Fantasy Hockey Streamers: Navigating the NHL Bye Week

The bye weeks are upon us and the All-Star break looms near, which makes this week(s) fantasy matchup a little more difficult to navigate.

Depending on your league settings, you may only be allowed the standard 4 weekly pickups, even though the weeks is double the regular length. Across the two weeks, there is only one extremely busy day, Saturday, February 1st, which has 14 games. Washington is only one team that plays four games without playing on that Saturday, making them the premier streaming target.

Carolina and Pittsburgh are the only two teams with three games that don’t play on January 1st while Anaheim, Detroit, Montreal, Nashville, Ottawa, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Winnipeg have four games but play on Saturday.

Below I’ve listed the top streaming options from these teams and the entire two-week schedule.

@Washington Capitals

@Jakub Vrana – LW (68% Owned)

Vrana is obviously no wildly available but the Capitals are the top streaming options, so he had to be listed. He was recently promoted to the top power-play unit but was bumped back to PP2 midway through Saturday’s come-from-behind win. Vrana is on an eight-game point streak, scoring seven goals on 24 shots (29.2 SH% / 3.0 SH/gm) with two assists (nine points) over that stretch.

Vrana is on-pace for 37 goals and 30 assists (67 points), so it’s bizarre to see him still under 70 percent owned.

@Lars Eller – C (14% Owned)

If Vrana is not available, Eller is a reasonable streaming option. The Capitals have one of the better third lines in the league and use them more than most. Since the start of January, Eller has scored three goals on 15 shots (20.0 SH% / 1.9 SH/gm) with three assists (six points) in eight games. He has played 16:50 ATOI with PP2 and PK1 exposure.

@Carolina Hurricanes

@Nino Niederreiter – LW/RW (20% Owned)

The Hurricanes have quite a few streaming options but Niederreiter has the highest upside. He was recently bumped to the first line with @Jordan Staal and @Andrei Svechnnikov and should remain there on Tuesday and coming out of the bye week. Niederreiter has had an extremely disappointing season but has nine points (2G / 7A) in his last 16 games. He is averaging over two shots per game over that span, suggesting there is more goal-scoring upside to come.

@Pittsburgh Penguins

@Jared McCann – C/LW (35% Owned)

McCann has had a quality campaign and had eight points (4G / 4A) in 13 games before @Sidney Crosby came back and has one goal and one assist in four games since Crosby’s return. Playing alongside Crosby with little competition for minutes makes McCann an extremely intriguing streaming option and has a chance to play well enough to remain on your roster long-term.

@Dominik Simon – LW/RW (2% Owned)

Simon is playing on the other side of Crosby and that has been a huge boost to his production. Simon left Sunday’s game early but will play on Tuesday and comes in with four points (2G / 2A) in four games on a line with Crosby.

@Anaheim Ducks

@Adam Henrique – C/LW (12%  Owned)

You can basically stream the entire Ducks roster, with @Rickard Rakell being the only player over 50 percent owned. Henrique is one of the best options thanks to his high-end usage and solid shot volume. Over the last month, he has played 17:18 ATOI while averaging 2.6 shots per game. He has turned that into six goals and three assists (nine points) in 14 games. Like many of his teammates, streaming Ducks could hurt your plus/minus for the week.

@Ondrej Kase – RW (3% Owned)

Kase remains a popular breakout candidate thanks to his elite shot volume. In his last 18 games, Kase is in the top 25 in shots on goal with 59 (3.3 SH/gm) but has scored just two goals over that span. The shot volume and usage (18:39 ATOI over that same span) gives Kase high upside if he starts getting some bounces to go his way.

@Detroit Red Wings

@Robby Fabbri – LW/RW (7% Owned)

Since joining the Red Wings in early-November, Fabbri leads the team with 22 points (10G / 12A) in 32 games and has more points than players like @Phil Kessel, @Johnny Gaudreau and @Filip Forsberg over that span. He’s been solid inn January, posting five points (1G / 4A) in eight games and has been limited by a 5.3 SH% during that stretch. He has a top-6 role locked up, so his usage and production should easily be maintainable.

@Filip Zadina – LW/RW (4% Owned)

Since the start of December, Zadina is fifth in rookie scoring with 11 points (6G / 5A) in 20 games (0.55 P/GM). He’s recently seen some time on the top-line with @Dylan Larkin and @Tyler Bertuzzi but has frequently seen time in the top-6. The Red Wings seem committed to putting Zadina in good situations and he’s seen his shot volume improve recently, firing 2.7 shots per game in his last seven games. There’s decent goal-scoring upside here for people in deep leagues.

@Montreal Canadiens

@Ilya Kovalchuk – LW/RW (36% Owned)

After posting nine points (3G / 6A) in 17 games with the Kings, Kovalchuk is a point-per-game with Montreal, scoring four goals with four assists (eight points) in eight games. His usage has been excellent (19:36 ATOI) and is carrying a 55.2 CorsiFor% and +2.8 CF% rel (per hockeyreference.com) while playing in @Brendan Gallagher’s spot on Montreal’s top-line. As long as he’s playing with @Philip Danault and @Tomas Tatar, he’s a terrific waiver wire pickup.

@Joel Armia – RW (23% Owned)

Armia returned from an 11-game absence due to an upper-body injury last Thursday and picked up where he left off. He scored a goal on Saturday and has fired eight shots in two games. Since late-November, Armia has 10 points (6G / 4A) in his last 15 games. During that time he has averaged an impressive 3.9 shots per game, giving him high-end goal upside.

@Nashville Predators

@Calle Jarnkrok – LW/RW (11% Owned)

Jarnkrok has been held pointless in his last nine games but has played 17:26 ATOI while averaging 2.6 shots per game. He’s been playing in the top-6 with @Ryan Johansen and has been on the top power-play unit for an extended period of time. The numbers aren’t overly impressive, so he’ll be overlooked but the usage and shot volume make him a decent streaming option on a Nashville team that faces Toronto, Washington, New Jersey and Vegas…not exactly the who’s who of defensive teams right now.

@Ottawa Senators

@Connor Brown – LW/RW (4% Owned)

The Senators have struggled recently, losing nine of their last 10 and the offence has dried up, scoring just 2.40 goals per game over that span. Brown hasn’t been affected though. He has picked up a goal and an assist in three straight games and is on pace for a career-high 53-points (17G / 36A). He leads the Senators in playing time (20:03 ATOI) so you don’t have to worry about his usage.

@Tampa Bay Lightning

@Ondrej Palat – LW (40% Owned)

Palat has bounced between the Lightning’s first and second lines this season, spending a ton of time with @Nikita Kucherov and @Brayden Point. He is near a point-per-game in his last 15 games, scoring three goals with 11 assists (14 points). Last Friday he was with @Antony Cirelli and picked up three primary assists, showing chemistry with their No.2 centre as well. Tampa Bay will be in California next week and will see the 28th (SJS), 21st (LAK), 20th (ANA and 1st (DAL) ranked teams in goals against per game… so their top-6 should have no trouble finding plenty of offence.

@Anthony Cirelli – C (19% Owned)

The aforementioned Cirelli went into the bye week with three goals and three assists (six points) in his last three games. Cirelli has spent over 35 percent of his 5v5 ice-time with @Steven Stamkos this season and the duo has been terrific together, posting a 75.0 GoalsFor% (per naturalstattrick.com). He is on pace to blow away his career-highs in goals, assists and points, scoring at a 21-goal, 57-point pace right now. At just 19 percent owned, he’s drastically under-appreciated right now.

2 Week Schedule