Welcome back to The Oil Rig‘s weekly fantasy update! We continue aiming to bring you the information you need to show up your friends (or enemies) and get bragging rights by winning your league.
Each week we provide a schedule breakdown showing which teams to stream players from, who is hot and who is cold, some sleeper picks with low owned percentages to keep an eye on, and some Edmonton Oilers fantasy hockey updates.
Keep checking back on Mondays for a new update each week.
NHL weekly schedule
Games per day from November 4 to November 10
Week 6 will offer managers options to maximize their games played on the week. Games commonly played on Tuesday are spread out from Monday to Wednesday in an advantageous way. Managers will have the ability to get five games played out of a single roster spot by using one add/drop. The recipe to do is quite simple. Start with a player who has two games between Monday to Wednesday. Following Wednesday’s action, drop that player and add another with three games between Thursday to Sunday.
Teams with 2GP between Mon-Wed: 7
Teams with 3GP between Thu-Sun: 4
- Monday – 6
- Tuesday – 7
- Wednesday – 5
- Thursday – 10
- Friday – 5
- Saturday – 12
- Sunday – 4
Keep these resources at the top of your season-long tool list. Use them to guide your transactions. These become more valuable as the season goes on and teams establish themselves in overall power rankings.
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/nhl-weekly-schedule
Left Wing Lock – Strength of Schedule
Five teams play two times this week:
- Anaheim Ducks
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Minnesota Wild
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Utah Hockey Club
Seven teams play four times this week:
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Nashville Predators
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Seattle Kraken
- St Louis Blues
- Vancouver Canucks
- Vegas Golden Knights
Off-night tracking
With games spread evenly this week, Thursday and Saturday are the only nights where your lineup is likely to be full. This point isn’t as important to focus on so lets raise the bar on total games played on off-nights to three.
- Calgary Flames – Mon/Tue/Fri
- Carolina Hurricanes – Mon/Wed/Sun
- Colorado Avalanche – Mon/Wed/Fri
- Nashville Predators – Mon/Fri/Sun
- Pittsburgh Penguins – Mon/Wed/Fri
- Vegas Golden Knights – Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun
- Washington Capitals – Wed/Fri/Sun
Back-to-back tracking
Ten teams play on back-to-back nights this week. Use teams to plan for backup goaltender appearances to bolster your weekly totals:
Calgary Flames – Mon, Tue
Carolina Hurricanes – Sat, Sun
Columbus Blue Jackets – Fri, Sat
Detroit Red Wings – Fri, Sat
Nashville Predators – Thu, Fri
Pittsburgh Penguins – Fri, Sat
Seattle Kraken – Sat, Sun
St Louis Blues – Sat, Sun
Toronto Maple Leafs – Tue, Wed
Vancouver Canucks – Sat, Sun
Strength of schedule
Easy schedules
Buffalo Sabres – MTL/STL/PHI
Columbus Blue Jackets – NSH/LAK/WSH
Vancouver Canucks – CGY/NYI/CHI/NSH
Difficult schedules
Florida Panthers – NJD/NJD/WPG
Tampa Bay Lightning – WPG/NJD
Utah Hockey Club – CAR/VGK
Hottest teams
Last week we highlighted targeting backup goaltenders from the leagues hottest teams. This remains a smart strategy. Lets take that thought one step further and aim to roster the starter/backup duo from these teams. This strategy works well in leagues where you can get down to just two goalies on your roster, typically giving you an advantage of having an extra skater.
Here are the NHL’s hottest teams during their last 10GP:
Winnipeg Jets 9–1–0
Florida Panthers 8–1–1
Carolina Hurricanes 8–2–0
Vancouver Canucks 7–2–1
Washington Capitals 7–3–0
New York Rangers 7–3–0
Coldest teams
Last week I recommended considering fringe players from these teams as drop candidates. Keep that thought and try to decrease your exposure to teams projected for weak +/- rankings and lower points scored. Above all else, get rid of these goalies any way you can.
Here are the NHL’s coldest teams during their last 10GP:
Montreal Canadiens 2–6–2
Seattle Kraken 3–6–1
Anaheim Ducks 3–6–1
Columbus Blue Jackets 3–5–2
Pittsburgh Penguins 3–5–2
Utah Hockey Club 3–5–2
Who’s hot?
Tyler Moore (LW, LW) – Los Angeles Kings
Moore achieved the rare shorthanded game winning goal in Saturday’s 5–2 win against Columbus. His 1G, 4A, +4, 12 SOG rating over the last seven days add to the rare feat which has him rising in rankings and roster percentage. Moore is currently skating on Los Angeles second line and PP2 unit. He makes a worthwhile add in deeper formats.
Gabriel Vilardi (C,RW) – Winnipeg Jets
I wrote about Vilardi in last weeks fantasy preview and here we are again talking about the 25-year-old forward who has found new life in Winnipeg. Skating on the top line and PP1 unit for the Jets, Vilardi tallied 2G, 1A, +1, 2GWG, 11SOG during Week 5 action. Look for this success to continue for Vilardi who is a big contributor to Winnipeg’s historic start to the season.
Jordan Martinook (LW) – Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are one of the leagues top teams and they’ve gotten contributions from a wide range of players this season. Martinook jumps into the spotlight during Week 5 where he registered 4G, 1A, +4, and 10SOG. He’s skating on the third line along side veteran Jordan Staal and a rising star in 22-year-old Seth Jarvis.
Mackenzie Blackwood (G) – San Jose Sharks
Blackwood turned in a top goaltending performance on Sunday night against his former team, the New Jersey Devils. He truly put his team on his back stopping all 44 shots that he faced. The win gives Blackwood three wins in his last four starts. More importantly it brings his season long SV% to .910 giving him streaming upside in leagues of all depth and sizes.
Who’s cold?
Trevor Zegras (C) – Anaheim Ducks
Zegras has failed to produce signs of offensive output in 2024–25. After coming into the NHL with high expectation and exciting skills, the 23-year-old centre has fallen off the fantasy radar completed. Despite skating with the teams most talented players, the results aren’t coming. You can safely drop Zegras in redraft leagues where he should spend the 2024–25 season on waivers.
Streaming candidates for the week
Nicolas Roy (C, RW) – Vegas Golden Knights – 13% Owned
Add Roy before your league mates realize that he’s skating on the top line for Vegas beside Jack Eichel. Roy isn’t moving to a top line role at a natural period of his career at 27-year-old but the opportunity is wide open for top six playing time in Vegas amonst the group of wingers. Since being promoted to the top line, Roy made an instant impact. In one game he managed 20:36 TOI 1G, 1A, and 3SOG. Roy gets 4GP during Week 6 action.
Jack Roslovic (C,RW) – Carolina Hurricanes – 17% Owned
Roslovic is scoring at a record pace for his career. He now has nine goals in his last 11GP for the a Hurricanes team sitting near the top of the NHL standings. Roslovic is getting an opportunity on the top line skating with Aho and Svechnikov but does not follow them on the PP1 unit. Look for his opportunities to continue at even strength in 2024–25.
Vladislav Gavrikov (D) – Los Angeles Kings – 9% Owned
Gavrikov is riding a four-game point steak for Kings skating on the team’s top defensive pairing along side Mikey Anderson. A regular contributor in blocked shots, Gavrikov is adding value with his offensive production and +9 rating over his last 6GP,
Samuel Ersson (G) – Philadelphia Flyers – 26% Owned
Ersson will get an opportunity against the San Jose Sharks to start week 6 action off. His play of late has been strong with two wins over the last two weeks where he’s posted a .953 SV% and one shutout. The Flyers have a favourable schedule with games against San Jose, Ottawa, and Buffalo ahead of them.
