Sunday, February 7, 2021

2021 Week 4 NHL Fantasy Hockey Report

This is my 2021 Week Four Fantasy Hockey Report for those competing in head-to-head categories or rotisserie leagues. There are both standard and deep league acquisition targets. This is more of a “waiver wire” report, looking for your best options among those who are more likely to be available in your league as opposed to the universally owned players. There are 10 recommendations in total, 2 goalies, 2 defensemen, and 6 forwards. 

 

Best Standard League Adds (25% to 65% Yahoo ownership):

 

1) Ondrej Palat, TB, (56% Yahoo ownership): Ondrej Palat currently finds himself slotted on the top line in Tampa with Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos, also getting top power play deployment. The Lightning will (hopefully) play 4 games this week against Nashville and Florida, two teams that have struggled to keep pucks out of their net. Palat has registered 6 PTS through 9 GP, with 15 shots and 12 hits. Alex Killorn is also widely available and playing on the top Tampa power play, also scoring 6 PTS in 9 GP. Tyler Johnson and Anthony Cirelli are also viable options on the Lightning 2nd line.

2) Nick Ritchie, Bos, (28% Yahoo ownership): The offense we have seen from Ritchie so far this season might not be sustainable (9 PTS in 11 GP), but he’ll be a solid waiver add this week given that the Bruins will be playing twice on nights with very few games, so he’ll be easy to squeeze in to your starting line-up. He’s getting time on the Boston power play and has delivered great peripheral stats with 26 shots and 17 hits through 11 GP. Ritchie would have been my top recommended add if Boston’s Monday game against Buffalo had not been postponed.

3) Kevin Lankinen, Chi, (54% Yahoo ownership): I’m still not 100% convinced that Lankinen is as good as his stats (.928 SV% in 8 GP), but we are building up a large enough sample of games to believe he might be decent. The Blackhawks are not a good team, but they’ll have a pair of games against Columbus, who is also not a good team. I would be a little bit nervous starting him against Dallas on Tuesday. He has a similar schedule to James Reimer, so you could choose that option if you’d rather take the veteran on a better team.

4) Tim Stuetzle, Ott, (28% Yahoo ownership): The Senators will (hopefully) play 4 games against the Oilers and Jets, which will give the talented rookie an opportunity to put more points on the board. He’s scored 5 PTS in his last 4 GP and is giving Senators fans a reason to live. Stuetzle’s peripheral stats are not good, only firing 13 shots in 9 GP with a -7. After back-to-back good games against Montreal, it’s possible that this Ottawa team is not quite as big a dumpster fire as we originally thought. Certainly, in keeper/dynasty leagues, Stuetzle is must own.

5) Mattias Ekholm, Nsh, (26% Yahoo ownership): The Preds will (hopefully) face Tampa twice and Detroit twice at home in the upcoming week, and I’ll be attempting to stream Ekholm into my rosters for the Red Wing games. This is part of my evolving strategy to stream as many Detroit and Ottawa opponents into my rosters as possible. Mattias has only scored 3 PTS through 11 GP, which won’t knock your socks off, but he has fired 24 shots on net, which is good for a defenseman. I’ll definitely be dropping him after those Wings games, as Nashville goes on the road against Dallas and Columbus the following week.

 

Honorable Mentions: Anthony Cirelli, Andrew Copp, Alex Killorn, James Reimer, Alec Martinez

Last Week: Denis Gurianov, Jake Allen, Alexander Romanov, Jonathan Drouin, Jordan Kyrou


Best Deep League Adds (under 25% ownership):

 

1) Alexandre Texier, Cbj, (14% Yahoo ownership): The Blue Jackets (hopefully) have a 4-game week coming up, and Texier currently finds himself on the top line with Patrik Laine and Max Domi, along with top power play deployment. Texier has 7 PTS in 12 GP, but could take himself to an even higher level with that type of exposure. While I’m eager to roll the dice with his new opportunity, be careful who you’re dropping, because he could get demoted at any moment. That job is by no means safe.

 

2) Jesse Puljujarvi, Edm, (20% Yahoo ownership): I’m not convinced that Puljujarvi can sustain a satisfactory level of production week to week all season, but he’s been getting McDavid exposure and the Oilers face Ottawa twice to start the week, so I’ll be streaming Jesse into my roto roster to hopefully pick up some McDavid residuals against the Sens. His output will be tied to that deployment, and a demotion would be devastating. The kid has scored 3 goals in his last 2 GP, and has ripped 34 shots in 13 GP overall, with 21 hits.

3) David Krejci, Bos, (23% Yahoo ownership): It’s been another solid season for the Bruins center, scoring 9 PTS in 11 GP. He’s widely available, and will be very easy to fit into your line-up given Boston’s games on light schedule nights. Granted, those “off-night” games may not be as valuable given all these Covid postponements, so I’d rather take a swing at the upside of Puljujarvi or Texier over Krejci. He averaged 35% ownership last season, so his stock price is down, but still producing the same dividend.

4) Calvin Petersen, LA, (11% Yahoo ownership): The Kings might be a bad team, but there is growing evidence that Peterson is a really good goalie. In 24 career games he has posted a .925 SV%, and through 5 games in 2020, he’s at .935. You should exercise caution starting him against the heavy-weights in that division, but there are plenty of teams in the Kings weight class. They'll play their next 4 games against San Jose and (hopefully) Minnesota. He has recently been added to one of my teams, and it might be for longer than a short-term stream.

 

5) Erik Cernak, TB, (20% Yahoo ownership): Cernak doesn’t have a huge offensive ceiling, but he’ll be in the right place at the right time to pick up some residuals and will help your hit totals. As stated above, this will be a good week to stream Tampa players into your line-up. And if you’re stuck chasing +/- like me, Cernak is +5. If you’d like to take a shot at a slightly higher offensive upside on the blueline, you could also try teammate Ryan McDonagh, who has scored 4 PTS in 9 GP and is available in nearly twice as many leagues.


Honorable Mentions: Alex Tuch, Tyler Johnson, Devan Dubnyk, Ryan McDonagh, Craig Smith 

Last Week: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Rasmus Andersson, Antti Raanta, Christian Dvorak, Phillip Danault

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