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 for a new update each week.
NHL weekly schedule
Games per day from January 13 to January 19
Week 15 is another typical schedule with total the bulk of games taking place on chalk nights. Total games decrease from 53 in week 14 to 51 in week 15.
Try to map out your starting roster for the week with an extra focus on players who won’t make your starting lineup on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. If these players are replaceable, consider replacing them via free agency with players whose teams play on the off-nights. The difference in points or stat categories by the end of the week might be the margin of victory you need in weekly head-to-head formats.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 3 |
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.
Daily Faceoff provides a schedule table with each team’s games over the upcoming fantasy week for easy comparison between teams focusing on back-to-backs and off-day games.
Left Wing Lock goes deeper to look at strength of schedule so you can see which teams have easy games coming up and could be focused on for your streaming options.
Teams playing twice this week:
- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Minnesota Wild
Teams playing four times this week:
- Calgary Flames
- Dallas Stars
- Detroit Red Wings
- Edmonton Oilers
- Florida Panthers
- Montreal Canadiens
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- Ottawa Senators
- Philadelphia Flyers
Off-night tracking
Here are a list of teams to consider adding players from in efforts to increase your total games played on the week.
| Team | Off-night games |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres | 2 (Wednesday, Friday) |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 2 (Wednesday, Friday) |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2 (Monday, Wednesday) |
Back-to-back tracking
Use this week’s back-to-back games to plan out some extra goalie starts in spots where teams will be leaning on backup goaltenders.
| Team | Back-to-back games |
|---|---|
| Calgary Flames | Monday, Tuesday |
| Dallas Stars | Saturday, Sunday |
| Detroit Red Wings | Saturday, Sunday |
| Edmonton Oilers | Wednesday, Thursday |
| Florida Panthers | Monday, Tuesday |
| Montreal Canadiens | Saturday, Sunday |
| New Jersey Devils | Saturday, Sunday |
| New York Rangers | Saturday, Sunday |
| Ottawa Senators | Saturday, Sunday |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Monday, Tuesday |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Friday, Saturday |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Friday, Saturday |
Strength of schedule
Easy schedules
| Team | Opponents |
|---|---|
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers |
| New York Islanders | Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks |
Difficult schedules
| Team | Opponents |
|---|---|
| Vancouver Canucks | Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers |
Hottest teams
Last 10 games played
- Dallas Stars 8–1–1
- Edmonton Oilers 7–2–1
- Colorado Avalanche 7–2–1
- Montreal Canadiens 7–2–1
- Columbus Blue Jackets 7–3–0
Coldest teams
Last 10 games played
- Chicago Blackhawks 2–8–0
- San Jose Sharks 2–7–1
- Utah Hockey Club 2-6-2
- Boston Bruins 3–6–1
- Seattle Kraken 3–6–1
Fantasy hockey team of the week
The fantasy team of the week highlights the top player at each position from the previous week. Scoring follows Yahoo’s default point settings and categories.
Left wing
Brandon Hagel – 68.00 FPTS
Hagel enjoyed the largest of successes among Tampa Bay Lightning players who played four times during week 14 action. His 3G, 3A, +6 rating, 20 SOG, 4HIT, and 8BLK totaled to become an impressive week for the second line winger in so every way.
Centre
Jordan Staal – 65.00 FPTS
Staal had a massive week with 5G, 2A, a +5 rating, and 8 SOG. The veteran centre, who centers the Carolina Hurricanes third line, has been playing between Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook. Since Staal doesn’t appear on the power play unit, his production has come at even strength. His big week was highlighted by a hat-trick at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Right wing
Travis Konecny – 52.30 FPTS
The week for Konecny included a 4A game against the Anaheim Ducks. His 2G, 5A, and +4 rating were best amongst RW position players on the week. The Philadelphia Flyers have been a losing team through much of the season with losses coming in bunches. Despite their losing record, they have some bright spots on offence led by Konecny in total points.
Defence
Quinn Hughes – 40.6 FPTS
Hughes returned to the Vancouver Canucks lineup following a four-game absence. He returned to playing his typical ice time and registered a point in three of four games played. His 1G, 4A, +1 rating, 5 SOG, and 9 BLK aren’t as lavish as we’ve seen from defencemen in weeks past, but Hughes takes the top spot this week.
Goalie
Mackenzie Blackwood – 43.6 FPTS
Blackwood has taken the starting role for the Colorado Avalanche and run with it, now having won eight of his last 11 starts. The Avalanche are one of the top teams in the Pacific and will remain a front runner going into the playoffs this spring. Blackwood should be rostered in every format going forward.
Banger league player of the week
Keifer Sherwood – 46.5 FPTS
Sherwood has his sights set on the NHL record for hits in a single season. He added 29 during week 14 action while scoring 1G and adding 1A. His play style is amongst the leagues most forceful, making him a prime contender for the banger of the week.
Streamers of the week
It’s basically expected that the league’s top players will be the ones you want on your roster week-in, week-out. But those players aren’t likely to be available for you to pick up. Here’s some players who are hot with low ownership percentages that you should consider picking up for the week.
Patrick Kane (RW) – Detroit Red Wings – 68% Rostered
The timing of this week’s article will likely leave you missing the boat on Kane, who’s ownership has skyrocketted in recent days after he had his second consecutive week shooting out the lights. Over his past 7GP, Kane has 5G, 8A, 7PPP, 19SOG, and a +5 rating. The Red Wings are amongst the leagues hottest teams and Kane is a major reason why. He becomes a must add in all formats with the Wings playing four times on the week.
Viktor Arvidsson (LW,RW) – Edmonton Oilers – 17% Rostered
The veteran foward has four games on the schedule for week 15 action. 1G, 3A over his last 4GP while adding a +3 rating and 13 SOG. Now playing on the Oilers second line along side Leon Draisaitl, Arvidsson has an opportunity to make an offensive impact while seeing additional playing time.
Jackson LaCombe (D) – Anaheim Ducks –35% Rostered
LaCombe is back for a second week as a strong recommendation to add. He is the Ducks top offensive contributor having now contributed 9PTS in his last 10GP. The Ducks are still a polarizing team ranging from strong wins to wild losses but LaCombe has remained a consistent producer.
Cam Talbot (G) – Detroit Red Wings – 45% Rostered
Talbot has won his last four consecutive games played and has re-established himself as the starting goalie for the red hot Wings. With the Red Wings playing four times in week 15, keep Talbot in mind for multiple starts while he is being supported by 4.42G per game over the seven game win streak for Detroit.
Fantasy hockey players to consider dropping
Not everyone is always rosterable. Sometimes, it makes sense to let someone go and pick up one the players above to get you more points this week. Here’s a recommendation of who has gone ice cold lately that it may be time to drop.
Jason Zucker (LW) – Buffalo Sabres – 26% Rostered
Zucker had a stretch of games from December 29 to January 4 where he tallied 6G in 4GP. Since then, he has cooled off going pointless over his last 3GP including a -4 rating. The Sabres play only twice during week 15 action. Zucker is unlikely to help you’re team over the coming week and is widely available in all formats. Expect him to be there for you in week 16 action should you wish to give him another shot.
