Fantasy hockey stat combos: Multi-category playoff producers
No two fantasy hockey teams face the same hill to climb between now and April 18. And no solution is perfect for every fantasy hockey club because we all constructed each one differently.
With the head-to-head playoffs for many leagues underway, it’s time to focus on the micromanagement that will get you to the finish line. Who are your opponents in the head-to-head playoffs? What are those teams’ strengths and weaknesses? Should you punt a category one week to shore up another? Can you afford to have fewer hits because your opponent is weak in that category?
It’s the same kind of questions in rotisserie leagues. Which categories am I at risk in? Which categories can I still make up ground in?
And all this while balancing your game maximums in points leagues. How many more starts do I have at each position? Am I going to run out if I keep starting players with four- or five-game weeks (yes, the New York Rangers played five times last week).
In an effort to try to find a recommendation that might suit your particular needs, let’s start drawing Venn diagrams. Lots of them.
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For the final push, here are some options catered to particular needs. Looking for mostly goals and blocked shots for a particular playoff matchup? We’ve got you covered. Need to make up ground in hits and shots in rotisserie, see below.
By taking just stats since Feb. 1 (what have you done for me lately), we are checking to see which players (available in at least 35% of leagues) are top 100 for two selected statistics. Stat totals are from Feb. 1 through games played on Sunday.
I can’t cover all use cases, but I’ll hit as many as I can. Any player shown is at least top 100 for the particular stat — which in some cases might mean only a handful, like goals and power-play points. But they are the stats you need.
An obvious combo, you’ll find a few names to choose from. Take note of the sneaky-good stats by a player from the Blackhawks, as that will be a recurring theme here. Also, the top two names here are going to show up a lot, which is an indicator that they are the best targets at the moment.
Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars (59.5% available; 12 goals, 9 assists)
Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames (40.9% available; 7 goals, 13 assists)
Nick Schmaltz, C, Arizona Coyotes (72.7% available; 6 goals, 13 assists)
Gustav Nyquist, C, Nashville Predators (63.2% available; 6 goals, 15 assists)
Pavel Zacha, C, Boston Bruins (76.9% available; 7 goals, 9 assists)
Philipp Kurashev, C, Chicago Blackhawks (93.5% available; 6 goals, 12 assists)
Tommy Novak, C, Nashville Predators (49.5% available; 6 goals, 9 assists)
Chandler Stephenson, C, Vegas Golden Knights (53.0% available; 6 goals, 9 assists)
Another obvious combination that has plenty of choice. Ryan Pulock and Matt Roy, in particular, seem like no-brainers for the fantasy stretch run if you find them available in your league. Just one available forward, Goodrow for the Rangers, appears in both of these stat lists.
Ryan Pulock, D, New York Islanders (77.9% available; 37 hits, 49 blocked shots)
Matt Roy, D, Los Angeles Kings (38.6% available; 44 hits, 50 blocked shots)
K’Andre Miller, D, New York Rangers (36.9% available; 41 hits, 38 blocked shots)
Jake McCabe, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (51.5% available; 62 hits, 38 blocked shots)
Neal Pionk, D, Winnipeg Jets (36.2% available; 59 hits, 32 blocked shots)
Radko Gudas, D, Anaheim Ducks (43.0% available; 59 hits, 39 blocked shots)
Jeff Petry, D, Detroit Red Wings (45.1% available; 42 hits, 39 blocked shots)
Braden Schneider, D, New York Rangers (98.6% available; 38 hits, 37 blocked shots)
Matt Dumba, D, Tampa Bay Lightning (97.8% available; 57 hits, 28 blocked shots)
Connor Clifton, D, Buffalo Sabres (98.0% available; 43 hits, 31 blocked shots)
Noah Juulsen, D, Vancouver Canucks (99.8% available; 59 hits, 29 blocked shots)
Vincent Desharnais, D, Edmonton Oilers (99.8% available; 41 hits, 36 blocked shots)
Artem Zub, D, Ottawa Senators (95.5% available; 39 hits, 29 blocked shots)
Alexander Romanov, D, New York Islanders (67.3% available; 43 hits, 29 blocked shots)
Brandon Carlo, D, Boston Bruins (96.7% available; 38 hits, 36 blocked shots)
Barclay Goodrow, C, New York Rangers (99.3% available; 47 hits, 29 blocked shots)
Nicolas Hague, D, Vegas Golden Knights (98.7% available; 37 hits, 28 blocked shots)
Ilya Lyubushkin, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (97.9% available; 51 hits, 27 blocked shots)
Niko Mikkola, D, Florida Panthers (95.7% available; 50 hits, 26 blocked shots)
Now we start to get into the weeds a little bit, with only four available players (and only one I’d consider widely available) crossing into both of these needs.
Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars (59.5% available; 68 shots, 5 power-play points)
Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames (40.9% available; 60 shots, 6 power-play points)
Dylan Guenther, W, Arizona Coyotes (95.7% available; 50 shots, 7 power-play points)
Bryan Rust, W, Pittsburgh Penguins (45.7% available; 48 shots, 5 power-play points)
I guess there isn’t a lot of choice if these are your pressing needs. And it’s not as if Brodin’s six goals are near the top of the rankings, but they are something.
Jonas Brodin, D, Minnesota Wild (71.4% available; 6 goals, 39 blocked shots)
You are seeing all this Wyatt Johnston and Nazem Kadri hype building throughout this article, right?
Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars (59.5% available; 9 assists, 68 shots)
Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames (40.9% available; 13 assists, 60 shots)
Shane Pinto, C, Ottawa Senators (68.4% available; 11 assists, 60 shots)
Jack Roslovic, C, New York Rangers (93.7% available; 11 assists, 53 shots)
Nikolaj Ehlers, W, Winnipeg Jets (49.5% available; 10 assists, 48 shots)
Reilly Smith, W, Pittsburgh Penguins (94.0% available; 9 assists, 48 shots)
Here’s another Blackhawk offering some decent value; Solid hits numbers from Foligno to go with some power-play magic thanks to Connor Bedard.
Nick Foligno, W, Chicago Blackhawks (90.9% available; 45 hits, 7 power-play points)
Mason Marchment, W, Dallas Stars (79.8% available; 48 hits, 5 power-play points)
Sam Bennett, C, Florida Panthers (52.8% available; 50 shots, 49 hits)
Bobby McMann, C, Toronto Maple Leafs (95.7% available; 55 shots, 48 hits)
Rickard Rakell, W, Pittsburgh Penguins (56.3% available; 56 shots, 43 hits)
The blocked shots totals aren’t huge here, but it’s a little sprinkle to go with at least some power-play action if these are your needs.
Torey Krug, D, St. Louis Blues (86.1% available; 5 power-play points, 26 blocked shots)
Cam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks (55.6% available; 6 power-play points, 27 blocked shots)
Nick Foligno, W, Chicago Blackhawks (90.9% available; 9 assists, 45 hits)
K’Andre Miller, D, New York Rangers (36.9% available; 10 assists, 41 hits)
Mason Marchment, W, Dallas Stars (79.8% available; 9 assists, 48 hits)
David Perron, W, Detroit Red Wings (95.8% available; 9 assists, 40 hits)
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Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars (59.5% available; 12 goals, 68 shots)
Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames (40.9% available; 7 goals, 60 shots)
Bobby McMann, C, Toronto Maple Leafs (95.7% available; 8 goals, 55 shots)
Dylan Guenther, W, Arizona Coyotes (95.7% available; 7 goals, 50 shots)
Bryan Rust, W, Pittsburgh Penguins (45.7% available; 9 goals, 48 shots)
Kyle Palmieri, C, New York Islanders (86.5% available; 8 goals, 46 shots)
Alexis Lafrenière, W, New York Rangers (79.8% available; 7 goals, 51 shots)
Warren Foegele, W, Edmonton Oilers (98.0% available; 6 goals, 47 shots)
Logan Cooley, C, Arizona Coyotes (52.1% available; 7 goals, 47 shots)
K’Andre Miller, D, New York Rangers (36.9% available; 38 blocked shots, 10 assists)
Torey Krug, D, St. Louis Blues (86.1% available; 26 blocked shots, 12 assists)
Timothy Liljegren, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (94.6% available; 32 blocked shots, 10 assists)
Ryan McDonagh, D, Nashville Predators (91.0% available; 31 blocked shots, 11 assists)
I think we’ve covered most cases at this stage, but here is a treat for those who might still play in some old school fantasy hockey leagues.
Sam Bennett, C, Florida Panthers (52.8% available; 22 penalty minutes, 6 plus/minus)
Jake McCabe, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (51.5% available; 14 penalty minutes, 9 plus/minus)
Nick Bjugstad, C, Arizona Coyotes (93.8% available; 19 penalty minutes, 8 plus/minus)
Garnet Hathaway, W, Philadelphia Flyers (97.7% available; 46 penalty minutes, 7 plus/minus)
Anton Lundell, C, Florida Panthers (97.6% available; 16 penalty minutes, 10 plus/minus)
Connor Clifton, D, Buffalo Sabres (98.0% available; 19 penalty minutes, 5 plus/minus)
Kevin Bahl, D, New Jersey Devils (99.8% available; 16 penalty minutes, 5 plus/minus)
Alexis Lafrenière, W, New York Rangers (79.8% available; 16 penalty minutes, 8 plus/minus)
Adam Lowry, C, Winnipeg Jets (93.6% available; 15 penalty minutes, 6 plus/minus)
Josh Manson, D, Colorado Avalanche (93.6% available; 20 penalty minutes, 5 plus/minus)
Michael Kesselring, D, Arizona Coyotes (99.9% available; 19 penalty minutes, 5 plus/minus)
Dmitry Kulikov, D, Florida Panthers (99.0% available; 27 penalty minutes, 7 plus/minus)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Florida Panthers (75.7% available; 20 penalty minutes, 9 plus/minus)