Sunday's top targets include the red-hot Artturi Lehkonen of the Avalanche and the Kings' new 1-2 punch of Quinton Byfield and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Quinton Byfield, C/LW, LA at PIT (44% rostered)
Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, LA at PIT (36% rostered)
I'm intrigued by this new pairing, with Byfield and Dubois forming the Kings' third line, and they responded with two goals in an impressive 5-4 win against the Bruins, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in a matinee game that's usually harder for west-coast teams.
You wouldn't think that this would work so well. While Byfield and Dubois can be excellent down low, sometimes their games are far too passive to be reliable. Byfield's better, I think, but I also feel he has yet to really become 'the guy', ie. the focal point of a scoring line. It's a tough matchup with the Kings playing the second half of a back-to-back against a fired-up Pens crowd with Jaromír Jágr's jersey retirement, but with so few options, maybe streaming Byfield/Dubois is worth a shot.
Arturri Lehkonen, LW, COL at ARI (38% rostered)
Ross Colton, C/LW, COL at ARI (19% rostered)
It doesn't matter that Jonathan Drouin is back on the top line; Lehkonen seems to have found his groove with six points in two games, including a four-point effort against the Caps. Colton, meanwhile, has scored a point in two straight games.
This is a great matchup against the Coyotes, who are a bottom-tier team since the calendar flipped in 2024. I suspect the Avs will have plenty of goals in store.
Kyle Palmieri, RW, NYI vs. NYR (13% rostered)
For the second straight season, Palmieri is proving himself to be a reliable secondary scorer for the Isles even at age 33. He's scoring at almost an identical pace as the previous season, and a goal against the Kraken on Tuesday extended his points streak to six games. He's playing L2 and PP1 with Brock Nelson and he's been a surprisingly good shot-generating machine, including 11 shots (!) on Jan. 25 against the Habs. (This also tells you something about the state of the Isles' offense, though).
Jonny Brodzinski, C, NYR at NYI (0% rostered)
I'm generally opposed to streaming specialists such as Brodzinski, who only carries fantasy value because he's been scoring (5 points in 6 games) and plays on the power play. However, I thought it was noteworthy that Brodzinski's line with Kaapo Kakko and Will Cuylle accounted for two goals and played nearly nine minutes at even strength. Cuylle and Brodzinski have been a pretty nice combo, and with Blake Wheeler injured, the Rangers will need someone to step onto PP2...
Unless they play 2 'D' on PP2 with potentially Erik Gustafsson and K'Andre Miller, I suspect Cuylle will get a chance, joining Kakko, Brodzinski and Alexis Lafrenière. This just gives Brodzinski a boost since he and Cuylle have worked so well together.