Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Week 24 Primer

It's going to be a tough week for streamers. 

Only the Golden Knights and Ducks play four games in Week 24, and there are just six combined games on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 

While quantity of games can be a great edge in head-to-head fantasy matchups, the advantage certainly doesn't feel like it would be significant. The strategy would actually be to fade the four teams playing just twice, and it's unfortunate all four teams also feature some of the league's most elite superstars. 

Usually, depth players on good teams playing with good players, such as the Lightning's Anthony Cirelli or the Wild's Marco Rossi, are worth dropping. Neither team plays until Thursday, and you're missing out on crucial days of the week to gain stats. 

You'll also have to consider when to drop players. The Knights, for example, play Monday-Tuesday, but a player such as Ivan Barbashev might be sat on Thursday and Saturday for better options because there are so many games. In that case, consider playing Barbashev for the back-to-back to open the week, then drop him for another player. 

If you're still looking to take advantage of the meager options on the off-days, consider the Canucks or the Sabres, who play on at least two of the four off-days. Both teams are playing all three games at home, with the Canucks drawing the slightly tougher matchups with the Kings and Stars. 

Statistically speaking, the Wild and Blues draw the easiest opponents, but I think the best schedule belongs to the Kraken, who play the Ducks twice at home in a rare schedule quirk. The Kraken should be good enough to sweep that mini-series and you can also drop their players by Friday. 

Schedule

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.

Weekly Bangers

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

Hits/GP

Keegan Kolesar, RW, VEG - 3.54
Paul Cotter, C/LW, VEG - 3.14
Max Jones, LW, ANA - 2.47  
William Carrier, LW, VEG - 2.24 
Bo Groulx, C, ANA - 2.22

Blocks/GP

Alec Martinez, D, VEG - 3.23
Brayden McNabb, D, VEG - 2.61
Jackson LaCombe, D, ANA - 1.87
Nicolas Hague, D, VEG - 1.61 
Cam Fowler, D, VEG - 1.51

Season-long adds

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Jonathan Drouin, LW, COL (19% rostered)

It's magic when Drouin plays with Nathan MacKinnon. With a comeback win on Sunday after trailing 4-0 against the Pens, the Avs' winning streak is now at nine games with Drouin on a four-game points streak with two goals and six assists. It was the 19th game where he played over 20 minutes, and he's also 10 points shy of tying his career high. 

Though Drouin doesn't always play with MacKinnon, they've showed great chemistry when they have shared the ice. Ride the wave while it's high.

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Dylan Guenther, LW, ARI (9% rostered)

With a four-game points streak entering Sunday's matchup, Guenther's solidified his top-six role, likely until the end of the season. Even if Guenther doesn't hit the score sheet, he's evolving into a high-volume shooter averaging nearly three shots per game. 

Mid-term holds

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Juraj Slafkovský, LW, MTL (21% rostered)

To Slafkovský's credit, he's managed to stay on the top line. He has scored a point in six straight games entering Sunday's contest against the Kraken, and he's also provided a steady stream of hits. It is a tough schedule coming up, though, with the Avs, Flyers and Canes. 

Jake Neighbours, LW/RW, STL (17% rostered)

Neighbours carries a six-game points streak into Week 24, playing on the top line with Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn. He's been one of the Blues' most consistent performers lately, and it's not a bad schedule to boot; the Blues play on an off-day on Monday against the Knights and finish the week against the Sharks on Saturday. All three of their games will be played at home. 

Short-term streamers

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Phillip Danault, C, LA (23% rostered)

Danault's scoring can be pretty sparse, but when he's scoring, he's an excellent fantasy player. He's playing with excellent wingers in Trevor Moore and Kevin Fiala, and while there's a tough schedule coming up through Western Canada, the Kings have historically been very successful against them.  

Conor Garland, RW, VAN (9% rostered)

Garland's two assist effort gives him four points in three games and the Canucks' top line with Garland with Elias Petterson and Nils Höglander has been excellent. J.T. Miller's line has been less productive, which means Pettersson's line has taken the reigns. While Garland's not a highly skilled offensively player, he's showed great chemistry with Pettersson. The upside for Garland over Höglander is that Garland tends to play a little more on the power play. The Canucks have one of the best schedules on Week 24. 

Morgan Frost, C, PHI (6% rostered)

Rostering a Flyer is always fraught because John Tortorella will sit anybody. However, Frost is their one true playmaking center, possessing upside that Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier do not possess. Frost also has really good wingers on his flanks with Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny. 

Connor McMichael, C, WSH (6% rostered)

McMichael has played a big part in Alex Ovechkin and the Caps' second-half resurgence. He's the favored center recently, leapfrogging Dylan Strome and Hendrix Lapierre. Though McMichael doesn't offer much in peripherals except for faceoffs, as long as he's by Ovechkin's side, he'll have plenty of fantasy value.

Dustin Wolf, G, CGY (10% rostered)

With Dan Vladar undergoing season-ending surgery, look for Wolf to take over as the backup to Jacob Markström. The Flames are pretty much out of the playoff race, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle the goalie rotation. There doesn't seem to be much of a benefit starting Markström all the time, so we may see him split the starts with Wolf down the stretch.