Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Week 23 Primer

If you're still reading this, that means you've made it to your fantasy hockey playoffs. In most leagues, the playoffs start in Week 23, leaving the semis in Week 24 and the finals in Week 25. 

Week 25 will end on April 7 even though the NHL season doesn't end until April 18, and that's because teams have a tendency to rest players in the week leading up to the playoffs, and you hope they're not resting the star player that anchors your fantasy team.

(It also prevents a lot of whining from managers, which is a key point if you're the commission of your league).

Anyway, getting back on track -- Week 23 is interesting because no teams play less than three games and there are 10 games on Sunday, ensuring tons of back-to-backs but also opportunities for a last-ditch effort by managers to win their week. 

Be wary that some of these back-to-backs involve travel from a home rink to a road destination or vice versa, as it will be for the Leafs, Devils, Senators and Flames. That also means plenty of backups will be in action, and a few of them are definitely worth noting, including Laurent Brossoit, Dustin Wolf (if he's still around), Calvin Pickard, Jonas Johansson (maybe) and Anthony Stolarz. 

Monday, Wednesday and Friday remain the off-days, and if you want to take advantage of those, target the Capitals, Stars and Coyotes, all of whom play Monday and Wednesday. Given how much action there will be over the weekend, however, I'd recommend saving your weekly adds at least until after Wednesday's games. 

As for the rest of the schedule, after playing two games in each of the past two weeks, the Lightning rank second in the schedule matrix with four games and the second-easiest schedule behind the Blackhawks. While all four games are on the road, two of them are against the Sharks and Ducks. 

Meanwhile, the Flyers and Rangers face the toughest competition. They'll both face the Panthers and Bruins, with the Flyers hosting the Leafs on Tuesday before playing a road game in Carolina on Thursday before a weekend back-to-back. The Flyers have one of the toughest stretches in the league as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

The Rangers play one fewer game and host the Jets on Tuesday, and given their remaining games are on Thursday and Saturday, they're not the team to lean on in Week 23. 

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.

From The Sleepers and Keepers Fantasy Hockey Podcast with Jason Chen and Michael Amato

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo, on teams with at least 4 games this week)

Hits/GP

Garnet Hathaway, RW, PHI - 3.94 
Simon Benoit, D, TOR - 3.53
Cal Clutterbuck, RW, NYI - 3.40 
Ryan Reaves, RW, TOR - 3.26 
Nicolas Deslauriers, LW, PHI - 3.16 
Brenden Dillon, D, WPG - 3.11
Matt Martin, LW, NYI - 2.91 
Beck Malenstyn, LW, WSH - 2.91 
Neal Pionk, D, WPG - 2.79
Connor Clifton, D, BUF - 2.65 

Blocks/GP

Nick Seeler, D, PHI - 2.92 
Ryan Pulock, D, NYI - 2.67 
Jamie Oleksiak, D, SEA - 2.26
TJ Brodie, D, TOR - 2.12
Timothy Liljegren, D, TOR - 2.11
Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, OTT - 2.09 
Cam York, D, PHI - 2.06 
Alexander Romanov, D, NYI - 2.06 
Adam Larsson, D, SEA - 2.03 
Travis Sanheim, D, PHI - 1.87 

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Mikael Granlund, C/RW, SJ (24% rostered)

Even if Granlund's scoring rate per 60 minutes isn't elite, the fact that he plays over 20 minutes per game means he's going to rack up the points anyway. He's notched four helpers in his past four games, shoots the puck more often than ever because there's no one else to do it, and wins plenty of faceoffs.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, CAR (21% rostered)

This is your last chance to grab Kuznetsov, who plays four games in Week 23 and he's been dynamite for the Canes with four points in his past three games. He's centering the second line with Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov on his wings, and at even strength could be just as effective as Sebastian Aho's line. 

Anthony Duclair, LW, TB (19% rostered)

He's been dynamite since joining the Lightning and even skated with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. As long as he's playing on that line, Duclair will be a very productive scorer. The drawback with Duclair is that he tends to be very streaky and doesn't offer much in the other categories. 

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Alex Nylander, LW/RW, CLB (15% rostered)

Nylander's hot run continues, which included a three-point effort against the Sharks. He followed that up with zero points and a minus-3 rating against the Jets, but you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to such imperfect top-six players. Nylander is not a season-long hold due to his inconsistency, but he remains a good option in the right matchup. At the very least, he gets a lot of shots, averaging 3.5 per game.

Jack Roslovic, C/RW, NYR (13% rostered)

It's a little concerning to me that Roslovic still doesn't get much ice time, but his role on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider remains intact. He's scored three points in his past three games but doesn't get any power play time at all. 

Fabian Zetterlund, LW, SJ (7% rostered)

Reaping the benefits of increased ice time and playing on the top line with Granlund, Zetterlund has taken advantage and scored two goals in his past three games. The Sharks are a low-ceiling team, but they're an overlooked source of fantasy options. Zetterlund offers up a steady diet of shots with some hits and blocks. 

Daniil Tarasov, G, CLB (8% rostered)

I'm not sure how long Tarasov's hot run will continue -- his lowest save percentage in eight games is .906 -- but it certainly looks like the Jackets may commit to him as the starter for the rest of the season. Remember, Elvis Merzlikins reportedly asked for a trade and the likely long-term solution is Tarasov.

Dustin Wolf, G, CGY (6% rostered)

Wolf's put together two excellent starts, and it remains to be seen when Jacob Markstrom will return. Until then, expect Wolf to get an extended look as the Flames make a desperate, last-ditch attempt to make the playoffs. Wolf has more upside than Dan Vladar, and he's certainly outplaying him right now. 

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Juraj Slafkovský, LW, MTL (20% rostered)

The Habs have a tough schedule with stops in Edmonton, Vancouver and Seattle in Week 23, but note Slafkovský seems to be catching fire right now with a point in four straight games. It's not unusual for young players to be extremely streaky, but at least the Habs have remained committed to playing Slafkovský on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield the entire time. 

Connor McMichael, C, WSH (3% rostered)

Let's forget about Dylan Strome for a second because it's been McMichael who's been centering Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie. McMichael's averaging over 17 minutes per game over the past five games, which includes his current three-game points streak. With this kind of deployment and then sharing shifts on PP1 with Hendrix Lapierre, McMichael's a good option in a week where the Caps play four games, all four of which are on off-days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday). 

Ivan Miroshnichenko, LW, WSH (0% rostered)

In the same token, Miroshnichenko is another intriguing Capitals prospect. He's got one of the highest offensive upsides among players in their system. He's performed well enough for the Caps to burn the first year of his entry-level contract by letting him play 10 games, and it sounds like he might be sticking with the team for the rest of the season. McMichael has more fantasy upside because he's playing a bigger role, but I wonder if Miroshnichenko's minutes will increase if the Caps' playoff hopes start to fade. 

Scott Wedgewood, G, DAL (11% rostered)

Given Jake Oettinger's struggles, having allowed four goals in his past two starts and pulled against the Devils, I wonder if the Stars give Wedgewood an extended stretch of play. It'll give Oettinger a chance to reset, and Wedgewood was good during Oettinger's injury earlier this season.