Week 20 Fantasy Hockey Planner and H2H Streamers

I have either 2 or 3 weeks left in the regular season in all of my leagues, and it has been a good (and lucky)  year.  By the end of this week, I hope to have clinched a playoff spot in all of my leagues.   Whether you are also in humblebrag territory or on the edge of the playoff cutoff, I guarantee you some owners in your league are less active in February as the trade deadline passes.  Outstream, outplay, outlast. Oh, and listen to my podcast, “Fantasy Hockey Life” right here on FantraxHQ.  This weekend I plan to talk Anaheim Ducks with a special guest.  All streamers listed in the Week 20 Fantasy Hockey Planner are owned in less than 50% of Fantrax fantasy hockey leagues as I write.

In addition to our fantasy hockey planner, be on the lookout for our waiver wire column and all the rest of our Fantasy Hockey content.

Week 20 Fantasy Hockey Planner

Weekly Lineup Picks

Standard disclaimer: weekly leagues are not 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 20 Fantasy Hockey Schedule Grid:

In week 20, 12 teams play a 4 game schedule.  That is not quite so rich as last week but still some good options.   As I said last week, you have no excuse not to replace any marginal or injured player in your lineup with a 4-gamer.  I will focus here on the teams with 4 games but an unfavorable daily streaming situation, but consult the schedule grid and consider the second half of this article as well.

A curveball in the schedule is the impending NHL trade deadline on Monday the 24th, right after this week wraps up.  While we cannot completely avoid players who could be traded, it would be foolish to ignore this risk.  Players who get traded before next Monday’s deadline will probably miss a game or two at the end of week 20.  Remember, a healthy scratch is common when teams are deep in talks on a player.  It makes little sense to grab a guy specifically to pocket those 3rd and 4th games if there is a good chance your man will not be on the ice.

My Week 20 4-game skater targets: 

Jeff Carter (C/LW/RW- LA) is really my second choice from the Kings, but I am worried about  Tyler Toffoli’s name prominent in trade rumors.  No matter, Carter is still a fine choice for a 4-gamer this week.  Yes, he is old.  Yes, he scores less than half a point per game.  2.5 shots and a hit per game are still a nice floor.  If LA sells off anything, who else will even take the shots for this sad team?

Jack Roslovic (C/RW – WIN) has been uneven this year, but I like his February trajectory.  Strangely, his recent 5 points in 6 games overlap with a move away from playing with Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers.  While I scratch my head over a Roslovic-Andrew Copp-Jansen Harkins line posting a huge ratio of shots for versus shots against, I am keeping a close eye.  In the meantime, the talented young player is as good a bet for a couple of points next week as another waiver-wire player.

Zach Sanford (C/LW – STL), I swear, is a guy I am trying to stop going back to in this column.  How can I when he put up a 4-goal game this week?  Sanford continues to round out one of the hottest lines in hockey with Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron.  I just cannot stop streaming him until the kid slows down a bit.  I do not promise more of the last 30 day averages of 1.3 points, 2 shots, 3 hits and a block per game, but I cannot ignore it.  It is a sign of being late in the season Sanford remains under 20% owned.

Chandler Stephenson (C/LW/RW – VGK), like Sanford, is a Washington Capitals castoff making good elsewhere.  Stephenson played a marginal checking line role in Washington. Vegas has been unafraid to use him in a more prominent role, occasionally even centering the top line.  The past two games have seen Stephenson bounce back down to the third line.  His deployment remains overwhelmingly at the offensive end of the ice.  5 points so far in February and an ongoing role with the Vegas power play make me interested in what Stephenson can do in week 20.

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Daily Head-to-Head Streamers:

Week 20 has a very even schedule across the week.  One could argue that all seven days offer streaming opportunities. On the busiest night of the week, 22 teams play, while 10 teams play on the quietest night.  There will be holes to fill in your lineups nightly.  From past columns, you know when in doubt I prefer to stream players with multiple games at the start of the week so I can turn one roster spot into 5 or 6 games through a couple of timely add/drops.  Frustratingly, the schedule gods have not blessed us with a single Monday/Tuesday or Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back.

Daily Streaming Targets for Week 20 Fantasy Hockey: 

Conor Garland (LW/RW – ARI) gets a Monday-Wednesday-Thursday start to the week.  I love him as the third part of the Taylor Hall – Christian Dvorak line (he has been mentioned in this space before.)  Garland gets a ton of power-play minutes for the Coyotes.  He’s been averaging more than 3 shots per game in February and is a possibility for 2 points in 3 days.

Josh Bailey (LW/RW – NYI) has been hot in the past week.  In 4 games, he has managed a goal and 5 assists.  Bailey has settled into a mid-50s point pace player for the past two years.  He is good for almost a blocked shot per game.  While he has never excelled at shot volume, his shooting percentage is high.  Bailey scored 26 points in the first 46 games of the year, but 11 in 10 games since joining forces with Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson in January.

Joel Armia (RW – MON) is a Tuesday-Thursday player this week.  In an ordinary week, we would bypass that schedule, but this week it is roughly as good as a Monday-Wednesday tandem.  Armia provides respectable scoring, along with 3 shots and 3 hits a game.  A recent scoring slump is the only reason he is available in as many places as he is.  I will take top power-play minutes and even strength deployment next to a rejuvenated Ilya Kovalchuk and Nick Suzuki.  While Montreal could be a seller this week and Kovalchuk is the most likely player to go, we can hope for an early week flourish on Montreal’s second line before that happens.

James van Riemsdyk (LW – PHI) is on a hot streak.  In the past week, he has posted 3 goals and 4 assists in 4 games.  JVR still scores points at the ripe old age of 30.  He still puts up 2.5 shots per game and steady 12% shooting.  While 15:14 ATOI is not great.  I like, however, that 2:45 of that comes on a power play that quietly is tied for 4th most opportunities in the league.  Media outlets do not seem to be talking him up as a trade chip.  Watch his Tuesday-Thursday home and home with the Blue Jackets next week while you think of you will drop him for come the weekend.

What else would you like to see in our Fantasy Hockey Planner? Let us know in the comments below.

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