Friday Fantasy Notebook - Oct. 30, 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.

Carolina Hurricanes

There’s no timetable for when Alexander Nikishin (30% rostered) will return to the lineup, but he’s available in most leagues and he can be an effective depth defenseman in fantasy. He finished seventh in Calder voting last season with 33 points, including 10 on the power play, 94 blocks and 132 hits in 81 games. Those are solid numbers even though he played just 18:11 per game.

Shayne Gostisbehere is not in danger of losing his PP1 job, but Nikishin may eat into K’Andre Miller’s PP TOI. The Canes lean quite heavily on their top unit so it may not move the needle on Nikishin’s fantasy value either way, but it can make a difference; one-third of Nikishin’s points came on the power play last season.

I’m not sure if Nikishin will remain a Cane for the entire season; protracted contract negotiations is a hint that maybe the two aren’t good fits for either, but a trade may be welcome because Nikishin may end up on a team that will give him a more significant role and more minutes. And, right now, it costs fantasy managers basically nothing to just pick him up.

Detroit Red Wings

We can safely assume that Dylan Larkin has played his last game as a Detroit Red Wing, drawing his tenure to a bitter end after a fairy-tale beginning when the Michigan-born, Michigan Wolverine product was drafted 15th overall in 2014 by his home team. I do think he made a concerted effort during his 10-game return where he scored six points and registered 32 shots and won 53.4 percent of his faceoffs, but this is the second time the Wings' former captain has publicly quit on his team. Clearly, his current situation is impacting his fantasy value, otherwise he’d be rostered in all leagues, not just 81 percent of them on Yahoo.

I do think this situation has become nastier than Connor Hellebuyck’s with the Jets and, unlike that situation, there’s no deadline to when Larkin’s suspension may end to potentially expedite a trade. Fantasy managers will have to wait and hope that this doesn’t turn into a season-long standoff.

Anyway, this means the Wings will be using Emmitt Finnie (13% rostered) and Andrew Copp (1% rostered) as their top two centers. Finnie has far more upside; he’s not known as a scorer but he can certainly do a better than the veteran Copp. Finnie has scored eight points in his past eight games and improved immensely in winning faceoffs from last season, winning 49.3 percent compared to 44.0 percent last season.

The Finnie line with Alex DeBrincat and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard that was so good to start the season has been split up, but if there's one strength in this Detroit lineup it's their depth on the wings. As the 1C, Finnie will have no shortage of quality wingers to play with, and last night Finnie, DeBrincat and Viktor Arvidsson combined for seven points and a plus-8 rating. 

It must be said that if the Wings truly have playoff aspirations, their center depth is nowhere close to being good enough. (We'll see what a Larkin trade can bring). J.T. Compher, occasional center Michael Rasmussen, and prospect Nate Danielson are their only other options, and don’t be surprised if the Wings experiment here and there with Compher, but Finnie is most likely their best option. With L1 and PP1 deployment, I think Finnie has a lot of fantasy value and at least worth a stash in standard leagues. 

Los Angeles Kings

Brandt Clarke (87% rostered) took a bad hit from Hayden Hodgson last night, and while he was able to skate off on his own power, he did not return to the game. The Kings defense doesn’t have any marquee fantasy options, but note Erik Gustafsson has skated at least 20 minutes in each of his past five games and took a bunch of Clarke’s minutes after he was injured.

Gustafsson is a journeyman power-play specialist who can’t really be trusted at 5-on-5. He had one really good season in 2018-19 with 60 points in 79 games but since then has not been able to find a regular role anywhere.

Should Clarke missed an extended period of time, look for Gustafsson to play more minutes. He was already taking reps with PP1 prior to Clarke’s injury, but he’s been a temporary solution throughout his entire career and it’s not going to get better in his age-34 season. Even as a power-play specialist, I do wonder how effective Gustafsson really is, or if the Kings just really don’t have any other option. It’s probably both, and in either case, Gustafsson’s current increased fantasy value will likely be short-lived.

New Jersey Devils

I think Hellebuyck is going to be a workhorse for the Devils, especially once he gets up to speed after about a month, so it’s a little perplexing why Jake Allen is still rostered in 28 percent of Yahoo leagues. He’s won five games in eight starts in spite of his generally poor performances. Fantasy managers are better off using his roster spot for another player or goalie who plays more often, or simply use it to stream goalies.

New York Islanders

The curious case of Mathew Barzal continues. While we can enjoy watching Matthew Schaefer in the meantime, Barzal represents a very important piece of the Islanders offense and yet there’s still no timetable for his return. When camp started, it was speculated that Barzal was only a few weeks away; a month into the season, it’s still not certain what exactly Barzal is dealing with and why he hasn’t returned.

He’s never lived up to the lofty standards set in his rookie season – I suspect whatever ails his knee has something to do with it – but Barzal is still a very good playmaker when he’s playing his best. He’s currently rostered in 62 percent of Yahoo leagues but fewer and fewer every week. If you have the space, Barzal is worth picking up to stash on your bench. Fantasy managers will just have to be patient and hope he returns sooner than later.

Winnipeg Jets

I was still skeptical about Cole Perfetti’s fantasy value during his fantastic six-game stretch to start the season, and in his past seven games he’s scored a goal and two assists. The entire Jets offense is sputtering, and even when they managed to score more than three goals they allowed six goals against the Lightning for their seventh straight loss.

I think Perfetti can still be a very good offensive player, but he's also inconsistent and can’t carry his own line yet. The Jets have played him with Mark Scheifele for basically the entire season, and if playing with their top center still doesn’t help Perfetti produce consistently, is there another spot in the lineup that would be more optimal for Perfetti to score? I’m not sure there is. The Jets are line juggling to snap out of a funk, but the reality is they’re still far too thin.

Dawson Mercer is a non-factor on offense most nights, and Viggo Bjorck, Isak Rosen, and Brad Lambert aren’t good enough or getting enough minutes to make much of an impact. At this point, I wouldn’t worry too much about missing much by dropping Perfetti, who’s rostered in 64 percent of Yahoo leagues but that number keeps getting lower. I still see a streaky scorer on a mediocre team with a one-line offense. 

In net, Stuart Skinner is going to get the bulk of the starts while Nico Daws and Clay Stevenson battle for the leftovers, but a 16-save performance (.762 SP) against the Lightning demands a review of their entire goalie situation. While Skinner was very good to start the season, he doesn’t have a history of being able to sustain a high level of play, and that will open the door for Daws and Stevenson to play, especially if the Jets keep losing.

Fantasy managers should keep rostering Skinner for volume, but this is a tough stretch coming up with visits in Florida, Carolina, and Montreal, which means it might be prudent to staple Skinner to your bench. Should Daws and/or Stevenson get hot, the Jets might roll with them for a while, too, so keep an eye on them, especially in leagues where the waiver wire is thin on goalies.

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