We’re back with the third week of Fantasy Hockey! How’re your teams doing so far this season? Any savvy pickups? Total duds? Let us know in the comments!
This week’s a weird one when it comes to light days, as the NHL is doing that “every team playing staggered start times in a single day” thing again on Tuesday—an NHL version of Redzone is fun to watch, but it has a negative fantasy impact. The most light days a team’s getting this week is two, and four teams clear that bar. We’ll get to that in a minute, but we’ll start with the four-game streamers as usual.
Four-Game Streamers
Vladimir Tarasenko, LW, Detroit Red Wings | 21.9% ESPN
It’s been a sluggish start for the notorious goal scorer, but he’s getting prime top-six minutes alongside either Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, or JT Compher (who’s having an unsustainably strong start) and Patrick Kane. Tarasenko’s only cracked the second power play unit but, given how Detroit’s started the season (i.e. not great), he might get a look sooner than later. Plus, once Tarasenko’s on a roll, it’ll be hard to slow him down–but don’t expect any points in categories outside scoring.
Paul Cotter, LW, New Jersey Devils | 40.4% ESPN
Last week we highlighted Dawson Mercer, but now it’s gotta be the red hot Paul Cotter. The former Golden Knight has played himself into a top-six role to the tune of five goals and and six points in seven games played–and that’s without any substantial power play time. Cotter’s on pace to smash his career high of 13 goals in 55 games in 2022-23, but his 33.3% shooting percentage is bound to crash back to his career average of 13.4% at some point. Now’s not a bad time to ride the hot hand, though.
Morgan Frost, C, Philadelphia Flyers | 5.5% ESPN
Hey, look–a Flyer! Frost isn’t lighting it up (just a few assists), but he is usually playing on a line with Matvei Michkov and the top power play unit, which is off to a shockingly hot start (by Flyers standards). Not much of a keeper, but Frost could provide some decent depth value at forward–and the Flyers are one of the four teams to have two light nights this week!
JJ Moser, D, Tampa Bay Lightning | 4.4% ESPN
Depth defenseman options are few and far between, but JJ Moser has two things going for him right now with the Lightning: he’s playing on the top pair with Victor Hedman, and quarterbacking the second power play unit. Moser’s scoring probably won’t last, but he’s good for a couple of shot blocks for leagues that have decent points for that.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Toronto Maple Leafs | 14.4% ESPN
Sticking with defensemen, we’re going to highlight OEL briefly. He’s not the most versatile defenseman and doesn’t have much going for him, except one major area: he’s taken over the Leafs’ first power play unit. OEL won’t stack points in many categories outside of scoring, but there’s a real opportunity for him to get some PP assists while the Leafs’ elite forward core put the puck in the net; we saw how effective he could still be in Florida last season while Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad were sidelined with injury, and the Leafs are trying to rekindle that power play magic for Ekman-Larsson.
Light-Night Specials
We’re going to change up the format just a bit moving forward: no more highlighting a second player from any of the Four-Game Streamer teams. It’ll save you some reading and the diminishing return of constantly swapping out depth players for fractions of a point. We already discussed players from New Jersey and Philadelphia (each with two light nights this week), so let’s talk about guys on the remaining two teams: Ottawa and Edmonton.
Viktor Arvidsson, RW, Edmonton Oilers | 46.1% ESPN
It is extremely slim pickings from the Oilers (which might be a factor in their slow start), but Arvidsson is probably the best option that’s still available in the majority of leagues. He’s still getting second-line minutes–albeit without Leon Draisaitl, as he’s moved up to McDavid’s wing for now–and has a spot on the second unit power play. Arvidsson has yet to score this season, and he is injury prone, but he’s averaged 27 goals and 54 points across 10 NHL seasons–there will be points…eventually.
Josh Norris, C, Ottawa Senators | 20.7% ESPN
In writing this article, I was quite surprised to see Norris is only rostered in about a fifth of fantasy leagues and might have to pick him up myself: he’s playing with talented wingers on the second line (currently Claude Giroux (miss ya, G!) and Drake Batherson), and he’s got a role on the first power play unit. Like with Arvidsson, Norris comes with injury risk, so spending a draft pick on him could’ve been a dicey proposition; now, however, he’s a free claim on the waiver wire and might be worth the risk. If Norris is available in your league, now might be a good time to snap him up, because there’s reason to believe his hot start is not a fluke.
Back-to-Back Goalie Options
Leave it to the hockey gods to give the Flyers not one but two back-to-backs this week. What cruel fate! Unfortunately, given how lackluster Ivan Fedotov’s two starts have been, betting on him in a back-to-back situation is inadvisable. Sam Ersson is still fairly available (28.3%), and we highlighted him in Week One, but depending which starts he gets could still run quite a risk, so proceed with caution.
Anthony Stolarz & Joseph Woll, G, Toronto Maple Leafs | 38.3% and 49.8% ESPN
Toronto’s crease was meant to be a timeshare between Woll and Stolarz, but an early injury to Woll means Stolarz has been the starter for a couple weeks. The good news: Woll is participating in full practices so should be close to a return, and the Leafs play the Columbus Blue Jackets on the second half of a back-to-back–that sounds like a good opportunity to get him a start if he’s healthy. If he’s not, keep an eye on third stringer Dennis Hildeby (1.1%) to get that start.
Scott Wedgewood, G, Nashville Predators | 0.5% ESPN
The Preds face the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets back-to-back this week. Yes, the Predators have flopped out the gate after an exciting and lauded off season, but that’s still a pretty good team on paper that should be able to beat two of the worst teams in the league. Wedgewood was a solid netminder in Dallas as Jake Oettinger’s backup, and should be good enough behind a strong Nashville squad.
Ilya Samsonov, G, Vegas Golden Knights | 50.9% ESPN
This is another timeshare situation akin to Toronto, though Adin Hill’s still expected to take a few extra starts in Vegas. Samsonov’s rostered percentage is hardly befitting of a backup but, just in case he’s available in your league, he’s likely going to play against one of Ottawa or San Jose. The Senators are looking more like a real team this year, but still aren’t very good, and the Sharks are…well, the Sharks, so you’d hope the Knights could get that win.
