut during training camp after scoring 15 goals and averaging at least 16 minutes per game in each of the two previous seasons. With Barrett Hayton injured, Boyd is getting a chance to reclaim his top-six spot and over the past two games has averaged 14 minutes on the top line with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, who shifts to center from right wing. Boyd has been a healthy scratch and he’s still looking for his first goal. His current deployment puts him back on the fantasy radar, if only on the very fringe, but there’s some potential for more if you need offense in a pinch.
Charlie Lindgren, G, Capitals (23% rostered)
Following a 35-save shutout against the Knights, more playing time for Lindgren was warranted, but it was still surprising to see him start the following game against the Jackets, which Lindgren won. That now gives him four consecutive wins following the season opener, and with Darcy Kuemper struggling – 3-3-2, 3.07 GAA, .892 SP – it looks like the Caps are going to keep going back to Lindgren as long as he stays hot. Who knows how much longer Lindgren can keep this up, but in the interim, he’s worth streaming in a season where poor goaltending has been rampant.
