What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?

That’s my greeting on the baseball side of Razzball. You hockey nerds will have to get used to seeing it here now as well.

Surely does feel good to be back writing a little fantasy hockey after taking last season off. Well, I did a little preseason stuff with some defensemen rankings and then just had a lot going on IRL, so I didn’t get back around to contributing anything.

But that’s the old me. This the new me. I’ll be here every Thursday morning with a look at streamers from what many in the fantasy hockey community refer to as the Friday/Sunday split. I did this same column here at Razzball a couple years ago (with a really clever “Sundae split” pun) and felt called to revive it, much like my interest in fantasy hockey in general — I didn’t draft a single team last year!

Anywho, 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, especially earlier in the season — 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.

So whether it be a points league or categories league, bangs or no bangs, you can often find value on the wire to stream at the end of any given week. This is less true in deeper leagues, of course, but there’s always gonna be somebody worth snagging in the vast majority of league types. Are you light on hits? Blocks? PIM? PPP? I’ll be looking at every team who plays both Friday and Sunday each week and will try to highlight the most useful dudes who are likely to be available on your waiver wire. Also, please note that this column will not feature goalies. The purpose of the Friday/Sunday split is to maximize skater output.

Alrighty, intro is outta the way. Let’s do it to it.

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

Naturally, the first edition of the 2023-24 Friday Sundae Split column isn’t actually about Friday/Sunday splits. That’s because no team plays both days. However, both days qualify as “off nights,” meaning that the game slate is very sparse, so I can at least highlight streamers for Friday and streamers for Sunday. Next week, we’ll have only one team (Calgary Flames) that plays both days, so it’ll be another anomaly week. But finally in Week 3, we’ll have five teams that play both days.

Friday Streamers

Arizona Coyotes (@NJ)

• Lawson Crouse might be taken, but at only 47% rostered I think too many folks are sleeping on this dude. Used to have a good deal of prospect pedigree, and while he’s probably not gonna be a superstar in the NHL, he can bring plenty to the table in fantasy hockey. Last year, he scored 24 goals and amassed 194 hits. That was in 77 games. If we can get a full season, I’m quite comfy projecting no less than 25 G and 200 H. Even had 58 BLK, which ain’t too bad from a forward.
• J.J. Moser could end up sniping PP1 QB from the much more widely owned Sean Durzi. I’m not confident in that, but there have been reps for Moser and camp and in preseason. At any rate, he’s a good stream for blocks.

New Jersey Devils (vARI)

• To be honest, every sexy Devil is either owned or not really worth streaming. I’ll give some props to Jonas Siegenthaler, who had 101 H and 151 BLK last year. Should be top pair left-side D alongside Hamilton, who will obviously be out there to score points, leaving Siegs with all them sexy bangs.

Pittsburgh Penguins (@WSH)

• Ryan Graves is your PIT stream for blocks. It’s what he’s always been good at. Had 152 last year, which was 20th best in all of hockey in 2022-23. Already got 4 BLK this year (plus a hit).
• Noel Acciari is your stream for hits. Racked up 244 H last season, while also blocking 81 shots, which is big time shiz from a non-defender. If you happen to be in a FOW league, he can chip in there as well. So, in the right type of league, this dude is free peripherals to close out your week. One game down in 2023-24 and he’s already got 5 H and 2 BLK. Again…huge from a forward. Also won 5 of his 7 faceoff attempts.

Washington Capitals (vPIT)

• Evgeny Kuznetsov is only 57% rostered, though that’s really a bit high for streaming purposes. Still kinda surprising. Anywho, if he’s there, stream him. Should be on the top powerplay unit and there’s a good chance you get at least a point out of him.
• If he’s not there, you could fall back on Nicklas Backstrom, who also should be on the PP1 unit. Odds are smaller that he gets a point, but hey, if he does, it’s likely a PPP.
• Martin Fehevary pummels bodies and chugs shot attempts. In just 67 GP last year, he had 217 H and 128 BLK. Gotta stream him for the bangs. I even went so far as to draft the bastard.
• Connor McMichael was a very highly-touted prospect once upon a time. Projected to be the second line LW while also seeing PP2 time, so you could do worse tossing him into your lineup for free.

Sunday Streamers

Anaheim Ducks (vCAR)

• Radko Gudas is now a Duck and should continue to do what he’s always done: bang. Last year he had 79 PIM, 312 H, and 124 BLK. Anaheim won’t be good, which means good things for big bang defensemen. He can just go out there and block shots and railroad human beings.
• A sneaky stream is Frank Vatrano, who’s only 22% rostered. He’s slotted into the LW spot on the second line while also potentially getting a little PP exposure on the second unit. But aside from that, he scored 22 G, had 231 SOG, 66 PIM, 86 H, and 75 BLK last season. Quietly pumps good numbers into a wide range of categories. Eligible at either wing position on Fantrax.
• Ryan Strome can score a little still and is a decent PIM/FOW stream as well. I know that doesn’t help in standard formats, though. This might a little: he’ll see some PP time and is eligible at all three forward positions.

Carolina Hurricanes (@ANA)

• Brady Skjei scored 18 goals last year and already has one this year, scoring at even strength in last night’s opener. That’s really all I got. That’s a whole helluva lot of goals for a defender. You could get lucky and stream another one of his next 10 or 15 or, hell, even 20. I dunno.
• Michael Bunting is a very interesting stream. Scored 23 G last year while also providing some bangs (103 PIM, which is huge, and also 85 H, which is solid enough). Scored a PPG in the opener and almost saw 20 frickin minutes of ice time (including 7:09 PPTOI). This dude might even morph into a hold before long.
• Jordan Staal is always a great stream for the odd goal, a few hits, and elite FOW.

Ottawa Senators (vTB)

• Dominik Kubalik saw almost three minutes of PPTOI in the season opener and had 3 SOG. That’s not rosterable stuff, but it sure could be streamable stuff. He can score a little (20 G last year) while also giving you some shots and hits. Being eligible at either wing position is a bonus. I’m not saying prioritize the dude. Just keep him on the radar. At least in the future when Ottawa sees an actual Friday/Sunday split.
• Artem Zub has good banger potential as a good source of H+BLK. Last year he had 131 H and 67 BLK in just 53 games. In yesterday’s opener, he had 4 H and 2 BLK and even tallied an assist.

Tampa Bay Lightning (@OTT)

• Nicholas Paul had 2 G and 1 A on 3 SOG (both goals via the PP) in Tuesday’s season opener. I would not count another game like that for the rest of the season, but you could always stream and hope for the best. He’s more likely to give you a few hits and win a few faceoffs.
• Erik Cernak has always banged and racked up 6 H and 1 BLK on Tuesday. Last season, he had a cool 309 H+BLK (209 H and an even 100 BLK). If you need help there, he’s a great option.
• I’m gonna toss in one of my favorite banger dudes in recent years: Luke Glendening. He’s worthless for offense, but he has been a super sneaky source of hits, blocks, and faceoff wins. He played 14 minutes on Tuesday and had 1 H, 2 BLK, and 9 FOW. There was a season in Detroit a few years back where he had 198 H, 102 BLK, and 658 FOW. I know he’s niche, but man I love that guy.