Fantasy Hockey Head-to-Head Week 18 Primer

Things are back to normal after an extended Week 17 that saw a lengthy break for some teams. The Sharks, for example, will be playing their first game in two weeks.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are once again the busiest days, with no more than four games on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Friday features only one game with the Hurricanes at Coyotes. If you want to target a team with off-days, it's definitely the Coyotes, who play on all the off days and only one of three teams to play four games in Week 18. 

Week 18 is punctuated by a pair of outdoor games at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with the Flyers at Devils on Saturday and the Rangers at Islanders on Sunday. Usually, teams participating in outdoor games get a bit of a breather before their big event, but that won't be the case for the Flyers or Devils, both of whom play on Thursday, with the Flyers travelling from Toronto. The Rangers and Isles, meanwhile, will play Sunday following a two-day and four-day break, respectively. 

Note the Stadium Series game on Saturday starts a little later than usual at 8 p.m. local time, and the Sunday game is a matinee at 3 p.m. local time. That's a quick turnaround, and I wonder if the ice will be an issue. That could be a game breaker since the Rangers' outdoor games have historically all been very close. 

The Rangers are 4-0-0 all-time in outdoor games, and a win would make them the first team to win five games outdoors. The Flyers are 1-3-1 all-time, and both teams have a considerable advantage in experience since the Devils and Isles are both just playing their second game outdoors. Neither team has won in the Stadium Series.

An interesting note regarding the games immediately following the All-Star Game -- the games seem to feature fewer goals than usual, with the Canucks and Bruins getting shut out once each. Perhaps it's the hangover of a long break, but it didn't seem like everybody was on the same page. I expect scoring to normalize in Week 18 in the ever-continuing trend of high-scoring offenses across the league. 

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 4 games this week)

Hits/GP

Curtis Lazar, C, NJ - 2.84 
Nathan Bastian, RW, NJ - 2.71 
Jack McBain, C, ARI - 2.66 
Liam O'Brien, C, ARI - 2.65 
Andreas Englund, D, LA - 2.55

Blocks/GP

Matt Roy, D, LA - 2.29 
Mikey Anderson, D, LA - 1.88 
Josh Brown, D, ARI - 1.75
J.J. Moser, D, ARI - 1.52 
Matt Dumba, D, ARI - 1.46

Season-long adds

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Chandler Stephenson, C, VEG (22% rostered)
Nicolas Roy, C/RW, VEG (11% rostered)

Stephenson continues to hold down the L1 spot and I think the addition of Paul Cotter has been good for him and Mark Stone. Stephenson's scored three points in his past two games and generally speaking a great source of assists and faceoff wins when he gets top-line minutes.

Meanwhile, Roy's points streak has now reached six games and he's firmly entrenched as their No. 2 pivot with Ivan Barbashev and Jonathan Marchessault on his wings. The Knights have found something here and it has become their most reliable scoring line. 

Mid-term holds

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

David Rittich, G, LA (20% rostered)

With four games in Week 18, I suspect Rittich will get at least two games. That shutout against the Oilers made a strong statement, and I suspect the Kings will continue to roll with Rittich as long as he stays hot. If Cam Talbot continues to struggle, the Kings will have no choice but to stick with Rittich or acquire another goalie. 

Short-term streamers

(< 25% rostered on Yahoo)

Nick Schmaltz, C/RW, ARI (19% rostered)

After a brief dry spell, Schmaltz is scoring again with three points in his past five games. With four games this week for the Coyotes, all on off days, Schmaltz is a good add if you want that extra edge when all the other teams are taking a break. 

Nick Paul, C/LW, TB (16% rostered)

Paul either scores a bunch of points or he doesn't at all, but one thing's for certain is his top-six role for the Lightning. They just don't have enough quality depth, which is good for Paul, currently playing L2 with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel while the Lightning stack their top line. If you need faceoff wins, some hits and the potential for points, Paul's a good option. 

Shane Pinto, C, OTT (11% rostered)

A three-point effort against the Leafs gives Pinto five points in two games, and I'm intrigued by this development. He played more minutes than both Josh Norris and Tim Stützle, and for the fifth straight game won at least five faceoffs while registering at least one and one blocked shot. Pinto's got plenty to prove after a 41-game suspension. If you're looking for a speculative add in multi-category leagues, I think Pinto's a good sleeper option. 

Nils Höglander, LW, VAN (4% rostered)

As long as Höglander plays on Elias Pettersson's wing, he's going to have fantasy value. After Rick Tocchet mixed up the lines and put Höglander and Pius Suter on Pettersson's line, Höglander immediately responded with two goals in two games. We shall see if this holds, as I think the long-term goal is to play Pettersson with Elias Lindholm, but so far it's working for Höglander. The Canucks play three games in Week 18.