Week 11 and week 12 are here in Fantasy Hockey. If you have been distracted by fantasy football, that is wrapping up and you can focus attention on the winter fantasy sports. The Week 11 and Week 12 Fantasy Hockey Planner will get you prepared for this holiday stretch. If you are attending a family holiday gathering, you might have to sneak off somewhere to keep your lineup ready to go. It will all be worth it in March. I will be out of commission for the next two weeks, so this article will provide schedules for the next two schedule weeks. I’m only going to be picking streamers for Week 11. All streamers listed below are below 50% Fantrax-owned as I write.
Be on the lookout for our waiver wire column and all the rest of our Fantasy Hockey content.
Week 11 and Week 12 Fantasy Hockey Planner
Weekly Lineup Picks
Standard disclaimer: weekly leagues aren’t about what days games are on, they are about how many games your guys play. Five teams can offer 4-game weeks. A 4-game guy only needs to be half as good as a 2-game player to match the results. Win games played every week.
Week 10 and 11 schedule grid:
| Team | Games | Quality Games | 12/9 | 12/10 | 12/11 | 12/12 | 12/13 | 12/14 | 12/15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim (ANA) | 3 | 0 | @MIN | LA | NYR | ||||
| Arizona (ARI) | 3 | 0 | CGY | CHI | NJ | ||||
| Boston (BOS) | 4 | 2 | @OTT | @WSH | @TB | @FLA | |||
| Buffalo (BUF) | 3 | 0 | STL | NSH | @NYI | ||||
| Calgary (CGY) | 4 | 1 | @COL | @ARI | TOR | CAR | |||
| Carolina (CAR) | 3 | 0 | @EDM | @VAN | @CGY | ||||
| Chicago (CHI) | 4 | 1 | @VGK | @ARI | @STL | MIN | |||
| Colorado (COL) | 3 | 3 | CGY | PHI | NJ | ||||
| Columbus (CBJ) | 3 | 1 | @WSH | @PIT | @OTT | ||||
| Dallas (DAL) | 3 | 1 | NJ | VGK | @NSH | ||||
| Detroit (DET) | 4 | 1 | @WIN | WIN | @MON | LA | |||
| Edmonton (EDM) | 3 | 0 | CAR | @MIN | TOR | ||||
| Florida (FLA) | 3 | 0 | TB | NYI | BOS | ||||
| Los Angeles (LA) | 4 | 1 | NYR | @ANA | @PIT | @DET | |||
| Minnesota (MIN) | 4 | 1 | ANA | EDM | PHI | @CHI | |||
| Montreal (MON) | 3 | 1 | @PIT | OTT | DET | ||||
| Nashville (NSH) | 3 | 0 | SJ | @BUF | DAL | ||||
| New Jersey (NJ) | 3 | 1 | @DAL | @COL | @ARI | ||||
| New York Islanders (NYI) | 3 | 1 | @TB | @FLA | BUF | ||||
| New York Rangers (NYR) | 3 | 0 | @LA | @SJ | @ANA | ||||
| Ottawa (OTT) | 3 | 2 | BOS | @MON | CBJ | ||||
| Philadelphia (PHI) | 3 | 2 | @COL | @MIN | @WIN | ||||
| Pittsburgh (PIT) | 3 | 0 | MON | CBJ | LA | ||||
| San Jose (SJ) | 3 | 0 | @NSH | NYR | VAN | ||||
| St. Louis (STL) | 3 | 0 | @BUF | VGK | CHI | ||||
| Tampa Bay (TB) | 4 | 1 | NYI | @FLA | BOS | WSH | |||
| Toronto (TOR) | 3 | 0 | @VAN | @CGY | @EDM | ||||
| Vancouver (VAN) | 4 | 1 | TOR | CAR | @SJ | @VGK | |||
| Vegas (VGK) | 4 | 2 | CHI | @STL | @DAL | VAN | |||
| Washington (WSH) | 3 | 2 | CBJ | BOS | @TB | ||||
| Winnipeg (WIN) | 3 | 1 | DET | @DET | PHI | ||||
| Total teams playing | 8 | 24 | 6 | 24 | 4 | 28 | 8 |
The next eight days of the NHL schedule are as busy as a holiday shopping mall circa 1993. No teams play only 2 games. The rest have 3 or 4. Such a busy schedule mostly means your whole roster should be at least reasonable options to start. If you still want to upgrade a 3-starter to a 4-starter, I am here to provide options. Mind you, the NHL comes to a halt from December 24-26 with games resuming from Friday to Sunday in week 12.
My Week 11 4-game skater targets:
Nick Foligno (C/LW – CBJ) is not a guy I am telling everyone to run out and grab. The Captain has had a 45-point pace career, so two points over these four games is about what to expect. Foligno continues to get a lot of power-play time for the Jackets. Best, his hit rate gives him a reliable floor. Foligno is averaging a career-high 3.1 hits per game this year. Squint to see if 2 points and 12 hits is better than you expect from your bottom starter next week.
Matthias Janmark (C/LW DAL) Before the rise of man, a long-forgotten amphibian crawled from the waters to become the first land creature on Earth. According to legend, its first act on terra firma was to speculate on who would skate with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin at even strength. It is amazing how little things change over the ages. Janmark has filled the coveted top pivot spot for two games now as Rick Bowness figures out his preferred lines in Dallas. Janmark is good for the occasional assist and the possible big night given his opportunity. Just do not go extinct waiting for it to work.
Calle Jarnkrok (LW/RW – NSH) is confirmation that playing next to Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg is a very good thing. Victor Arvidsson looks to stay on the injured list next week (though you should monitor that), so that deployment should hold. The good news with Jarnkrok is 21 points in 29 games this year, including 3 goals and 4 assists in his 8 games on the top line. Jarnkrok is getting a good share of power-play points and even spent 22:35 total TOI against Tampa earlier in December. 16.9% shooting is likely unsustainable, but keeping solid linemates cannot hurt it.
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Daily Head-to-Head Streamers:
Even though the schedule is getting hectic, we have a very nice opportunity for streaming in week 11. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday each have 6-10 teams playing, while Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday have 22, 20, and 26. You should realistically have an open roster spot each night this week. In this circumstance, I often look for Monday-Tuesday back-to-backs, with additional back-to-backs as the week goes along to fill out games played. That would add Ottawa to the mix. Nonetheless, three teams allow for three certain starts for you in quality games: Dallas, Edmonton, and the Rangers. I swear it is not my idea the Rangers are in this article so frequently — blame the schedulers.
Week 12 has no true quality games, with more than half the league playing on each of the four-game days. Certainly, you will find opportunities to stream each night, but I will not try to reach that far ahead just yet.
My daily skater streaming targets:
Brendan Lemieux (LW – NYR) is proof this is not a great week for streamers. The longtime fantasy favorite of this columnist is in the midst of a cold streak, but another player with a nice peripherals floor (1.7 shots per game, 2.3 hits per game). If you have interest in PIM, he is currently third in the NHL with 59. I see no reason for that to change.
Vladislav Namestnikov (LW/RW – OTT) is the latest Canadian Tire Center fantasy dumpster dive prize. He is not as hot as he was after arriving in Ottawa from New York at the beginning of the year but still has a respectable 3 points in his last 4 games. Ottawa’s lines mix on nearly a daily basis lately, so his linemates are difficult to predict. The combination of a couple of minutes of PPTOI per game with around 2 hits, 2 shots and a block every night make for a good floor.
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