2025-26 NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 19 Primer And Pickups

There was some concern that the Olympic break would lead to some uneven play when the NHL resumed, but that hasn't really been the case at all. Sure, some players  returning from Italy got to rest for a game, but there wasn't a flurry of blowout games with teams being out of sync or even a flurry of trades as some had predicted with the trade deadline approaching.

Instead, it re-affirmed some of the things we knew were happening already. The standings at the top are getting tighter with the Avs losing a key game to a divisional rival in the Wild. The Oilers still allow five to six goals every night. The Knights are actually kind of bad with similar issues to the Oilers in net though their overall play has been concerning for quite some time. 

The Leafs' nightmare season continues with three straight losses. The Sabres' charge continues. (They've been the best team in the league since December, actually). 

Injuries were a potential factor with Sidney Crosby, Mikko Rantanen and Kevin Fiala all suffering long-term injuries, but yet their respective teams continue on their pre-Olympic trajectories. The Pens are 2-0-1, the Stars have won eight straight dating back to Jan. 23, and the Kings can still barely score. (Jim Hiller was fired on Sunday, though). 

With the trade deadline coming and still plenty of hockey to be played, it's going to be an interesting finish to what has been a very unpredictable season. I hope your fantasy teams are still in the race, too. 

For Week 19, the team to avoid is the Caps, who are the only team to play less than three games. (That does not, however, discount Pierre-Luc Dubois' season-long fantasy value). It's a pretty even schedule, though the games are pretty crammed, so don't be surprised if we see plenty of backups, or even goalies starting back-to-back for key games.

Lukas Dostal noted at the Olympics he has no problem doing so -- it happens quite often in European leagues -- and the Ducks probably loved hearing that considering their backup is Ville Husso. 

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 as of Sunday morning.

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

Adam Fantilli, C, CBJ (49% rostered)

Quietly, Fantilli’s on pace to set career highs across the board, and his all-round play this season has really improved. The biggest fantasy impact so far has been his face-off ability, winning slightly more than half his face-offs now, and his physical play. He’s scored 14 points in his past 19 games and continues to trend up, even if ever so slightly. Next season, when his shooting percentage is bound to improve – currently at 9.7 percent compared to his career average of 12.6 percent – he should be a very valuable multi-category contributor.

Jared McCann, C/LW, SEA (48% rostered)

Still really like McCann, though his recent production – one assist in three games – has been really modest. He’s still the top left winger on the Kraken, and it could be a favorable schedule with home dates against the Blues and Sens coming up. McCann won’t score 60 points this season, but it’s worth noting this would’ve been the fourth consecutive season he’s done so had he been able to stay healthy.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, C, WSH (35% rostered)

Dubois’ averaged over 17 minutes per game since returning from injury and provides points, shots, plenty of face-off wins and a modest amount of blocks and hits. He’s far too under-rostered in fantasy but already seen his rostered percentage double since last week. The Caps are a very mid offensive team, ranking 16th in goals for per game, with a woeful power play where Alex Ovechkin has scored just four power-play goals.

Alex Lyon, G, BUF (46% rostered)
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, G, BUF (34% rostered)

A bit amazing that there’s such disinterest in two solid goalies – .908 SP for Luukkkonen and .914 for Lyon – on a top-10 team. The Sabres were merely average over the first two months of the season but since December have been the best team in the league – yes, it’s true with a 25-8-2 record and .743 P% – and rank sixth-best in fewest goals against per game. Lyon and Luukkonen have accounted for 22 of their 25 wins with Lyon’s .928 SP leading all goalies (min. 10 starts) during that span. Roster both if you can.

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

Matt Duchene, C/RW, DAL (50% rostered)

Roope Hintz is expected to be out for long, but in the meantime that means Duchene is still their C2 and there’s plenty of fantasy value here. Duchene played 19:23 and the Stars still managed to score seven goals in those two games even without Mikko Rantanen. The Stars will likely add at the trade deadline, and upon Rantanen’s return should have an elite offense with plenty of quality wingers for Duchene to play with. He’s locked in behind Wyatt Johnston as their 2C.

Pavel Buchnevich, C/LW/RW, STL (26% rostered)

Tough to gauge the fantasy value of the Blues because they employ such a balanced attack. Buchnevich has been their hottest player lately with five goals in five games, but eight Blues forward skated between 15-18 minutes Sunday against the Wild with Buchnevich (17:07) finishing behind only Robert Thomas (17:08) and Dylan Holloway (17:31) in total ice time. Should the Blues deal Thomas, Buchnevich stands to benefit the most.

Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, PIT (33% rostered)

An assist for Mantha stretches his points streak to five games, and the Pens seem just fine without Sidney Crosby. They’re 2-0-1 since the break with a shootout loss, and though Mantha’s even-strength line with Ben Kindel and Justin Brazeau doesn’t look particularly stimulating for his fantasy value, he’s capitalizing on his PP1 minutes. Mantha is four points shy of tying his career high, set during his second and third seasons of his career while with the Red Wings, and offers good shot volume. The Pens play four times in week 19.

Mason Marchment, LW, CBJ (24% rostered)

Not a lot of love for Marchment in fantasy, who’s still stuck in ‘streamer’ status despite L1 and PP1 roles, and a three-game points streak for the Jackets. In over 170 minutes together at even strength, Marchment with Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko have put up good underlying numbers with a 53.7 expected goals share with lots of o-zone face-offs and an excellent 14.63 shooting percentage, per naturalstattrick.com. Maybe those numbers pull back, but if you’re leveraging the Jackets offense, this is the line to focus on.

Evan Rodrigues, C/LW/RW, FLA (9% rostered)

It looks like the Panthers feel pretty comfortable with Rodrigues as their 1C with Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe, forming a very scary offensive line that isn’t afraid to shoot the puck. Rodrigues can be a stats-sheet stuffer, meaning he can provide in multiple categories with pretty good volume but he isn’t a very efficient scorer or talented playmaker, so often his relatively high shot volumes doesn’t really translate to points. There’s a chance Rodrigues gets moved off this line, but the Panthers seem to like their Finnish checking duo with Lundell-Luostarinen and hate-to-play-against duo with Bennett-Tkachuk, meaning Rodrigues stays put.

Logan Stanley, D, WPG (9% rostered)

No Josh Morrissey or Neal Pionk, but Stanley has stepped in admirably. It’s taken a long time to realize his potential – he’s 6-foot-7, so he literally had more room to grow – but he’s averaging over 24 minutes per game and compiled two assists, 12 shots and four hits. If you need some pop on your blueline, Stanley’s one of the best waiver-wire pickups right now.

Frederik Andersen, G, CAR (27% rostered)

If Brandon Bussi gets the game in Seattle, Andersen likely draws the start in Vancouver and gets another good chance to build some positive momentum that had begun at the Olympics. It’s been a horrendous year for Andersen, but a 27-save win against the Wings and an easy matchup against the Canucks might give him the confidence boost that he needs to get his back in order. It’s a risk, but you’re getting half of a potential timeshare on a very good team.

Joel Hofer, G, STL (18% rostered)

That’s two consecutive strong starts for Hofer with only two goals allowed against the Kraken and the Wild, which was a tough road matchup in Minnesota. With Jordan Binnington potentially on the move – plenty of teams are looking for goalie help – Hofer stands a chance to at least get a bigger chunk of the starts or be the Blues’ starter for the rest of the season. He’s so inconsistent he can’t be trusted on a nightly basis, but the Blues seem to be trending in the right direction immediately following the break.

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

Jacob Melanson, RW, SEA (3% rostered)

If you missed out on Mathieu Olivier, Kiefer Sherwood or Yakov Trenin, or just need some hits in a pinch, Melanson gets a shoutout for how physical he’s been despite very limited minutes. He’s managed to rack up the hits because he’s the league leader in hits per 60 minutes (33.67, min. 20 GP) by a significant margin, and among forwards with at least 100 hits has played the fewest games (24). Melanson has registered at least seven hits in nine of his 24 games; he may be a one-trick pony in fantasy, but he’s the best one in the hits category.

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