What We Learned in Week 4 of Fantasy Hockey
McDavid might finish with 300 points, everyone is injured, and Yakov Trenin is back to leading the NHL in hits over the last seven days. We’re now 27 days into the 2026-27 fantasy hockey season, and some trends are starting to emerge around the league. We’re back with our learning caps on to break down Week 4 and another seven days of fantasy fun. As always, it’s a long season, and these are just weekly trends, so let’s not overreact.
THE GOOD
Déjà Vu with D’Astous
Is Tampa doing it again? Have they found another diamond in the rough to run their already lethal power play just 10 games after losing Darren Raddysh to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the offseason? Charle-Edouard D’Astous went from a relatively unknown name to one of the hottest fantasy pickups in just one week. The 28-year-old has excelled since his surprising promotion to Tampa’s top power-play unit, rewarding fantasy managers who jumped on his increased role with three power-play points and five points in his last four games. Meanwhile, John Carlson owners who drafted the defenseman around his 70.0 ADP are starting to sweat, wondering if this could turn into another Victor Hedman situation from last season.
It’s Cool to Be Cooley
Devin Cooley helped lead Calgary to an unexpected three-game winning streak, including victories over Carolina and Minnesota, while surprisingly leading all fantasy goaltenders in SV% last week (minimum two appearances). He’s also taken over the Flames’ crease from a struggling Dustin Wolf (.834 SV%). Cooley’s 2-0-0 record and .970 SV% made him one of the most popular goaltending pickups in fantasy hockey, while his postgame interviews have him climbing the interview power rankings with every win.
Fantasy Week in Canada
Edmonton and Toronto not only put on a show in their Saturday matchup in Alberta, but they also filled the stat sheet for fantasy managers throughout Week 4. Connor McDavid (10) and Leon Draisaitl (9) once again led the NHL in points last week, while Auston Matthews (6) and William Nylander (6) tied for fourth in the league.
It’s Officially Fowler Hour in Montreal
Jacob Fowler continues to take the league by storm after another sensational performance in Sunday’s Heritage Classic. Following a costly mistake by Jakub Dobes in Montreal’s early-week overtime loss, Fowler earned consecutive starts on Friday and Sunday, helping plenty of fantasy managers win their goaltending categories during an otherwise rough week. The 21-year-old finished Week 4 with an eye-popping 2-0-0 record, .964 SV%, and 1.00 GAA. It’ll be interesting to see how the crease shakes out when Samuel Montembeault returns from his lower-body injury in the coming weeks, but for now, we’ll just enjoy the ride.
New Jersey’s Top Six Finds Its Devilishly Perfect Fits
Luke Evangelista has fit right in during his early days in New Jersey (6 points in 7 GP), and Arseny Gritsyuk’s recent breakout alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt on the Devils’ top line has provided another breath of fresh air. The 24-year-old sophomore finished the week riding a five-game goal streak and recorded four points in three games in Week 4. Despite his recent success, Gritsyuk remained below 10% rostered in fantasy leagues until the latter part of the week.
The Hellebuyck Saga Is Finally Over (and We Can Drop Jake Allen)
Connor Hellebuyck was the seventh goaltender selected on average in fantasy drafts back in September, leaving plenty of managers frustrated as the disgruntled Jets netminder stayed away from the team and provided no early-season production. Then came New Jersey with a massive trade in Week 4, and those same managers are suddenly feeling pretty good about their risky draft pick.
At the time of the trade, the Devils still had 88% of their season remaining, meaning Hellebuyck could quickly turn into a draft-day steal if he takes over the crease early in Week 5 and returns to his pre-2025-26 form, when he posted a .920+ SV% in three consecutive seasons.
As for Jake Allen, fantasy managers who endured the 36-year-old’s early-season struggles (.886 SV%) can join the 67% of Yahoo leagues where he’s already available and send the veteran back to the waiver wire.
THE BAD
You’re Injured, You’re Injured, We’re All Injured
Just one week after pointing out the alarming number of players occupying IR+ slots across our fantasy leagues, we’re back with an even longer list of fantasy-relevant names going down with injuries. Nick Suzuki (2-4 weeks), Bryan Rust (six weeks until reevaluation), Jared McCann (10 weeks), and Alex Wennberg (week-to-week) headline the latest group of forwards joining the already lengthy injury list. Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark (1-2 weeks), Devon Levi (week-to-week), and Logan Thompson (day-to-day) were the three biggest goaltending names to go down this week.
Tough Times for Tendies
Carter Hart (.805 SV%), Brandon Bussi (.855 SV%), and Karel Vejmelka (.857 SV%) were among the worst-performing goaltenders with at least two appearances in Week 4, absolutely destroying their fantasy managers’ goaltending numbers. With Bussi now battling a 7-0-0 Pyotr Kochetkov for Carolina’s crease, fantasy managers are sweating over their mid-round goaltending picks more than we’ve seen in previous seasons.
It’s Not Halloween Yet, We Don’t Have Time for Ghosts
Mark Scheifele, Tage Thompson, Moritz Seider, Timo Meier, and Sam Bennett were among the biggest names held pointless in Week 4. When your top-100 draft picks aren’t producing, it can make for a pretty ugly fantasy stat line by the end of the week. However, all five could make for solid buy-low targets as their fantasy managers start worrying about their rest-of-season outlook.