It’s crunch time in many head-to-head fantasy leagues. If the fantasy playoffs haven’t started yet in your league, you may still have an crucial week as you attempt to clinch a playoff spot or improve on your playoff seeding. As adds become shorter-term in nature, it’s now more important than ever to check on one more element when adding a player: his team’s schedule. So for the rest of the season, we will place more emphasis on schedule when recommending a player in order to maximize the number of games you would receive.
As always, whether you add any of these players should depend on your league settings (points only versus multicategory), other available players, and team needs.
Nick Bjugstad, C/RW
Bjugstad is arguably the best player to add in fantasy hockey right now. Thanks to a hat trick on Tuesday, he won’t last much longer in many leagues. Want a few more reasons to add him? For one, he’s been skating on the Panthers’ top line with Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov (more line combinations here), where he has posted seven points and a plus-8 over his past four games and 16 points in 16 games since Feb. 1. As well, the red-hot Panthers are tied for the most games remaining (17) of any team, 10 of which are at home.
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Kari Lehtonen, G
Ben Bishop owners, along with other fantasy owners who are dealing with goalie injuries, would be wise to consider adding Lehtonen. Bishop has been ruled out for Friday, meaning that Lehtonen should start against Anaheim and possibly beyond. The Stars play on the “off-days” of Friday and Sunday, meaning that his starts shouldn’t conflict with your other goalies on a busy Saturday. In his first start since the Bishop injury, Lehtonen stopped 32 of 33 shots he faced against Nashville on Tuesday.
Anton Khudobin, G
The Bruins, like the Panthers, also play 17 games from now until the rest of the season. That includes four games over the next six days. That could mean plenty of starts for Khudobin, even if Tuukka Rask returns to full health quickly. Now that the Bruins are firmly entrenched in a playoff spot, expect them to rest Rask more often so that he is relatively fresh for the playoffs. Khudobin has been a solid backup all season (2.45 goals-against average, .918 save percentage) and even had a brief run as the starter in November when Rask struggled.
Mikael Backlund, C
Backlund does not dominate any one category, but he provides solid coverage in all categories while still being available in many leagues. He’s a solid second-line centre who is on pace for nearly 50 points and just over 200 shots. He has also provided an unexpected bonus for fantasy leagues that count penalty minutes, leading the Flames with 74 PIMs. Backlund is an easy option for your schedule, as he and the Flames are also scheduled for the off-days of Friday and Sunday.
Brendan Leipsic, LW/RW
Brock Boeser’s unfortunate season-ending injury could mean that the Canucks give some young, and new, players a longer look for what’s left of the season. One of those options is Leipsic, who was slotted onto Bo Horvat’s line upon joining the Canucks from Vegas in an under-the-radar trade at the deadline. Leipsic has provided immediate results since the trade, scoring two goals and adding four assists in just four games. His gritty, hard-working style has also resulted in eight penalty minutes and 13 shots on goal over that span. He and the Canucks also play on the Friday and Sunday off-days.
Nick Holden, D
As mentioned with Khudobin, the Bruins have one of the most favourable fantasy schedules out there. There’s also the matter of the Charlie McAvoy injury, which could sideline the rookie for the remainder of the regular season. The newly acquired Holden doesn’t log major minutes for his new team, but he has slotted onto that second power-play unit that McAvoy held prior to his injury. Holden has also delivered offensively, recording assists in each of his last four games.
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