Fantasy hockey free agents: These teams have the best schedule

Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.comNov 4, 2024, 02:00 PM ET

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Every Monday, we’ll mine the waiver wire for lesser-rostered performers who have the potential to help fantasy teams in a variety of leagues. We’ll also present several strong streaming candidates for the immediate week ahead.

Forwards

Artturi Lehkonen, LW, Colorado Avalanche (44.7% available): Coming back at just the right time, Lehkonen finds himself the bell of Ball Arena. The Avs might still be without Jonathan Drouin (though he is getting close), definitely will be without Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog for most of November, and lost Ross Colton for the month. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen are generating tons of fantasy points and they need help. Lehkonen, at least for most of the month, should be a top-tier option thanks to his near-lock status for playing time with the king-makers.

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Rickard Rakell, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins (2.08 FPPG, 65.8%): The Pens are getting a little desperate. It hasn’t been a frequent scene to see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin rolling together at five-on-five for the majority of a game, let alone multiple games in a row. But, here we are. Rakell has been the lucky winger to join these two legends.

Jack Roslovic, C/LW, Carolina Hurricanes (1.57 FPPG, 98.3%): Currently earning top-line minutes in place of a slumping Seth Jarvis, Roslovic is getting lots of pucks on net. He doesn’t get any time on the advantage (yet), but has been doing enough with his five-on-five time alongside Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.

Gabriel Vilardi, C, Winnipeg Jets (1.62 FPPG, 85.7%): Rolling with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, Vilardi is hanging around just below the fantasy-relevant threshold of 1.7 fantasy points per game. But the opportunities that come his way each game suggest this is his floor for production, leaving plenty of room for better returns. Definitely use him on weeks when the Jets have a good schedule for scoring. This coming week is only so-so, with the Utah Hockey Club, Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars on tap, so maybe you can revisit this in the future.

Oliver Wahlstrom, RW, New York Islanders (0.31 FPPG, 99.9%): With Mathew Barzal gone for the month, Wahlstrom is going to get some breathing room in the lineup. The bad news? He’s nowhere close to being worthy of fantasy lineups yet. But there is promise. The Isles instantly put him on the top power-play unit. With some runway due to the Barzal injury, maybe Wahlstrom can earn his way up the depth chart.

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Pavel Dorofeyev, RW, Vegas Golden Knights (2.08 FPPG, 86.0%)
Connor McMichael, C, Washington Capitals (2.25 FPPG, 67.7%)
Stefan Noesen, LW, New Jersey Devils (1.89 FPPG, 68.5%)
Conor Garland, RW, Vancouver Canucks (1.93 FPPG, 82.5%)
Sean Monahan, C, Columbus Blue Jackets (2.30 FPPG, 57.7%)
Tom Wilson, RW, Washington Capitals (2.68 FPPG, 35.7%)

Defense

Uvis Balinskis, D, Florida Panthers (0.58 FPPG, 99.8% available): The Panthers have elevated the unheralded Balinskis to the role of power-play quarterback on the top unit. In the past three games, including the two showcase contests in Finland, Balinskis totalled 10:28 on the advantage with Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe.

See also:

Goaltenders

Pyotr Kochetkov, G, Carolina Hurricanes (2.5 FPPG, 70.9%): Following his usual MO, Kochetkov is stepping up his game with Frederik Andersen on the shelf. He has another two weeks lined up to be the chief operator in the Hurricanes crease. Just watch out for the Avalanche bomb at the end of the current week’s schedule.

Justus Annunen, G, Colorado Avalanche (1.8 FPPG, 80.1%): It’s clear the Avs are at the point that they are willing to give someone other than Alexandar Georgiev a run in the crease. Kaapo Kahkonen even got a shot last week. But it’s Annunen that has given the team the best chance to win games. Don’t be too turned away by the recent 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday, as two of those Preds goals were empty-netters and another two were on the PP. This week will be a tall test, ending with games against the Jets and Hurricanes.

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Alex Nedeljkovic, G, Pittsburgh Penguins (1.4 FPPG, 97.3%): Competing with the Avalanche for the most interesting crease this season, the Penguins have had another twist to offer. Nedeljkovic has turned in some solid returns finally, earning positive fantasy points and wins (for the first times this season) in games against the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens. Joel Blomqvist (1.3 FPPG, 97.2%), meanwhile, has now lost three straight (wo tougher opponents, mind you). Perhaps the main takeaway here is that the Pens don’t give goaltenders enough of a chance to earn positive fantasy points on a daily basis.

That said, I’m still watching to see who emerges here. Also, for the record, Tristan Jarry has three wins in three games and a .937 save percentage in the AHL.

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Short-term streamers

Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, Calgary Flames (1.87 FPPG, 47.0%): The Flames face some weaker penalty-killing units this coming week (Canadiens, Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres). Their opponents also allow a lot of opportunities on the advantage. This could be a solid week for the Flames power play, which features Huberdeau prominently. Calgary doesn’t play any games on the same night as Vegas this coming week, so pair Huberdeau with Pavel Dorofeyev in daily-lineup formats to get five games.

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Brenden Dillon, D, New Jersey Devils (1.61 FPPG, 82.9%): The Devils have the most-promising schedule for fantasy this coming week with four games against a defensively vulnerable list of opponents (Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and San Jose Sharks). Dillon isn’t exactly a FPPG powerhouse, but with plenty of minutes across plenty of games, he’s a solid streaming option for deeper leagues that lock lineups for the week. The same argument can be made for Dawson Mercer (1.4 FPPG, 80.3% available).

Marc-Andre Fleury, G, Minnesota Wild (2.3 FPPG, 47.3%): The schedule is coming in such a way that it would be logical for the Wild to give Filip Gustavsson a night off against the San Jose Sharks in the first game of a back-to-back set that continues in Anaheim. Obviously, that’s not a lock, but the Sharks are a great team to pick on with streaming goaltenders.

Alex Turcotte, C, Los Angeles Kings (0.73 FPPG, 99.7%): With two road games against the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild, followed by two home games against the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets, the Kings have a busy week. Turcotte is a risky pick, as Alex Laferriere makes more sense as a streamer given his returns on the season and continued power-play access, but the Kings are currently giving Turcotte a chance to make a name for himself on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. At some point, he either sinks or swims.

Jake Middleton, D, Minnesota Wild (2.70 FPPG, 31.5%): The Wild have a particularly promising week for fantasy, even though it’s an extended road trip. With four games, including three on the road against the Sharks, Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks, the offense should be cruising this week. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room to access the Wild top power-play unit via fantasy free agency, so you may have to settle for a non-power-play high-minutes defender instead. Middleton pairs well with Brock Faber, is getting many minutes and using those minutes to block enough shots for fantasy relevance. If Middleton is unavailable in your league, it’s a strong enough schedule you may even settle for Jonas Brodin (2.03 FPPG, 80.3% available).

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