Friday Fantasy Notebook - Oct. 9, 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.

Anaheim Ducks

When it comes to defensemen in fantasy, especially those that don’t play on the power play, overall ice time matters. The logic is the longer you’re on the ice, the more opportunities you will have to block shots or lay out hits. That brings us to Tristan Luneau (8% rostered), who ranks 13th in the league with 25:02 TOI/GP with one assist and seven blocks in three games this season. The Ducks love Luneau for about $43 million reasons, and he’s certainly earning that contract with that kind of usage playing on the top pair with Jackson LaCombe (second in TOI/GP) and PP2.

We don’t have enough of a sample size at the NHL level to really project what Luneau can do, but he did lead their AHL team in scoring in 2024-25 with 52 points in 59 games, and with a 17-game sample size in the NHL, he also seems capable of putting up a minimum of 100 blocks and 100 hits. These are very modest numbers, not enough to garner attention beyond the deepest of leagues, but that ceiling will continue to rise if his usage keeps up, and that makes him worth monitoring.

Two things that work against Luneau: The Ducks pretty much play only their top unit with LaCombe on the power play, and their defense is so thin half of them play less than 16 minutes per game. Can Luneau and LaCombe keep this up for 84 games?

Buffalo Sabres

Owen Power (35% rostered) has always been a very interesting player. Big, but not physical. Skilled, but not an offensive defenseman. And his fantasy value? Mediocre. But watch him play this season and he's clearly making a huge impact. 

Power is averaging 26:16 TOI/GP this season, ninth in the league among defensemen, with five points in three games. Like Luneau for the Ducks, the big increase in ice time can raise the ceiling for Power’s fantasy value.

He’s become a very popular pickup on the wire lately and I think it’s justified. At worse, Power is worth putting on your watch list just in case this really is his breakout season. The lack of PP is a downer, but with 40-point potential and 100 blocks, his fantasy value isn’t actually too far off from Shea Theodore's (more on him later), who’s rostered in 94 percent of Yahoo leagues and cost a lot more to acquire.

Philadelphia Flyers

Ignoring the Flyers’ fifth straight loss for a moment – they played well in Ottawa last night – it’s time to consider Joseph Woll (21% rostered) as a season-long hold. It was his third start in four games and in each game had a .923 SP or better. Maybe Dan Vladar works out the kinks and returns to form, but we’ve seen Woll play very well in the past so it’s not exactly surprising; his problem was that he could never stay healthy.

With the league’s worst offense so far at 1.20 GF/GP, and with so many of their young talented forwards struggling, the narrative that Rick Tocchet is where offense goes to die continues to have legs. With that kind of goal support, it doesn’t matter how good Woll (or Vladar) play – they’re just not going to win games. I think you can roster Woll for the quality starts but, that’s about it for now.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Nick Robertson (8% rostered) has three goals in four games, living up to some pre-season hype, but here’s the key stat that worries me: 0:00 PP TOI. The Pens traded Filip Hallander because they have a logjam up front, and despite Robertson’s speed and great hands, he needs to be much more consistent and do much more to earn his minutes.

He scored against the Caps but played just 8:32, and it continues a worrying but expected downtrend of providing an offensive spark but seeing his minutes decline because coaches realize he is a non-factor in other areas of the game when he cannot provide that spark consistently. Good for you if you didn’t buy into the pre-season hype because it looks like Robertson will be little more than a waiver wire streaming option.

Vegas Golden Knights

It all depends on who’s playing on PP1, which is admittedly difficult to figure out. Victor Olofsson (7% rostered) is out week-to-week after taking a bad hit from the Kraken’s Ben Meyers, and it’s unfortunate because he was off to a terrific start with four goals in four games. That’s created a void on PP1, and Trevor Connelly (1% rostered) is getting the first shot.

Connelly, one of the few first-round picks the Knights have kept around, was a point-per-game player on Vegas’ very good farm team last season where Ryan Craig was the head coach. That trust has clearly translated to the NHL, and despite scoring zero points against the Leafs last night was vital in securing the shootout win with a nifty goal.

As long as Connelly – or Olofsson when he returns – play on PP1, they will offer high-quality streaming value. Rostering them only makes sense if you have space, but otherwise they’re probably not consistent enough to be rostered all season. Their roles on PP1, however, also impact Shea Theodore, who scored just 39 points last season – his lowest since 2018-19 – because only five of them came on the power play. Theodore’s a 50-point threat with PP1, but barely cracks 40 without it.

Without good shot volume, blocks, or hits, Theodore’s fantasy value suddenly becomes very muted, and I feel his fantasy value is based more on his reputation and name recognition than his current role and production. Keep rostering Theodore, but know that he’s not good enough to anchor your defense as a very, very borderline top-25 fantasy defenseman.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have allowed 10 goals in four games and rank eighth with a .932 save percentage at 5-on-5, per naturalstattrick.com, thanks to some great performances from Stuart Skinner (2-0-1, .920 SP, 2.62 GAA) and Clay Stevenson (29 saves in 3-2 win vs. Pens).

If this continues, this is bad for fantasy owners who roster Connor Hellebucyk, even if they got him late in the draft. The tables have turned; the Jets can now afford to wait until they get a trade offer they like because they're winning games, which means teams interested in Hellebuyck may have to increase their bids in a who-blinks-first scenario.

(Considering how stubborn Kevin Cheveldayoff has been in the past, I wouldn't rule out the Jets making Hellebuyck sit the season. I've mentioned it before and my stance hasn't changed). 

As I noted previously, Skinner can be good for stretches, but not for long. I’m not sure how long the Jets will be able to keep playing like this – their schedule gets tough at the end of the month – but, for now, Skinner (32% rostered) and Stevenson (4% rostered) are worth rostering and/or streaming in the right matchups. 

Also, Cole Perfetti (55% rostered) is lighting it up with a goal in three straight games and I really like him on L1. He’s not good enough to drive his own line, but putting him on the top line is setting him up to post career-best numbers with ice time that’s jumped from 15:37 TOI/GP last season to 18:19 this season. As long as this deployment continues, Perfetti should be rostered. (Where was this last season?!) 

Of course, that puts a damper on Gabe Vilardi (59% rostered). I never liked Vilardi’s fantasy value because he doesn’t shoot the puck often and offers little else except for 30-goal potential. Now that he’s off L1, and with just two assists and eight shots in four games with the lowest ice time (15:42 TOI/GP) of his Jets tenure, I’m even less fond of his fantasy value. In banger leagues, unless it’s a deep league, Vilardi provides little above-replacement fantasy value; I wouldn’t worry about missing much if he was dropped.

Last note: Josh Morrissey left Wednesday’s game and his current status is unknown. Should he miss time, Neal Pionk (18% rostered) will be their top PP option. He notched an assist against the Avs and provides modest multi-category coverage with shots, blocks, and hits.

Weekend Games

Saturday

Canucks (2-3-0) at Devils (1-2-0), 3:30 p.m. EDT

The question is if Jake Allen or Nico Daws gets the start because this should be an easy win, and whoever wins this game will have the inside track on the starting job.

Oilers (3-0-1) at Sharks (3-1-0), 4 p.m. EDT

Devon Levi (31% rostered) made his case to be the starter and now is Tristan Jarry’s chance. Hope that the Sharks will be without Celebrini, because another bad start and Mike Babock might go with Levi for the rest of the month. Levi is still a speculative add but there's no denying he's been the better of the two goalies right now and worth rostering for the wins.

Mammoth (3-2-0) at Sabres (2-2-0), 7 p.m. EDT

I think Colten Ellis (2% rostered) should get this start. Tough matchup, but if he plays well, the Sabres might give him a longer look before going back to Luukkonen.

Kings (0-2-1) at Golden Knights (4-1-0), 10 p.m. EDT

A good game to stream Connelly and bet he can score on the PP; the Kings PK ranks 31st.

Sunday

Canucks (2-3-0) at Rangers (4-1-0), 6 p.m. EDT

A rejuvenated and motivated Elias Pettersson faces J.T. Miller for the first time since their rift shattered the Canucks dressing room. Will it be firework or just business?

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