Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Week 11 Primer

Happy holidays to all!

Both Week 11 and Week 12 will be short. The NHL will take a break from Dec. 24-26, which means no games on Sunday in Week 11 and no games on Monday or Tuesday in Week 12. Be sure to set your rosters accordingly, and make your final push to win your head-to-head matchup on Saturday. The marquee game Saturday will be Golden Knights at Panthers, a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final, though frustratingly it’s a matinee and not prime time.

It would’ve been nice to fold Weeks 11 and 12 into a two-week long matchup until the end of the year to make up for the three days with no games. The Winter Classic on Jan. 1 also happens to fall on a Monday, and it ensures at least one game was played every day of that week. Alas, I digress.

With a shortened schedule for Week 11, only two teams will play four games: the Wild and Red Wings. Everyone else plays three, and while they have the advantage of playing one extra game, they don’t offer any options better than, say, three games of Connor McDavid, even on the Oilers’ tough road trip through the tri-state area.

The only difference playing four games will make is Marc-André Fleury and James Reimer might get one more start than they would have had their respective teams played just three games. Note, however, nine teams that play three games still have a back-to-back, ensuring plenty of backups will see action.

Tuesday, Dec. 19 will also mark the 109th anniversary of the first games to be played in the NHL. With 11 games on the slate, it will be third busiest day of the week following Saturday and Thursday, with Monday, Wednesday and Friday being the off-nights again.

A roster freeze will be in effect for all teams from Dec. 20-27 (starting at 11:59 p.m. local time) and will apply to waivers, loans and trades unless it’s an exceptional circumstance. That means team rosters are basically set for Wednesday through Saturday’s games, and considering the amount of goalie movement around the league lately, it’s going to be interesting to see how some teams navigate this, especially with the Hurricanes and Stars, who waived veteran Antti Raanta and lost starter Jake Oettinger to injury, respectively.

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)

Hits/GP

Michael Pezzetta, LW, MTL – 3.43
Tanner Jeannot, LW/RW, TB – 3.41
Jeremy Lauzoun, D, NSH – 3.35
Paul Cotter, C, VEG – 3.32
Sammy Blais, LW, STL – 3.08
Keegan Kolesar, RW, VEG – 3.00
Dakota Joshua, C/LW, VAN – 2.97
Brendan Dillon, D, WPG – 2.69
Cole Smith, LW, NSH – 2.63
Nicolas Deslauriers, LW, PHI – 2.57

Blocks/GP

Alec Martinez, D, VEG – 3.29
Brayden McNabb, D, VEG – 3.10
Mario Ferraro, D, SJ – 2.90
Jake Walman, D, DET – 2.82
Kaiden Guhle, D, MTL – 2.81
Connor Murphy, D, CHI – 2.60
Ilya Lyubushkin, D, ANA – 2.52
Nick Seeler, D, PHI – 2.50
Jamie Oleksiak, D, SEA – 2.41
Colton Parayko, D, STL – 2.33

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Gabriel Vilardi, C/RW, Jets (25% rostered)

Wait another day and Vilardi will be rostered in over one-quarter of Yahoo leagues. Playing L1 and PP1, Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers flank Mark Scheifele on the Jets’ top line. Vilardi had a breakout season and suffered a major knee injury three games into the season and was promptly forgotten; he’s now scored four goals and seven points in his past four games, helping the Jets charge up the Central.

Joey Daccord, G, Kraken (18% rostered)

Philipp Grubauer’s injury is believed to keep him out of the lineup longer than expected. That means Daccord is thrust into the starter’s role, and he’s been excellent lately with only five goals allowed in his past four games, including a shutout win. The drawback is the Kraken’s anemic offense doesn’t provide much goal support, but if you need starts, Daccord’s the guy since they’ve been reluctant to play Chris Driedger.

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Yegor Sharangovich, C/LW, Flames (25% rostered)

We shall see if Sharangovich can keep up his hot streak, but his usage is through the roof lately and for good reason. He’s on a five-game goal streak and playing both L1 and PP1, bringing him up to 19 points in 31 games. The Tyler Toffoli trade is much easier to stomach when Sharangovich plays like this, and if this usage keeps up, he should be a fine depth option in most leagues.

Max Pacioretty, LW, Capitals (22% rostered)

Pacioretty is skating in a non-contact jersey and his return is imminent, though still likely to be after the holiday break. With the Caps having trouble scoring, Pacioretty’s return is highly anticipated. He’s a proven goal scorer with terrible injury luck, and it’s hard to find reliable top-six wingers this late into the fantasy season.

Stefan Noesen, LW/RW, Hurricanes (22% rostered)

Noesen was a power-play merchant last season and it’s still tough to rely on the Canes since they spread their minutes around so much, but Noesen has been excellent at both even strength and special teams this season. It helps that he’s playing L1 with Sebastian Aho, and he’s scored five points in his past six games.

Martin Jones, G, Maple Leafs (21% rostered)

There isn’t much confidence in Ilya Samsonov. To Jones’ credit, he was excellent against the Pens with a 38-save shutout win. Samsonov hasn’t played well enough to have a stranglehold on the starting job, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Leafs ride the hot hand. At the very least, Jones has earned at least a few more looks with Joseph Woll potentially out long term.

Scott Wedgewood, G, Stars (17% rostered)

We await word on Jake Oettinger’s injury, but it’s clear that Wedgewood’s their No. 1 going forward. He’s been an excellent streaming option since last season and the Stars lack goaltending options in the minors. It’ll be interesting to see how Wedgewood handles the workload; the race in the Central is tightening up and the Stars can’t afford to lose ground. If anything, Wedgewood will get the starts and saves.

Samuel Ersson, G, Flyers (8% rostered)

Ersson’s been excellent, including Saturday’s 33-save shutout against the Wins, his third straight start while Carter Hart’s been ill. Hart’s healthy now, but Ersson’s play might give the Flyers some pause regarding their rotation. Ersson’s at least earned a few more looks and his .897 SP doesn’t tell the whole story. We might be seeing a 1A-1B situation brewing here with a very stingy and tough Flyers team.

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Matthew Knies, LW, Maple Leafs (16% rostered)

You’re not really counting on Knies for points. He’s been a surprisingly good source of hits this season, making him a good multi-category contributor in deep leagues. He had a splendid Gordie Howe hat trick performance against the Pens, and the Leafs end the week with a date against the defensively porous Jackets.

Conor Garland, RW, Canucks (8% rostered)

The Canucks’ third line has arguably been their best line over the past two weeks. Garland has an assist in three straight games while Dakota Joshua has scored in three straight. Garland has the edge in fantasy, however, because he plays PP2.

Kevin Hayes, C, Blues (8% rostered)

A new coach bump for Hayes, maybe? He’s already been playing well prior to the coaching change, but note he’s also scored seven goals over the past month after scoring just two in the previous month, both of which were scored in the same game. He’s climbing up to a 50-point pace, and with plenty of shots and faceoffs, Hayes can be a valuable multi-category player in deep leagues.