Friday Fantasy Notebook - Nov. 6, 2026

The weekend is coming. Who’s hot, who’s not, and who’s ready to make noise? The Friday Fantasy Notebook recaps the week’s biggest developments and sets the stage for the weekend’s must-watch players, matchups and storylines.

Buffalo Sabres

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had a strong start in L.A. (.931 SP) but that’s been the exception in what has been a tough season (3.40 GAA, .874 SP). Lindy Ruff has stubbornly stuck with him while Alex Lyon remains injured, but Colten Ellis’ recent play is making it hard to keep him on the bench.

He took a shutout to the third period against the Sens before losing 2-1 (38 saves, .933 SP) and won both of his previous starts, including a 23-save shutout in San Jose. It’s a tough schedule ahead with home dates against the Knights and Lightning, but going forward there’s a chance Ellis takes over the starting job. The Sabres had been looking to upgrade in net since at least the summer when they were reportedly in the running for Connor Hellebuyck. Ellis is rostered in just seven percent of Yahoo leagues.

Edmonton Oilers

Frederik Andersen, Devon Levi, and now Tristan Jarry, which leaves Matt Tomkins as the only healthy goalie left on the Oilers roster. Tomkins was excellent in his first start of the season stopping 27 of 28 shots (.964 SP), his first NHL appearance since April 17, 2024, but then struggled against the Ducks (16 saves, .762 SP) in a high-scoring game fuelled by two very good power plays.

Still, Tomkins might have some excellent short-term value; the Oilers host the league-worst Canucks on Saturday at home, followed by the Rangers and Flyers, both of whom have struggled so far this season. That could be three straight wins for Tomkins should Jarry remain ill. Tomkins has been one of the most popular pickups, and rostered in 14 percent of Yahoo leagues as of Thursday evening.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning once again used both Charle-Edouard D’Astous and John Carlson on the power play and finished roughly even in ice time (3:16 vs. 2:52). As noted in previous weeks, expect this situation to be very fluid; the Lightning were 1-for-3 on the power play but faced a very mediocre penalty kill, and dating back to last season still have not really found anything that works. For a team that has so much elite talent, their power play continues to underperform.

Speaking of talent, Nikita Kucherov’s trade request is going to send ripples across the league, though the Lightning’s Cup chances are likely the highest if they keep him rather than trade him. If they do end up trading Kucherov, it’s going to take a big bite out of their offense and negatively impact the likes of Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point. There’s a chance their power play improves because opposing PK’s can’t focus on Kucherov anymore, which in turn might make them a little unpredictable. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Carlson’s lack of helpers is a little curious but he’s been generating offense on a pretty consistent basis and remains worth holding. His fantasy value, however, is discounted as long as he shares the ice with D’Astous on the power play. On the other hand, D’Astous is still rostered in less than half of Yahoo leagues (37%) and should be picked now with his PP1 role intact.

Utah Mammoth

If there’s one gripe about the Mammoth this season it’s that their goaltending has been subpar with Karel Vejmelka (3.31 GAA, .868 SP) struggling. He’s won just once in his past five starts and in his lone win allowed four goals on 32 shots (.875), bailed out by the Mammoth’s excellent offense.

Vejmelka’s struggles opened the door for Sebastian Cossa to take over the net, and he was very good in his two starts on the road in Pittsburgh (30 saves, .909 SP) and in Toronto (27 saves, .931 SP), but struggled Thursday in Montreal (30 saves, .857 SP).

Vejmelka will likely draw the start Saturday in Ottawa, but then split the starts with Cossa during their back-to-back on Nov. 11-12. This is a vital stretch where the pressure’s on both goalies in their battle for playing time. My immediate prediction is that Cossa and Vejmelka will end up in a timeshare until one of them proves to be better than the other, which may not happen at all this season.

Cossa is rostered in 11 percent of Yahoo leagues and worth picking up in case he forces a time share or wins the starting job. He’s playing behind an excellent offense, which means plenty of potential wins for fantasy managers.

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