Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Week 13 Primer

Jan. 1 will kick off with the 2024 Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. As usual, it's an all-day affair, meaning no other games are on the slate. 

Tuesday's 13-game slate marks a return to the NHL's usual weekly format with another 13 games on Thursday and 12 games on Saturday. 

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are the off days, and if you're looking to take advantage of those days, be sure to roster players from the Capitals, Devils and Ducks. 

Only four teams will play four games in Week 13, with the Jets drawing the easiest schedule and the least travel with a trip through Southern California. The Flames face tough competition with all four games on the road, and Sunday's match against the Blackhawks may be tougher than expected with their third road game in four nights and the Hawks getting some rest.

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

Jarred Tinordi, D, CHI - 2.94
Martin Pospisil, C/RW, CGY - 2.74
Brendan Dillon, D, WPG - 2.63
Beck Malenstyn, LW, WSH - 2.32 
Martin Fehervary, D, WSH - 2.21

Blocks/GP

Chris Tanev, D, CGY - 2.69 
Connor Murphy, D, CHI - 2.60 
Rasmus Sandin, D, WSH - 2.00
Dylan DeMelo, D, WPG - 1.74
Martin Fehervary, D, WSH - 1.71

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Gustav Nyquist, LW, NSH (13% rostered)

It's time to get back on the Gus bus. He may be a streaky scorer, but with a top-line assignment, Nyquist is back on a hot run with seven points in his past five games, and there's already a really good matchup coming up with the Blackhawks on Tuesday. 

Matias Macceli, LW, ARI (10% rostered)

Macceli has five helpers in his past five games. His fantasy value will almost be derived entirely of assists, giving him a little less value in leagues that emphasize goals, but his increased shooting rate is not being talked about enough. His line with Lawson Crouse and Nick Bjugstad has been very productive and now averages two shots per game. 

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Adam Fantilli, C, CLB (25% rostered)

Fantilli's production will yo-yo all season just like any rookie, but he's certainly on a roll now with a four-game point streak. He's established some good chemistry with Johnny Gaudreau, but given Gaudreau and the Jackets' struggles, the ceiling won't be as high as it could be. 

Dawson Mercer, C/RW, NJ (25% rostered)

The big thing for Mercer is ice time. He gets moved around the lineup in the Devils' lineup shuffle because they've underachieved all season, but when he's very productive when he gets the minutes. Mercer has scored four points in his past four games while averaging roughly 20 minutes per game.  

Morgan Geekie, C/RW, BOS (9% rostered)

Geekie is a sneaky add in deep leagues. Even with the return of Pavel Zacha, Geekie has remained their top center with Zacha on the left wing and David Pastrnak on the right. He gets good shooting volume and offers up some hits, giving him very good multi-category coverage. Since returning from injury, Geekie has scored 11 points in 17 games. 

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Dakota Joshua, C/LW, VAN (22% rostered)

Joshua has scored eight points in his past seven games with the Canucks' third line recently playing like their top line. The hot streak will surely end sooner than later, but Joshua also is one of the league's hits leaders and offers added value in multi-category leagues. 

Ryan Hartman, C/RW, MIN (19% rostered)

With Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov both injured, the Wild will be leaning on Hartman more than usual. Marcus Johansson gets bumped to the top line, but Hartman offers more category coverage and produced points at a very similar rate.