Schedule alert! There are only five game days in this head-to-head week, meaning there isn’t a single NHL team that competes in more than three games.
Only three teams have games on the light Monday and Wednesday slates so if you are looking to maximize your output for the coming week, you’ll want to target players from the Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes or Philadelphia Flyers (in that order).
Here are some intriguing options to consider:
Andrej Sekera, D, Oilers: nine points in last 10 games
The Oilers’ power play has cranked it up to an elite level and Sekera, the lone defenceman skating on the team’s top unit, has benefited in a big way.
After a slower start to the season, Sekera has been on a hot run. He scored 44 points for the Carolina Hurricanes a few years ago, so it wouldn’t be unprecedented for him to do so again. He is available in most leagues.
Mark Letestu, C, Oilers: eight points, 28 shots in last nine games
Like Sekera, Letestu is benefiting from skating on the Oilers’ revamped No. 1 power-play unit. He fits because of his top-notch face-off ability, but his right-handed shot also makes him an asset opposite Connor McDavid on a unit full of lefties.
Letestu’s ability to shoot a one-timer better than Jordan Eberle may keep him in this slot for the foreseeable future.
If your league counts shots on goal, Letestu provides a bonus having averaged over three shots per game during his hot streak. Letestu is owned in just 2 per cent of all Yahoo! leagues.
Anthony DeAngelo, D, Coyotes: two points, 11 shots in five games since being recalled
DeAngelo hasn’t been quite as explosive as he was before his recent demotion but he has been placed into a top role once again, skating nearly three minutes per game on the Coyotes’ top power-play unit.
Both of his points since being recalled have come with the man-advantage. Expect him to continue to be a threat when Arizona is up a man.
Martin Hanzal, C, Coyotes: one point in last nine games
Hanzal is ice cold but is worth considering as the Coyotes’ No. 1 centreman.
If you are in a multi-category league, Hanzal is a stud across the board providing numbers in every category — even nearly a blocked shot per game.
Don’t count on him to score, but if you want a PIM boost or some hits plus a modest number of shots on goal, Hanzal can provide.
Radko Gudas, D, Flyers: two points in last 10 games
Like Hanzal, you aren’t putting Gudas into your lineup for points. Instead, you are doing it to capitalize on Gudas’ multi-category production.
Despite having missed time due to suspension, Gudas ranks fifth among defencemen in hits, 26th in blocked shots and 20th in penalty minutes.
He is unlikely to score for you, but in a multi-category league he can provide plenty.
Michael Raffl, LW, Flyers: 0 points in last four games
If you’ve got no other options, why not buy a Raffl ticket? The forward is skating on the top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, who are both white hot.
He doesn’t see the power-play time you’d like to see from a fantasy pickup but the exposure to elite players makes him enticing.
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Now, a look at the hottest/coldest players in the league:
HOT
Sam Gagner, C/RW, Blue Jackets: five goals, nine points in last six games
Gagner is having the best season of his career, having been unleashed as a power-play specialist for one of the most lethal teams in the entire league right now.
Presumably, Gagner will slow down at some point but he is showing no signs of doing so.
Justin Williams, RW, Capitals: five goals, seven points in the last seven games
Williams looked cooked with a tremendously slow start to the season, but he is back skating with Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is on a hot streak of his own.
The two helped drive Washington’s six-game winning streak that was stopped on Saturday night. Look for a new streak to start as the Capitals are one of the league’s top teams.
Jonathan Drouin, LW, Lightning: four goals, eight points in the last seven games
The Lightning are losing players on a nightly basis, so it’s nice having a guy like Drouin who can step into a larger role.
The Lightning haven’t been able to keep pucks out of their own net, but Drouin has helped make sure they continue to put them in the opponents’.
Justin Faulk, D, Hurricanes: six points in the last six games
It was only a matter of time before Faulk’s season took a turn for the better. He is too talented and skates too many big minutes. Expect more production going forward.
Devan Dubnyk, G, Wild: six wins, nine goals against in last six games
No goaltender has been better than Dubnyk has been this season.
We’ve seen this sort of excellence from Dubnyk before but you can’t help but feel that this is all some bubble that is going to burst.
That doesn’t mean Dubnyk will be bad, but rather that we should expect him to be closer to average instead of some hopped up version of prime Tim Thomas.
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NOT
Ondrej Palat, LW, Lightning: 0 points in the last five games
Palat is hurt now but when he was healthy, he was woefully disappointing.
There was a short stretch where it seemed Palat might be climbing out of his funk. It seems that was a mirage.
Palat has plenty of talent, but injuries and inconsistency are crippling his fantasy value. Drop him.
Filip Forsberg, LW, Predators: one point in the last 10 games
Forsberg’s struggles this season have been baffling.
He is such a dynamic offensive talent that it seems impossible he could struggle this much. Forsberg was supposed to take a step forward into the 70-80 -point range, but instead he may not even get back to 60.
At least he has been shooting more often. During his 10-game slide, he has fired 33 shots on goal — an average of over three per game — which is in line with what he produced last season.
For the first month of this season, he was deferring to others. Unfortunately, the shots aren’t working just yet. Buy low.
Patric Hornqvist, RW, Penguins: no points in the last five games
The Penguins had recently been running with a three-forward look on their top power-play unit that had Hornqvist on the outside looking in.
That look died when both Kris Letang and Trevor Daley went down with injuries. Look for Hornqvist to get rolling again soon.
Colton Parayko, D, Blues: no points in the last six games
Shockingly, Parayko still hasn’t scored a goal this season. He had a hot run of assists recently, but those have dried up.
Assists will come and go for defencemen, especially those not used on their team’s top power-play unit. Parayko should still take a run at 10 goals, which makes 40 points a possibility, but you don’t want 40-point defencemen on your roster during their cold streaks.
Chad Johnson, G, Flames: No wins, eight goals against in last two games
Just when you thought Brian Elliott was buried, Johnson gets smacked around in back-to-back games to give Elliott some air to breathe.
There are no guarantees Elliott takes this opportunity and runs with it, but the conversation is open again.
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Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of DobberHockey. Follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.
