Happy holidays! Before we get down to business on an
abbreviated week with the NHL taking a break from Dec. 24-26, I just wanted to
say thanks for reading and following along this season. Hopefully, the advice
and tips here have been useful and you’re doing well in your respective fantasy
leagues. I, for one, am doing quite poorly in the Sleepers and Keepers league,
so that’s been kind of embarrassing.
With no games for three days, Yahoo has not extended Week 12
into the new year. That means there will be very few games with eight teams
playing a league-high three games while the Jets and Mammoth play one game
each.
Ideally, you’ll want to stream a player who plays
back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday – Flyers, Kings or Kraken – and then another
who plays back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday – Isles, Lightning, Wings, Leafs
or Hawks.
In such a condensed week, games played matters even more,
and having a player who plays just once can be a losing move.
All positions and rostered percentages are courtesy of
Yahoo Fantasy.
Schedule
Pick players from teams at the top of the schedule matrix
to maximize games and matchups. Green is good. Red is bad. Points percentages
are as of Sunday morning.
Season-long adds (< 50%
rostered on Yahoo)]
Elias Lindholm, C, BOS (36% rostered)
Not sure why Lindholm’s still floating away out there, but
L1 and PP1 upside for a surprisingly good team is a good fantasy asset in
almost every format.
Mid-term holds (< 50%
rostered on Yahoo)
Jack Roslovic, C/RW, EDM (22% rostered)
Roslovic was activated off IR on Sunday and slated to play
L2 with Leon Draisaitl but unfortunately no PP1. Still, Roslovic has done the
bulk of his scoring at even strength this season so, hopefully, he continues
where he left off. He’s a good pickup once again if you’re looking for offense.
Collin Graf, RW, SJ (7% rostered)
I’ve sung his praises for a couple of weeks now and the bandwagon’s
just starting to fill. He’s on a four-game points streak and will now be
Macklin Celebrini’s go-to partner with Will Smith on the shelf. An undersized, undrafted
forward, Graf has earned all the opportunities he’s gotten and not letting it
slip through his fingers. He’s up to 19 points this season, nine of which have
been scored over the past two weeks.
Ryan Greene, C, CHI (0% rostered)
The Hawks have to generate offense from somewhere… and it might
be Greene? A 2022 second-round pick, Green is a speculative pickup but looks
like he’s in the best position to play all the minutes vacated by the injured
Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, who are both sidelined long term. A three-year
standout with Boston U, Greene played 22:46 in the game Nazar was injured,
notching two assists – including one on the power play – two shots and 10 faceoff
wins.
John Klingberg, D, SJ (38% rostered)
After a five-game points streak Klingberg has zero points in
two games. Coming back down to earth? Definitely a little bit, but Macklin
Celebrini is still driving the train, the Sharks are still scoring and
Klingberg’s ice time is staying in the mid-20’s. Those are all good signs and,
remember, the Sharks signed Klingberg precisely for his power-play prowess.
Jacob Fowler, G, MTL (19% rostered)
With a 31-save shutout against the Pens, Fowler looks like
he’s really got on the inside track on the starting job. Jakub Dobes has been a
lot better lately but even when Sam Montembeault returns on his AHL assignment,
Fowler figures to be part of the rotation. Both Fowler and Dobes are exempt
from waivers, so in a roster crunch there’s no harm in sending either of them
down, but going forward they’re the Habs’ two best options.
Alex Lyon, G, BUF (12% rostered)
Be it in Buffalo or elsewhere, I think Lyon has plenty of
fantasy value. He’s been solid at just about every stop in his career though he’s
never really had the chance to stick with one team. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is the
worst option they have right now when Colten Ellis comes back, and with a new
GM in Buffalo, he’s not committed to maintaining the status quo. If anything,
Jarmko Kekalainen is here to shake things up.
Joel Hofer, G, STL (12% rostered)
How amazing – is this
even the right word – that Team Canada is projected to take a goalie who’s
about to lose his starting job on one of the league’s worst teams as their
starter? Hofer’s been excellent in his past two starts and picked up his play
after a terrible start to the season. The Blues defense grades out much better
than it actually is, so there’s potentially a big turnaround here for the
Blues.
Short-term streamers (<
50% rostered on Yahoo)
Emil Heineman, LW/RW, NYI (33% rostered)
The absence of Bo Horvat hasn’t really hurt Heineman’s
fantasy value, who continues to deliver shots and blocks. He’s scored two goals
in his past three games and in deeper leagues should be rostered for
multi-category value. The Isles play the Rangers and Jackets over the weekend,
and I suspect the intensity will get cranked up, so maybe there will be more
hits and some PIM.
Vladimir Tarasenko, LW/RW, MIN (21% rostered)
Yakov Trenin, C/LW, MIN (19% rostered)
Danila Yurov, C/RW, MIN (3% rostered)
I fully believe there’s some fantasy value with this line.
They’re overperforming their expected goals, but the Wild’s all-Russian line
has had instant chemistry. Tarasenko will provide some PP1 upside and he’s
looked better than he has in a long time. Yurov has some offensive skill and
might be someone to pencil in for next year if he stays as their 2C. It takes some
confidence, trust and good chemistry to tell your veteran Cup-winning winger
what to do off a draw, as Yurov did for Tarasenko, and it led to an immediate
goal.
In multi-category leagues, Trenin is a one-trick pony but
his one trick is incredible; he’s the league leader in hits with 179, more than
last season’s leader and record setter Kiefer Sherwood. Ryan Hartman is a good
option, too, for more broad category coverage.
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