With about a month remaining in the season, fantasy hockey owners may have to make a push to either hold playoff spots or possibly get into the playoffs. Some of the things that will make a difference could be the add/drops. And with a lot of the same players under 50% still being of great value, this article will feature repeats. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth adding, as matchups are still strong and the players are still talented and worth spots on your team.
Winger
Nick Foligno (CLS)
Nick Foligno has always been a streaky player since coming over to the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had a 31-goal, 42-assist season in 2014-15, leading to a season where he was All-Star captain when Columbus hosted. However, the next season he was down, with just 12 goals and 25 assists. He bounced back last year with 26 goals and 25 assists, but this year he is again back down with 11 goals and 12 assists. However, he is still a talented enough player where he should be owned in more than 48% of leagues. Especially this week, where the Blue Jackets have some very favorable matchups. They play the Toronto Maple Leafs, who despite having an overachieving goaltender, still don’t have a great defense that you should be afraid of. The other three matchups include the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New Jersey Devils. The Devils have not been the same team defensively with star goaltender Cory Schneider injured. They have a 3.02 GAA this season with mostly Keith Kinkaid this season, which is 10th worst in the NHL. The Devils have been struggling as a team as well, having lost four straight and are in danger of losing their playoff spot, which I personally believe will happen. As for the Flyers, they have played well and have overperformed with goaltending for their talent level. That being said, they are still middle of the pack (14th) with a GAA of 2.82, and their goaltenders that aren’t overly scary. The Penguins are slightly below the Devils at 12th worst with a GAA of 2.96, with Matt Murray not being the same form as what we’ve seen in his playoff runs. With that in mind, and the Blue Jackets in urgent playoff position as well, expect a veteran like Foligno to be able to pick up his game and be a leader for this team, producing a lot of points for fantasy owners as well.
Center
Kevin Fiala (NSH)
As I mentioned, I had some repeats from previous articles. This is one of them, with the Central-leading Nashville Predators having the best upcoming matchups, not to mention four games as well. They have two matchups with the Detroit Red Wings, who despite having normally talented goaltenders, have struggled this season defensively at a 3.04 GAA, which is ninth worst in the NHL. Howard and Mrazek are both talented enough to play well at times, but I don’t think it will come in either of these matchups with a red-hot Nashville Predators team. They also draw the Calgary Flames and the Ottawa Senators. The Flames have been decent defensively and goaltending wise this year, being 10th best in GAA at 2.75. However, Mike Smith is still not an overly scary goaltender and also has been streaky throughout the year. Plus, it is a home game for the Predators, where they have played very well this season, with a record of 18-5-3. As for Ottawa, I pick on them all the time, so you may get the point on how bad they’ve been defensively this year. They are still second worst at 3.39, only to the Islanders, and they have a lot of defensemen in disarray this season. Despite being wrong with Fiala last week (had just one goal), that doesn’t mean he can’t redeem himself this week playing all these favorable teams and minutes.
Defenseman
Justin Faulk (CAR)
Repeat number two comes from another Carolina Hurricanes defenseman. I have picked them a lot for their level of play offensively. Faulk has been down with goals this season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t pick that up now with Carolina trying to hold on to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. I was mentioning above with Foligno how the Devils have been struggling without Cory Schneider between the pipes. Luckily for the Carolina Hurricanes and people who want to pick up their fantasy players, they have two matchups with the Devils this week. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee wins for a streaky Hurricanes team, but it will allow their offensive defensemen and even forwards that are available to potentially break out. In addition to the Devils, they also play against the Islanders, who have the worst GAA in the entire NHL (3.67) and it doesn’t seem to be getting better anytime soon, struggling defensively this past week against teams that aren’t great offensively. And like I was saying the first time I picked Faulk as my add for defenseman, he can still get assists (15 on year) from deflections and shots from the point that go in. Expect him to pick up his scoring most of all, because despite me thinking he’s overrated as an overall defenseman, his offensive game has always been better than the four goals he’s had this year.
Goaltender
Antti Raanta (ARZ)
I’ve picked on the Coyotes all year long when picking offensive players for these articles. But as a Rangers fan, I saw how well Raanta did as a backup goaltender last season, and was very disappointed when they traded him away for just Anthony DeAngelo and draft picks. Despite the Coyotes being terrible all year and Raanta having a bad win total with the team he’s on, when he has played, he has a 2.58 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. And they have played a little better as of late. They’ve still lost more than they’ve won, but they’ve played more competitively and even beaten some teams that are fighting for playoff spots. And this week, they are facing three teams that are average or below average in scoring. The San Jose Sharks have been decent (15th in goals for at 2.88 goals for per game), but the Montreal Canadians (2.58 GFA, 4th worst) and Edmonton Oilers (2.82 GFA, 12th worst) have not. Both of those teams are struggling and not playing with a sense of urgency. The Oilers still have talent on the offensive end, but it hasn’t showed this season, so it is still not something to shy away from if you need a goaltender. Raanta has been the easy No. 1 goaltender for the Coyotes, and he has won more than he has lost recently as well. And even though these matchups aren’t mind-blowing (Sharks and Oilers still have offensive talent), I believe it is the best option for goaltenders available under 50% based on how well he’s played statistically and how much he should play being that the Coyotes have absolutely nobody good behind him. I’m digging deeper with the goaltenders more than usual, going to bottom-feeding teams. But I believe Raanta can be a good option as a matchup goaltender or injury replacement this week.
Kyle Kloiber is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @2Kgmenrule1080.
