It’s time to make fantasy hockey manager a certified job with benefits.
With nearly 15 percent of NHL players currently in the league’s COVID protocol, navigating a roster has become more of a chore and less of a hobby.
As we enter the final stretch of games before the three-day holiday break, five of the league’s 32 teams have been completely shut down through Dec. 26; Boston and Nashville joined Calgary, Colorado, and Florida on Saturday. Sadly, more could be on the way.
Obviously, the situation is very fluid but here’s a list of postponed games:
Sunday: TOR @ SEA, BOS @ OTT, NSH @ CAR, ARI @ VAN
Monday: COL @ DET
Tuesday: ANA @ CGY, CAR @ BOS, FLA @ CHI, WPG @ NSH
Wednesday: COL @ BUF
Thursday: SEA @ CGY, COL @ BOS, NSH @ FLA
1. Because it’s such pertinent information right now, let’s try and attack the upcoming schedule first, which is subject to change, of course. By the way, most standard head-to-head leagues are employing a two-week matchup (Dec. 20 – Jan. 2) due to the holiday hiatus.
Monday: 4 Games
Tuesday: 6 Games
Wednesday: 3 Games
Thursday: 12 Games
Friday: 0 Games (Christmas Eve)
Saturday: 0 Games (Christmas Day)
Sunday: 0 Games (Boxing Day)
Total: 27 Games
Monday: 14 Games
Tuesday: 4 Games
Wednesday: 11 Games
Thursday: 7 Games
Friday: 7 Games
Saturday: 9 Games (New Year’s Eve)
Sunday: 8 Games (New Year’s Day)
Total: 43 Games
2. As you can see below, Dallas and Edmonton will be busy, so depth adds from those two teams could be beneficial to you. Meantime, Calgary, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, and Toronto have the least number of games. And again, lots can change quickly.
Seven: DAL, EDM (2)
Six: ANA, CBJ, LAK, MTL, NJD, NYI, OTT, PIT, SJS, TBL, VAN, VGK, WSH (13)
Five: ARI, BUF, CAR, CHI, DET, NYR, PHI, SEA, STL, WPG (10)
Four:: BOS, CGY, COL, FLA, MIN, NSH, TOR (7)
3. Generally speaking, now’s an excellent time to go bargain shopping – long term goals in mind – on players who are currently inactive, even if someone’s injured. David Pastrnak, Andre Burakovsky and Carter Verhaeghe are three files currently on my shopping list.
4. Across the board, there’s plenty of value to extract from the Paul Maurice resignation in Winnipeg. Target buy-low scenarios on Connor Hellebuyck, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele, who all can be had for less than market value right now. Act swiftly.
5. The time is nigh to buy low on some Edmonton Oilers stock. To various degrees, Mike Smith, Tyson Barrie, Darnell Nurse, Zach Hyman and Jesse Puljujarvi pique my interest.
6. Here’s a cheeky DFS play for you: Warren Foegele. Playing on a line with Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian, the former Cane has three goals in the past two games. They’ll take it, and so will he.
7. Pick up Tim Stuetzle. The German has averaged a point per game over his past seven outings (4 G, 3 A). He’s starting to heat up for the Senators.
8. Scoop up Anton Forsberg. Since Matt Murray was placed on waivers, the 29-year-old has notched a 5-1-1 record with a 2.39 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and one shutout.
9. Drop Spencer Knight. The Panthers goalie, who’s currently on loan to AHL Charlotte, has had a rough start to his rookie season (6-4-2, 3.42, 0.892).
10. Speaking of first year goalies, how about Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen? Through five starts, the 22-year-old has posted a 2-2-1 record with a 1.96 goals-against average and 0.939 save-percentage. I’m buying.
11. Even with Jordan Binnington back in the mix for St. Louis, you almost have no choice but to take a flier on the red-hot Charlie Lindgren. The 28-year-old is 5-0-0 through five appearances with a miniscule 1.22 goals-against and 0.958 save-percentage. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds once Ville Husso is able to return.
12. Move on from Elvis Merzlikins. Since Nov. 15, the Jackets number-one has posted a 3.47 goals-against and 0.899 save-percentage in 12 appearances. That’s problematic.
13. Keep close tabs on Coyotes blueliner Jakob Chychrun. Even though the 23-year-old is currently sidelined with an upper-body injury, his name has resurfaced lately in trade rumours. It sounds like the Coyotes are open to it, which is excellent news for his fantasy stock and dreadful plus/minus (minus-29).
14. Jared Spurgeon may be sidelined again but there’s still plenty of value to be found on Minnesota’s back end. Both Alex Goligoski and Jonas Brodin have emerged as sneaky waiver plays this season.
15. Put Alex Tuch on your watch list. The power forward is closing in on his Sabres debut.
16. Looks like Evgeni Malkin could return very soon as well. Jason Zucker and Jeff Carter, his presumed line mates, stand to gain a big-time boost when that does happen.
17. Take a flier on Blues forward Nathan Walker. The Aussie has four goals in five games since being recalled from the AHL.
18. Two Canes to keep close tabs on: Jack Drury and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Drury has scored in back-to-back games to start his NHL career, Kotkaniemi has four points in the past three games. With the injuries and Covid issues mounting for the Hurricanes, those two will continue to play a lot for Rod Brind’Amour.
19. Add Joel Farabee. The dual-eligible Flyers winger potted a goal on Saturday night in his first game under Mike Yeo. The American has scored four goals in the past five games he’s played in.
20. One Philly player who’s really flourished under Yeo so far is defender Travis Sanheim. The 25-year-old has two goals and six points in seven games since the Flyers’ coaching change.
Travis Sanheim under Mike Yeo:
7 GP
2 goals
4 assists
6 points
1 GWG
+2#BringItToBroad— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) December 19, 2021
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