We’ve reached the final three weeks of the season, with every team having 8-10 remaining games. Unlike last season, there are plenty of races to be decided, both for the playoffs and the lottery odds, which makes things much more interesting. In this post, I’m going to give some additional schedule info to pair with the Playoff Manifesto, along with some injury news. This is a reminder that now is not the time to hold anybody that is going to miss multiple games. Volume is everything, and you can’t afford to hold anyone missing games. Two games from say, Marchand, isn’t as good as four games from someone like Verhaeghe. Be aggressive. Anyways, I’ll start with the injuries before looking at the schedule. Let’s get to it!
INJURIES
Matt Duchene hurt his hand against Toronto on Sunday and was immediately ruled week-to-week. Duchene has been solid down the stretch for a depleted Predators team, but you can cut him everywhere you can’t stash him on IR.
Brad Marchand is day to day with “nagging” injuries. For now, I’m still holding until we get a clearer picture. He could easily play on Tuesday. They finish the week with three games in four nights which is more reason to hold for now, but again, if he gets ruled out for a couple games, I would cut bait.
Kirill Kaprizov still hasn’t started skating. You should be able to stash him on IR, but if not, I think you have to cut him. Best case, he gets a couple games at the end of the season, which isn’t worth it.
Ville Husso hasn’t received a timetable for returning from a lower body injury. With the Red Wings out of the race, my expectation is that Husso doesn’t play again this season, but that’s an assumption on my end. Regardless, I’d cut him.
Roman Josi missed his fifth straight game on Sunday, but is still listed as day-to-day. This is a rough one because Nashville has a horrible fantasy schedule. Since he’s a defenseman and options are more limited there, I’m holding.
Patrik Laine suffered a triceps strain and is out 2-4 weeks. Considering the Jackets are firmly battling for last in the league, don’t expect Laine to play again this year. Easy drop.
Jakob Chychrun is out for a couple weeks. He could return if Ottawa is still in the playoff mix, but that’s looking pretty unlikely. He dropped off quite a bit in Ottawa anyways, so you can let him go.
Sam Bennett missed his third straight game on Saturday with an undisclosed injury. This is a tough one because Florida has four games in the next six nights. Wednesday is a light day, so I’d give him a couple days and hope he’s back, but after Wednesday, I’d drop him.
THE WEEK AHEAD
We have four days with 9+ days, with 6 games tonight, 3 on Wednesday, and 4 on Friday. That means you are looking for streaming on those three days that come on a back to back. Below is a list of those sets so you know who to target. If needed, I would prioritize streamers that have Thursday in their back to back over Saturday because there are 13 games on Saturday. Twelve teams finish the week with a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back, so you’ll have plenty of options if necessary.
Arizona: Friday-Saturday
Buffalo: Friday-Saturday
Dallas: Friday-Saturday
Detroit: Thursday-Friday
Edmonton: Monday-Tuesday
Florida: Wednesday-Thursday
Montreal: Monday-Tuesday
N.Y. Rangers: Thursday-Friday
Washington: Wednesday-Thursday
Three Point Challenge: We will do Thursday’s games. You can’t select McDavid, Draisaitl, Pastrnak, Kucherov, Karlsson, M. Tkachuk, Marner, MacKinnon, Robertson, or Pettersson. I’ll go with Panarin against the Blue Jackets.
That’s all for now guys. Be sure to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action from the next two nights. Good luck to everyone, thanks for reading, take care!
