Fantasy Hockey 2026-27: Weekly Strength of Schedule and Streaming Targets — Week 2
Welcome to Week 2 of the Daily Faceoff Fantasy Strength of Schedule, your weekly guide to which teams’ schedules are worth streaming and which ones to avoid.
This week runs Monday, Oct. 5 to Sunday, Oct. 11, with 47 games on the schedule. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are all light nights with four or fewer games, so those are the nights to target if you have an open roster spot. Saturday is the busiest night of the week with 14 games, and Thursday isn’t far behind with 10, which means streamers will have a tough time cracking your lineup on either night.
The Pittsburgh Penguins lead the way with 3.39 True Games, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets. At the other end, the Calgary Flames have the toughest week for streamers at just 1.00 True Games, with two games, both against tough opponents and one on Thursday’s busy slate.
Below you’ll find all 32 teams ranked, with every matchup color-coded and each team’s light-night games counted.
How True Games works
Games played are where every schedule analysis starts, but that leaves out a lot. True Games adjusts each game for three things:
1. Matchup strength. Each game is weighted by how many goals a team is projected to score against that opponent, based on both teams’ strength and home-ice advantage.
2. The opposing goalie. Facing a team’s backup isn’t the same as facing its starter. Our goalie start projections estimate who is likely to be in net for every game, and we adjust each matchup based on that goalie’s recent performance.
3. Light nights. A game only helps if a streamer makes it into your lineup. On a busy night, your regulars fill most of the spots, and your streamer only gets in if there’s an opening at his position. In a standard 12-team Yahoo league with daily lineups, a streamer has about a 50% chance of cracking your lineup on a 13-game night and roughly a one-in-three chance on a full 16-game slate, compared to almost a sure thing on a light night.
Put together, True Games shows what a team’s week is really worth to a streamer. A team with three games against weak opponents on light nights can beat a team with four games against top opponents on busy nights.
Week 2 Strength of Schedule
Week 2 Streaming Targets
*in order of Roster%
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tommy Novak (C/LW) — 14% Rostered
Novak has had a great start to the year, tallying two goals and two assists in his first two games. Both of his assists have come on the power play, where he’s featured on the Penguins’ top unit.
Dating back to last season, Novak, Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov have posted really strong underlying numbers together, averaging 3.43 xGF/60 across 243 minutes of 5v5 ice time. With Novak producing early and maintaining a spot on PP1, he’s a strong streaming option this week.
Nick Robertson (RW) — 9% Rostered
Robertson’s Penguins debut couldn’t have gone much better, scoring two goals on four shots in 15:02 TOI. His usage dipped a bit in Game 2, but he’s still expected to remain on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
The trio has been dominant in a small sample so far, generating 2.35 xGF. If they continue to control play at that level, Robertson should have plenty of opportunities to produce while skating alongside Crosby.
Ben Kindel (C) — 6% Rostered
Kindel missed the season opener with an injury but made an immediate impact in his debut. Skating on the third line and on the top power-play unit, Kindel finished with one goal on five shots while adding two hits in 14:18 TOI.
Kindel is likely to get bumped off PP1 once Bryan Rust returns, but in the meantime, the combination of shot volume and premium power-play usage makes him a strong streaming option.
Washington Capitals
Ryan Leonard (RW) — 32% Rostered
Leonard is highly rostered in banger formats but should be more widely available in standard leagues, and he’s had an encouraging start to the season.
The biggest concern with Leonard coming into the year was his usage, and averaging just 13:09 TOI on a deep Capitals roster hasn’t done much to alleviate those concerns. He also skated on the fourth line Monday morning, which could push his ice time even lower.
However, Leonard has made the most of his minutes, scoring once on six shots while generating an impressive 11 shot attempts. If that shot volume continues, it should help offset some of the concerns about his limited usage.
Aliaksei Protas (LW/RW) — 30% Rostered
Protas hasn’t done much to speak of yet, recording just one assist, two shots and four shot attempts through two games.
He’d be a fallback option if Pierre-Luc Dubois isn’t available in your league, but I’d prioritize players with PP1 exposure before turning to Protas.
Pierre-Luc Dubois (C/LW) — 23% Rostered
Dubois picked up two 5v5 assists in the season opener and followed that up with five shot attempts in 18:34 TOI in Game 2. Both are encouraging indicators heading into Week 2.
More importantly, Dubois has a strong role, skating in the top six with Alex Tuch and Tom Wilson while also featuring on PP1. The Capitals’ top unit has accounted for 66% of their power-play usage so far, giving Dubois plenty of opportunity to produce.
Ilya Protas (LW) — 6% Rostered
“Baby Pro” oozes upside, but it’s difficult to cash in on that upside when he’s playing only around 10 minutes per night. Through two games, Protas has just one assist and one shot attempt.
Long-term, I still believe in the upside, but right now it’s difficult to envision him making a consistent fantasy impact with such limited usage. He’s a deep league target until the role improves.
Winnipeg Jets
Cole Perfetti (LW/RW) — 27% Rostered
Last week, I called Perfetti the pickup of the week because he had two light nights on the schedule, followed by another three this week. He made the most of the first two, posting four points (1G / 3A) while averaging 17:08 TOI atop the Jets’ lineup.
What’s even more encouraging is the shot volume. Perfetti has generated 16 shot attempts through two games, which is significantly more volume than we’ve typically seen from him.
It’s also been an extremely high-event brand of hockey from WPG1 so far. They’ve generated 1.96 xGF while allowing 1.31 xGA. All four of Perfetti’s points have come on the power play, but the 5v5 production should follow if that line continues generating quality looks at its current rate.
Viggo Bjorck (C) — 4% Rostered
It’s been a relatively quiet start for Bjorck, who is pointless with just three shots through two games. But with Perfetti’s roster percentage shooting up, you may have to fall back to Bjorck if you’re looking for exposure to Winnipeg’s favourable schedule.
He’s toward the bottom of my streaming list this week, but he’s still a viable option in deeper leagues.
Ottawa Senators
Shane Pinto (C) — 12% Rostered
The Senators play three games in the first four days of the week, including Thursday’s relatively light 10-game slate, so there’s a good chance you’ll have an open spot in your lineup.
Pinto is a great player to give a test drive after recording one assist, four shots and seven shot attempts in a whopping 20:27 TOI in his season debut. He’s going to play huge minutes this year and will look to build off his mini-breakout from last season.