Week 19 Fantasy Hockey Planner and H2H Streamers

Another week, another grind for the best weekly adds and streamers.  Making your picks means knowing your schedule.  All streamers listed below are owned in less than 50% of Fantrax fantasy hockey leagues as I write.

Be on the lookout for our waiver wire column and all the rest of our Fantasy Hockey content.

Week 19 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.  A 4-game guy only needs to be half as good as a 2-game player to match the results. Win most games played every week.

Week 18 Fantasy Hockey Schedule Grid:

13 teams with a 4-day week last week seemed luxurious.  18 teams this week is absurd.  The waiver wire is a treasure trove in your weekly lineup leagues.  You have no excuse not to replace any marginal player in your lineup with a 4-gamer.  On the other hand, the majority of your normal starters will have 4 games anyway.

My Week 18 4-game skater targets: 

Kirby Dach (C- CHI) is hot.  Playing with Alex DeBrincat and David Kampf was fine, centering Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad was excellent.  Grabbing a spot on the top power play is outstanding.  Center is typically the position most clogged up on my roster, but if I have room for the talented rookie, he is high on my list.  Yes, he has only 17 points in 47 games this year, but 6 have come on his current 5-game point streak.

Mikael Granlund (LW/RW – NSH) has been a favorite of mine for years.  He has consistent first-line deployment next to Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen and even gets minutes on Nashville’s top power play.  No doubt his sliding ownership had something to do with only 15 points in his first 39 games.  Six points in his last 8 games is a pace I find more reasonable.  Add that he will get 2.5 shots and a hit per game and I am fine with a Granlund stream in week 19.

Zach Sanford (C/LW – STL) remains white-hot for the St. Louis Blues.  He has 21 points in 42 games this year, 9 in his last 7 contests.  For most of his games this year Sanford has played beside Ryan O’Reilly and breakout man David Perron.  Add this recent scoring flourish to 2 hits and a shot per game and you have a worthy streaming target, even if he does not get significant power play time.

Tyler Johnson (C/LW/RW – TB) plays all three forward positions, meaning you can slide him into your lineup almost any week.  He spent the first months of the season changing linemates almost nightly.  In the past 7 games, Johnson has settled into a role next to Anthony Cirelli and Ondrej Palat.  5 points in that span suggest it has been a good arrangement.  Tampa Bay winning 6 of those 7 games suggests the line will hold together a while as well. Two shots and a hit per game give a modest but respectable floor on nights he does not score.

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Daily Head-to-Head Streamers:

Week 19 has a very typical quality game schedule.  22 teams play Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  The anomoly of the weekly schedule, however, is that Sunday features 18 teams playing.  There will likely be a hole or two in your lineup every night this week.  Still, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be our primary focuses for quality games.  Not named in the recommendations below is Adam Gaudette.  If Elias Pettersson is still out with injury on Monday, Gaudette is worth grabbing for his 1st-line deployment and Monday-Wednesday schedule.

Daily Streaming Targets for Week 19 Fantasy Hockey: 

Joel Armia (RW- MON) plays for the team with the week’s best schedule.  While I would love to sneak Nick Suzuki back onto this list, his ownership has finally slipped above the 50% threshold.  Suzuki’s linemate Armia is no slouch.  With 6 points, 17 shots, and 14 hits over the past 7 games, Armia is a great bet for some stats during Montreal’s Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.

Noah Hanifin (D – CGY) is an unusual selection for this column.  He has only 14 points in 55 games this season.  He can be counted on for about 2 shots, 1.3 hits, and 1.5 blocks per game.  That is OK for a high scoring defenseman but you can do better on a peripherals streamer.  My gamble here is that Hanifin staves off Rasmus Andersson for the top power-play role in Mark Giordano’s extended absence.  I am willing to give it a try on Monday and Wednesday nights when most teams are resting.  Please do not make me look foolish, Noah.

Christian Dvorak (C/LW – ARI) is where I run out of early-week quality games and try my hand at a Monday/Tuesday back to back.  Dvorak would have also been a great choice for a weekly lineup with his 4 games.  It is very difficult to find a first-line center on the wire.  Taylor Hall and Conor Garland make great linemates.  Dvorak gets all the time he wants on the power play as well.  Dvorak has goals in 5 of his last 7 games.

Conor Garland (LW/RW – ARI) is also on the list because why not double down on these Coyotes? Garland’s 2.5 shots per game are 2nd on the team this year. Admittedly, the team has been on a poor streak lately, but they are still scoring.  Garland is on the top power play in Arizona.  Garland’s 12 points in 9 games is certainly not to blame for the team’s woes.   His line is clicking and presumably will be left together as the team tries to stay afloat waiting for Darcy Kuemper’s return.

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