We’re rapidly approaching the end of the season with realistically, only one playoff spot still up for grabs. That will have some impact in fantasy as we’re starting to see some guys held out as precautions (mostly in Toronto), and open up some streaming opportunities. Most of that will come into play later next week, but there’s still jockeying for position for home ice advantage as well. Even matchups between teams that are out of the playoff picture can lead to great chances to be a difference maker in fantasy playoffs. If you’re still in it, first of all, congrats, but mostly it’s time to get on in on everything in a micro sense and push every miniscule edge that you can. Let’s take a look at some things that happened the last two nights and then preview the weekend, expanding on what I talked about earlier in the week.
Two massive wins from the Blues the last two nights to put a virtual strangle hold on the fourth West spot. It was great to see Jordan Kyrou get two points in each game as he’s really fallen off lately. I would still keep him in the middling streamer range, but I could see myself being super high on Kyrou next season. With the Blues already locked out of getting higher than the four seed, we could see a decent amount of Ville Husso once they’re clinched which isn’t great. There could be some good streaming options against them next weekend.
The Bruins win coupled with the Rangers loss effectively ended the East race. There’s still a massive seeding battle, but it’s hard to see these teams really pushing for it. Luckily for the Islanders, they still have four games left against the Sabres and Devils. Kyle Palmieri has the chance to finally get going on the Island.
Sam Bennett scored the overtime winner on his eighth shot of the game on Thursday. I’ve said it all week, but he needs to be owned everywhere at the moment.
With Toronto in firm control of the division, expect to see a lot of David Rittich as the season comes to a close, especially once they’re clinched. Maybe Andersen comes back before then, but if you need a streamer, Rittich should be a viable option.
With there being 15 games on Saturday, you’re only looking for streamers on Friday and Sunday. As noted on Monday, the only game on Sunday is Tampa and Detroit. Get ahead of the curve and pick up Tampa guys to stream on Sunday today. They also play Detroit Saturday so you can double dip.
As far as Friday goes, I’m expecting Colorado to curb stomp San Jose. It’s hard to find a worse matchup for San Jose than Colorado, maybe Vegas. With the players they have out due to COVID, Tyson Jost and Valeri Nichushkin are up on the second line and getting second power play time. J.T. Compher is on the first power play unit so if you need special teams points, I’d take him over the previous two, but otherwise, I’d go Jost.
If you want a game to watch this weekend, it has to be the Stars against the Predators on Saturday. The Predators are two points up on the Stars, but Dallas has a game in hand so the winner of the game controls their own destiny for that one playoff spot in limbo. Both teams have had horrible luck this season, the Predators with injuries and the Stars with injuries plus COVID. I’d give the Predators a slight edge, only because they still have two Columbus games left and the Hurricanes could have the top seed clinched before the last day of the season. That said, Chicago is quite favorable for the Stars as well, so it should come down to the wire. I’d be surprised if Nashville can even put a scare into the Central winner unless Juuse Saros plays at an all-world level. On the other hand, Dallas has more upside, but the floor is quite low.
This season is a perfect example of why determining the playoff teams by division is a horrible setup. There’s only one spot up for grabs with over one week left in the season, and why two of the best teams in the league will have to play each other when there’s still eight teams left in the playoffs is ridiculous. We can only hope that they go back to the old format where it’s the top 8 in each conference. I’d really like the top 16 overall, but I know that won’t happen.
That’s all for now guys. Be sure to ask me any questions that you have in your title race below! I’ll be back on Monday with some notes on the weekend and previewing the week ahead. Thanks for reading, take care!
