Friday Sundae Splits: Week 5

What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?

If you’re new to this column or have no idea what the Friday/Sunday split is, it’s a simple yet effective way to maximize your weekly output no matter the format of your league. Typically — and it’s not always the case — heavy game loads are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, whereas Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are lighter. Streaming players on those lighter days is almost a necessity to ensure you’re getting the most of each week, but this column focuses on just Fridays and Sundays. Reason being is that you get more bang for your waiver add buck in picking up a guy who will play those two days and will almost always be able to slot into your starting lineup without having to sacrifice someone else to the bench.

Let’s do it to it.

Note: All Rostered% numbers and position eligibilities via Fantrax. All line deployment projections via Left Wing Lock.

Alrighty, finally a solid Friday/Sunday slate with a few teams to pick from. Let’s take a look at the best options to cap off your weekly matchups in Week 5.

Anaheim Ducks (FRI vPHI || SUN vSJ)

Ryan Strome is out there in exactly half of Fantrax league as a point-per-game player so far in 2023-24. Guy is definitely not the caliber to holding, but you gotta stream this type of dude for two games from one waiver claim if you need some points. And if you’re in a points league at that, then he’s all that more valuable given his lack of peripherals.

Adam Henrique is far from sexy, and he isn’t even my first choice from this team, but I’ll toss him on here in case you’re in a deeper league or something and you need something to work with. Henrique brings a few more blocks than the average forward, and he’s extra useful in FOW leagues.

Ilya Lyubushkin is your H+BLK stream from Anaheim, because I assume Radko Gudas is already owned if you’re in that type of league. If Gudas happens to be there, then he’s the obvious choice. He’s one to just hang onto, in fact.

Florida Panthers (FRI vCAR || SUN vCHI)

Might not be there for you, but at 57% rostered on Fantrax, there’s a decent chance you can scoop Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the weekend. His usefulness is finite, but he’s still getting good minutes and good PPTOI. Got a nice little three-game point streak going, in which he’s got 2 G and 2 A. He might give you 0 SOG or he might give you 4+ per game. Brings a few blocks to the table as well.

Anton Lundell started slow but has gotten going of late. In his last seven games, he has 1 G and 4 A while adding 17 SOG. Nothing flashy, but definitely streamable given the little semi-hot streak he’s got going. His ice time is climbing and there’s some (but not much) PPTOI to be had.

If you’re hard up for H+BLK, Niko Mikkola isn’t the worst choice. He even has 4 A in his last six games and had a 7 SOG game not too long ago.

Minnesota Wild (FRI @BUF || SUN vDAL)

Marco Rossi is kinda sorta startin’ to cook, y’all. There was mad hype for this kid once upon a time. The ES TOI and PPTOI is off the heezy lately, and he’s got 6 PTS in his last seven. When you play on a line with Kaprizov and Boldy, good things are gonna happen. I’ve been fearful of the potential of this line as a Blues fan for a couple years now, and it’s starting to come to fruition.

Brock Faber is a solid stream for blocks and +/-, and with 3 A in his last four games, maybe you could get lucky that that magic continues for a game or two this weekend. Honestly, ditto for Jonas Brodin. That dude has a surprising 9 SOG in his last two games as well.

As always, Marcus Foligno is a nice pick-up for hits, +/-, and a possible point or two.

Marcus Johansson has been on an assist frenzy lately, with 7 A in his last nine games. He’s getting gobs of PPTOI, which never hurts your streaming odds.

San Jose Sharks (FRI @VGK || SUN @ANA)

Calen Addison is now a San Jose Shark. Poor guy. Except maybe not, cuz while he has zero shot at postseason play now, he could start to see both more ES TOI and PPTOI as a result. The 2023-24 Sharks are one of the worst teams of my lifetime, but that doesn’t mean a guy like Addison, a PPQB specialist, can’t get you some fantasy hockey points. He’s gotta be their guy, right? Who else do they have? Even on a brand new team, just throw the kid out there. Let him cook.

Mario Ferraro has been a SOG+H+BLK machine this year. The one real bright spot to this team from a fantasy perspective.

Fabian Zetterlund is a super deep cut option, but he provides decent shots, hits, and blocks for a forward. You’d have to be pretty desperate to stream the dude, but you honestly could do worse. You’re at least probably going to get a steady floor of peripherals with the upside for a powerplay point (or two, who knows?!).