Sleepers and Keepers Podcast: Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi We're back to our regularly scheduled programming with light schedules on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Week 10. Saturday will feature 15 games, which is as busy as it gets since there are no days where all 32 teams will be in action. It should be relatively manageable, however, since only two teams - the Caps and Stars - only play twice in Week 10. Back-to-backs are few and far between, with most of them taking place over the weekend. I am wary, however, of how fatigue and travel might play into this week. Plenty of teams will have a single home game sandwiched between road games, which can make the homestand feel like a road trip. The Blues, for example, visit Vancouver on Tuesday, host the Sharks on Thursday, then fly to Dallas for Saturday's game and then return home on Sunday to host the Rangers. The Flyers play in Columbus on Tuesday, return home to host the Wings on Thursday then visit Minnesota on Saturday; that Thursday home game then essentially feels like a road game because they will be long-distance travelling for all three games. The other story to watch for is the return of several key players, including Canucks starting goalie Thatcher Demko, Avalanche forward Ross Colton, Habs sniper Patrik Laine, and injuries to key players including Wild top center Joel Eriksson Ek and Blackhawks starter Petr Mrazek. 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 are as of Saturday. Week 10 [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExMjQ4NTk4NjE5MjY5MDc5/week-10.jpg] Week 10 SEASON-LONG ADDS (< 50% rostered on Yahoo) Patrik Laine, LW, Canadiens (52% rostered) Laine's technically over the 50 percent rule but he's worth mentioning because he should be snatched up in all leagues. The reason why he's been overlooked is because of his lengthy injury history, but if you brush that aside, he's been a very good scorer. He scored a PPG in consecutive games upon his return and figures to be a key part of the Habs' offense. If you're looking for goals, especially on special teams, look no further. Ross Colton, C/LW, Avalanche (49% rostered) Colton was eased back into the lineup after a 17-game absence, playing with Casey Mittelstadt and Valeri Nichushkin, but Jared Bednar made a point of saying he wants Colton to play with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen at some point. That's music to our ears, and Colton scored a goal in his second game back. Colton's deployment is very good and he should pile up the points as long as he's in the Avs' vaunted top six. Pavel Buchnevich, C/LW, Blues (43% rostered) I like Buchnevich's outlook for the rest of the season with L1/PP1 deployment and his current five-game points streak. He should get RW eligibility before long as well, replacing Jordan Kyrou in that spot, who moves down to L2. Not having Kyrou on his line means Buchnevich could get a bit more of the shot share, and Jim Montgomery hasn't hesitated to give Buchnevich more than 20 minutes a night. Marco Rossi, C, Wild (25% rostered) Eriksson Ek may be sidelined for a while, which means Rossi steps in as the Wild's top center. Very quietly, Rossi's compiled 23 points in 27 games, so it's a little bewildering a player on a 70-point pace is so widely available. He's always had more offensive upside than Eriksson Ek even though he doesn't have the same category coverage. While Rossi's play has been inconsistent at times, the Wild don't have a center better suited than Rossi to play with Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy. MID-TERM HOLDS (< 50% rostered on Yahoo) Matthew Knies, LW, Maple Leafs (45% rostered) The return of Auston Matthews boost Knies' fantasy value because it'll be much easier to score points. He potted four points in three games before a two-game drought where he was minus-4. Knies scores in bunches, but at least he can provide hits, too. Anders Lee, LW, Islanders (42% rostered) As long as Lee is playing L1 and PP1 with Bo Horvat, he will have value. After a slow start, the Isles captain now has 21 points in 28 games with good shot volume and plenty of hits. He can be very valuable in multi-category leagues. Logan Stankoven, C/RW, Stars (35% rostered) Stankoven's taken over Tyler Seguin's spot on the Stars' top scoring line with Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment. Stankoven's production can be sparse, but I think it'll pick up soon; he puts a fair number of shots on net and he's shooting a subpar 5.7 percent entering Sunday's games. Kent Johnson, C/LW/RW, Blue Jackets (31% rostered) Johnson can't stop scoring. He potted two more goals Sunday against the Jets, giving him eight goals in 13 games. With plenty of ice time and shots on goal, Johnson's production is no fluke, even if his shooting percentage is a little inflated. He's worth adding in deep leagues. Lane Hutson, D, Canadiens (35% rostered) I'm buying Hutson all day as long as Laine's on the power play. Hutson's assist streak is now at six games, and it's a welcome addition since he tends to skate a lot of minutes but not provide a whole lot. There are worst - such as his minus-12 rating - but 18 points in 27 games while he's looking for his first goal - it'll come - is pretty good production at the 'D' position. Jacob Trouba, D, Ducks (36% rostered) Trouba's now rostered in less than 40 percent of Yahoo leagues, most likely because fantasy managers think he loses value going from the Rangers to the Ducks. I think I beg to differ, however, because he'll get an opportunity re-establish himself on the Ducks blue line, meaning more minutes. The Ducks are horrific defensively, but even that bodes well for Trouba's fantasy value, which is mostly comprised of hits and blocked shots. Do not expect Trouba to score points or play on the power play with the Ducks. That's not where he's needed and the Ducks have plenty of younger, more talented defensemen to play that role. Scott Wedgewood, G, Avalanche (27% rostered) Wedgewood is gaining popularity quickly because nobody (except maybe Jared Bednar) trusts Alexandar Georgiev. He was fantastic in his Avs debut coming in relief for Georgiev and stopped all 22 shots he faced to earn his first win, was so-so in his second game allowing four goals on 34 shots (.882 SP) and then shut out the Devils in his second start. I think the Avs still prefer Georgiev, but no doubt Wedgewood has taken a bite out of Georgiev's playing time and fantasy value, and Wedgewood's worth a speculative add just in case the Avs decide to give him a chance to win the starting job. The Avs offense is very good, so even a bad start gives Wedgewood a chance to win games. Karel Vejmelka, G, Utah (23% rostered) It's believed that Connor Ingram is not close to returning to the lineup, which means Vejmelka will continue to get the bulk of the starts since they don't seem to have much confidence in third-string Jaxson Stauber. To Vejmelka's credit, he's been very good and earned the starts. I think Utah's a very inconsistent team, but if you're in need of saves and want a goalie who can occasionally steal a game, Vejmelka's a viable option. Tristan Jarry, G, Penguins (15% rostered) Admittedly, I'm quite surprised as the Pens' recent turnaround. They've won five of their past six with Jarry winning four of those games, including three straight games where he had a save percentage of .902 or better. That's a huge improvement; I think the Pens defense is still horrendous, but at least Jarry isn't a complete liability in fantasy. We're at the point where Jarry can be picked up and stashed, and perhaps used in the occasional matchup. SHORT-TERM STREAMERS (< 50% rostered on Yahoo) Dylan Holloway, C/LW, Blues (19% rostered) I don't think the deployment is very good with L3 and PP2, but Holloway's getting around 16 minutes per game and riding a hot streak with a point in six straight games. He provides good amount of shots and hits as well. Max Pacioretty, LW, Maple Leafs (3% rostered) In the right situation, I think Pacioretty can be a good play. He's always an injury risk, but he also puts a lot of shots on goal and will be deployed in scoring situations. I'm eyeing potential matchups on Dec. 12 against the Ducks and Dec. 14 against the Wings. Fedor Svechkov, C, Predators (0% rostered) Looking for a little offense in deep leagues? Despite being known more for his two-way play, and with Tommy Novak disappointing so far this season, Svechkov is now the Preds' No. 2 center at both even strength and on the power play. I think the upside is minimal because the Preds have so much trouble scoring, but I like Svechkov's ability to contribute in multiple categories. Ville Husso, G, Red Wings (4% rostered) It's not Husso's fault the Wings can't score. Despite limiting his opponents to three goals or less in four straight appearances and posting a .909 SP, Husso has yet to win his first game in five starts. I'm still cautious, but we're at the point where we can seriously consider Husso as a streaming option depending on the matchup. Arvid Soderblom, G, Blackhawks (2% rostered) Petr Mrazek is injured but not expected to be out beyond a couple weeks. That thrusts Soderblom into the spotlight, who becomes a streaming option now due to his workload. Third-string Drew Commesso will see limited playing time, if at all, since the Hawks don't play back-to-back until the weekend, and we've seen coaches start the same goalie on consecutive nights multiple times this season. Soderblom is very, very matchup dependent. I can see Dec. 12 against the low-scoring Isles as a potentiallstart. Honorable mention: Sean Monahan, C, Blue Jackets (43% rostered) Gabriel Vilardi, C/RW, Jets (40% rostered) Bryan Rust, RW, Penguins (32% rostered) Rickard Rakell, C/RW, Penguins (26% rostered) Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, Capitals (18% rostered) Pavel Zacha, C/LW, Bruins (13% rostered) Shane Wright, C/RW, Kraken (6% rostered) Philip Broberg, D, Blues (19% rostered) Matt Roy, D, Capitals (9% rostered) Alex Vlasic, D, Blackhawks (7% rostered) Elvis Merzlikins, G, Blue Jackets (23% rostered) Remember to bookmark The Hockey News Fantasy [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/fantasy/] site for stats, news, analysis, rankings, projections and more, including the Sleepers and Keepers fantasy hockey podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/3kvm6m34r0xOEyt0UvPPEY]! THN.com/FREE [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA3NjkzODE0MTc1OTAxMzM3/subscribe-image-promo.jpg] THN.com/FREE
