Welcome back to The Oil Rig‘s weekly fantasy update! We aim 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 March 17 to March 24
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 7 |
The first thing that jumps out at us in week 22 is the quantity of games scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. 28 of the 51 games played on the week are scheduled between those two days. Finding players playing on off nights will be essential to success this week.
When we see a larger quantity of games concentrated between lesser days, roster management becomes even more important. You can assume that your roster will over flow on those days and that your lineup will consist of only your top players. Weaker players who may contribute well in accessory categories will usually be benched in favor of players with higher scoring potential. Consider dropping players who won’t see more than one game played for your squad over the week.
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 Face-off 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 two times this week:
- Detroit Red Wings
- San Jose Sharks
Teams playing four times this week:
- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- Calgary Flames
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Los Angeles Kings
- Nashville Predators
- Philadelphia Flyers
- St Louis Blues
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Off-night tracking
Here is a list of teams to consider adding players from in effort to increase your total games played on the week.
| Team | Off-night Games |
|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 2 (Monday, Sunday) |
| Buffalo Sabres | 2 (Monday, Sunday) |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 2 (Monday, Friday) |
| Los Angeles Kings | 2 (Monday, Sunday) |
| Minnesota Wild | 2 (Monday, Wednesday) |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 2 (Monday, Sunday) |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 (Friday, Sunday) |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 2 (Monday, Sunday) |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 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 |
|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | Saturday, Sunday |
| Buffalo Sabres | Saturday, Sunday |
| Calgary Flames | Monday, Tuesday |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Saturday, Sunday |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Saturday, Sunday |
| Colorado Avalanche | Wednesday, Thursday |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Thursday, Friday |
| Florida Panthers | Saturday, Sunday |
| Los Angeles Kings | Saturday, Sunday |
| Nashville Predators | Saturday, Sunday |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Saturday, Sunday |
| Seattle Kraken | Tuesday, Wednesday |
| St Louis Blues | Saturday, Sunday |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Saturday, Sunday |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Wednesday, Thursday |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Saturday, Sunday |
Strength of schedule
Easy schedules
| Team | Opponents |
|---|---|
| Carolina Hurricanes | San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks |
| Minnesota Wild | Los Angeles Kings, Seattle Kraken, Buffalo Sabres |
| St Louis Blues | Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators |
Difficult schedules
| Team | Opponents |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres | Boston Bruins, Utah Hockey Club, Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets |
| Detroit Red Wings | Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Utah Hockey Club, Vegas Golden Knights |
Hottest teams
Last 10 games played
- Colorado Avalanche 8–1–1
- Carolina Hurricanes 8–2–0
- Montreal Canadiens 7–1–2
- Ottawa Senators 7–2–1
- St Louis Blues 7–2–1
Coldest teams
Last 10 games played
- Minnesota Wild 3–6–1
- Boston Bruins 3–6–1
- Buffalo Sabres 3–6–1
- Philadelphia Flyers 3–6–1
- San Jose Sharks 3–5–2
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
Rickard Rakell – 50.7 FPTS
The Pittsburgh Penguins have won four straight games. Rakell has factored into each of those wins with 2G, 5A, and a +7 rating. He now sits at 31G on the season and has his sights set on a new career high. He scored 34 during the 2017–18 season with Anaheim. The top line for the Penguins has been very successful in the month of March.
Centre
Sidney Crosby – 56.2 FPTS
It may have come as surprise to some fans that Crosby was not traded at the deadline this season. His commitment to the Penguins organization is as strong as his play this season. In week 21 Crosby was the top centre, scoring 4G, 3A, and a +5 rating.
Right wing
Jesper Bratt – 66.90 FPTS
Bratt has recorded 3PTS in three straight games for the New Jersey Devils. Despite the team being without Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, Bratt has remained extremely effective offensively. Bratt now ranks ninth in the NHL with 79PTS and fourth in assists with 60.
Defence
Kris Letang – 43.40FPTS
The third Penguins player to be featured in the team of the week segment is Kris Letang. Though his best years are behind him, he’s riding a wave of strong play while logging heavy minutes. Letang had 3A, +3 rating, and 16BLK over the week for Pittsburgh.
Goalie
Darcy Kuemper – 49.8 FPTS
Kuemper has an impressive streak going with back to back shutouts against Washington and Nashville. Kuemper won all three starts on the week and allowed only 1GA in a 4–1 victory against the New York Islanders.
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, and week out. But those players aren’t likely to be available for you to pick up. Here are some players who are hot with low ownership percentages that you should consider picking up for the week.
Mackie Samoskevich (RW) – Florida Panthers 24% Rostered
Sam Bennett is currently getting a lot of attention for the Panthers, but his linemate is picking up steam alongside him. Samoskevich is playing L2 and PP1 for the Panthers and is seeing extra opportunities with Matthew Tkachuk out of the lineup for the remainder of the regular season. He is a physical forward who has scored 2G and 2A in his last 3GP. He’s a great add in banger leagues.
Jake Neighbours (LW,RW) – St Louis Blues 19% Rostered
Neighbours is skating along side Robert Thomas on the top line for the St Louis Blues who have won seven of their last ten games played. Neighbours has a four-game point streak going and goes into a week where the Blues play four games. He’s scored 2G and 3A over that span. With 143HIT on the year, Neighbours can be added with additional confidence in banger leagues.
Justin Faulk (D) – St Louis Blues 22% Rostered
Faulk has 5A over his last 5GP including 3PPP. The veteran defender contributes across the board in terms of categories and makes for a streaming option in week 22 where the Blues play four games. Colton Parayko remains out of the lineup for the Blues. Extra opportunities for defenders to step into additional ice time and production are possible.
Tristan Jarry (G) – Pittsburgh Penguins 20% Rostered
Jarry has won four straight games since suiting back up with the Penguins. His 2.24GAA and .930SV% over those four games are inspiring and make him worthy of an add for anyone looking for goaltending production. With the Penguins sitting near to a wild card spot, its possible that Jarry and his team make a run for the playoffs down the stretch.
Edmonton Oilers fantasy updates
Darnell Nurse (D) – Edmonton Oilers – 67% Rostered
While much of the focus in Fantasy Hockey is on point production, accessory categories like HIT, BLK, and SOG are important in a number of formats. Through 61GP Nurse now has 153SOG, 127HIT, and 110BLK. He is a +7 skater on the year and a +36 over his past three seasons.
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