The puck has dropped, the overreactions are flowing and the waiver wire is already moving. Welcome back to the fantasy hockey grind. A handful of games is nowhere near enough to rewrite anyone's draft board, but it is enough to spot new roles, new linemates and new power-play deployments before your leaguemates catch on.
The second full scoring period runs from Oct. 5 to Oct. 11, with 47 games on the slate. The Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins have the advantage for head-to-head leagues with four games apiece, while the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils are stuck at two.
Daily lineup managers, take note: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are the light nights, with four or fewer games each. The Capitals hit the sweet spot for streaming if your league caps weekly transactions, averaging only 5.67 other teams in action on their three game nights, and the Jets (6.33) are close behind. Most puck drops are 7 p.m. ET or later, but set an alarm for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Every Monday, we'll mine the waiver wire for lesser-rostered performers who have the potential to help fantasy teams in a variety of leagues. We'll also present several strong streaming candidates for the immediate week ahead.
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Forwards
Vasily Podkolzin, LW/RW, Edmonton Oilers (4.03 FPPG, 34.7% available): With Zach Hyman sidelined, Podkolzin has inherited the best seat in the house: the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, plus two-thirds of the Oilers' top power-play time. The trio is 4-0 on goals at 5-on-5 through 26 minutes together, and Podkolzin already has three power-play points. It's only a two-game week, so add him for the role rather than the schedule, and expect him to slide back toward last season's 1.48 FPPG once Hyman returns, but consider a longer trial in leagues that count hits.
Artturi Lehkonen, LW, Colorado Avalanche (5.40 FPPG, 45.8% available): Any winger riding shotgun with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas deserves a look, and Lehkonen has spent nearly three-quarters of his even-strength time there through two games. Temper the excitement over three goals and an assist, though: the trio is 3-0 on goals at 5-on-5 while generating just 40% of the shot attempts, and Lehkonen is on the second power-play unit. He has a higher ceiling than last season's 1.52 FPPG for as long as the top-line role holds. A road trip through Winnipeg and Calgary helps, with the Avalanche's three opponents combining for the ninth-friendliest slate for top-six forwards.
Cole Perfetti, LW, Winnipeg Jets (4.45 FPPG, 81.3% available): All four of Perfetti's points have come on the power play, where the Jets' top unit is generating a blistering 7.52 shot attempts per two minutes with him on the ice. At even strength, he's skating 84 percent of his minutes with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, and while that line is 0-2 on goals, it ranks 26th of 133 lines (minimum five minutes per game) in shot attempts rate. Bonus for daily leagues: all three Jets games land on light nights.
Jordan Eberle, RW, Seattle Kraken (2.83 FPPG, 68.8% available): Eberle has opened the season on the Kraken top line with Chandler Stephenson and Bobby McMann, and the trio is 3-0 on goals at 5-on-5 with a healthy 54.2% share of the shot attempts. He's also seeing half of Seattle's power-play time on the second unit, which accounts for two of his three points. Two of the three Kraken games fall on light nights, making him a sneaky daily-league option.
Jimmy Snuggerud, RW, St. Louis Blues (2.15 FPPG, 65.4% available): Snuggerud is back where he finished last season, on the top line with Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway, and he's added a spot on the top power-play unit. That unit has been sputtering (1.76 shot attempts per two minutes), but the week offers relief: the Blackhawks, Sharks and Blue Jackets combine for the eighth-friendliest slate for top-six forwards, and two of the three games come against bottom-10 penalty kills.
See also:
Quinton Byfield, C, Los Angeles Kings (2.60 FPPG, 34.1% available)
Eeli Tolvanen, LW/RW, New York Rangers (2.33 FPPG, 56.4% available)
Bobby McMann, LW/RW, Seattle Kraken (2.80 FPPG, 59.0% available)
Viktor Arvidsson, RW, Detroit Red Wings (2.25 FPPG, 89.8% available)
Mikael Granlund, C/LW, Anaheim Ducks (2.10 FPPG, 39.3% available)
Igor Chernyshov, LW, San Jose Sharks (2.90 FPPG, 93.4% available)
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson, D, Buffalo Sabres (2.20 FPPG, 36.0% available): A 2.01 FPPG performer across 78 games last season, Samuelsson is still available in more than a third of leagues despite opening the season on the Sabres top pair with Rasmus Dahlin. He doesn't touch the power play, so the value comes from 21-plus minutes a night and everything that comes with them. The pair is controlling 69.4 percent of the shot attempts at 5-on-5, and all three of the Sabres games this week are at home.
Brayden McNabb, D, Vegas Golden Knights (2.33 FPPG, 89.2% available): McNabb and Shea Theodore have been on the ice for six goals for and only two against at 5-on-5 through 43 minutes together, and McNabb has four assists to show for it. That pace won't last for a defender without power-play time, but the hits and blocks (2.8 of his 7.0 fantasy points) give him a reliable floor in deeper formats.
Vladislav Gavrikov, D, New York Rangers (2.58 FPPG, 54.5% available): Thirteen blocked shots through four games is the headline for Gavrikov, accounting for the bulk of his 10.3 fantasy points. Playing more than 21 minutes a night next to Adam Fox gives him enough offensive spillover to make the floor worth chasing, with two points in his past three games. Two of the Rangers' three games fall on light nights.
See also:
Jared Spurgeon, D, Minnesota Wild (2.90 FPPG, 95.7% available)
Luca Cagnoni, D, San Jose Sharks (3.35 FPPG, 68.1% available)
Adam Larsson, D, Seattle Kraken (2.07 FPPG, 59.8% available)
Martin Fehervary, D, Washington Capitals (1.95 FPPG, 67.7% available)
Goaltenders
Jesper Wallstedt, G, Minnesota Wild (6.54 FPP60, 19.7% available): The timeshare will have to wait. Filip Gustavsson landed on IR with a hip injury and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 1, which hands Wallstedt the Wild crease for the rest of October. He's made the most of it so far, with two wins and a .957 save percentage. The road trip through Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Florida is one of the week's tougher goalie schedules, but a month of near-full workload makes him a must-add in the one in five leagues where he's still sitting there.
Joel Hofer, G, St. Louis Blues (12.00 FPP60, 20.7% available): Hofer and Jordan Binnington split the first two Blues starts, and Hofer's perfect outing earned him 12.0 fantasy points. One game is a tiny sample, so lean on the schedule instead: no back-to-back sets and two top-10 goalie matchups against the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets. Even a split of the three games should land him a good one.
Mackenzie Blackwood, G, Colorado Avalanche (4.20 FPP60, 15.9% available): Enjoy it while it lasts. This is likely the last week goalies like Blackwood are this easy to find on the wire, before the rest of your league wakes up from its draft-day hangover. The Avalanche have the best goalie schedule of the week, and Blackwood has started and won both games so far. The catch is the back-to-back set on Wednesday and Thursday. The Flames on Thursday are the No. 1 matchup for fantasy goalies, so here's hoping he draws that half.
See also:
Joey Daccord, G, Seattle Kraken (7.63 FPP60, 59.5% available)
Lukas Dostal, G, Anaheim Ducks (4.46 FPP60, 66.4% available)
Jet Greaves, G, Columbus Blue Jackets (0.00 FPP60, 38.3% available)
Short-term streamers
Shane Pinto, C/RW, Ottawa Senators (1.80 FPPG, 85.5% available): The Senators have played only once, so Pinto's numbers don't tell us much yet. What does matter is a four-game week whose opponents combine for the second-friendliest slate for top-six forwards. Pinto's third line with Claude Giroux and Michael Amadio still logged more than 20 minutes in the opener, and he adds second-unit power-play time. That's plenty of opportunity for a streamer.
Tommy Novak, C/LW, Pittsburgh Penguins (4.15 FPPG, 91.6% available): Novak is skating with Evgeni Malkin at even strength and on the Penguins top power-play unit, a combination that has produced four points in two games. Pittsburgh's four games, three of them on light nights, make him a natural fit for daily leagues. Just know the 5-on-5 numbers (43.2% of the shot attempts) are less rosy than the scoring.
Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins (2.45 FPPG, 38.4% available): Letang is off to a three-assist start through two games, and the Penguins schedule does the rest: four games, three on light nights, against opponents who combine for the second-friendliest slate for top-four defenders. He's only on the second power-play unit, so treat this as a one-week rental.
Jackson Blake, RW, Carolina Hurricanes (1.73 FPPG, 54.2% available): No team has a better schedule for forwards this week. The Hurricanes play four times, and their opponents combine to allow more fantasy points to top-six forwards than any other team's slate, with two of the games against bottom-10 penalty kills. Blake is still on his dominant playoff line with Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven, and is averaging more than seven minutes a night on the power play, where both of his points have come.
William Eklund, LW, Ottawa Senators (0.50 FPPG, 44.0% available): Like Pinto, Eklund is a bet on the Senators schedule rather than his quiet lone game. His spot on the top power-play unit gets two cracks at bottom-10 penalty kills in a four-game week.
Arturs Silovs, G, Pittsburgh Penguins (4.34 FPP60, 76.4% available): Silovs has started and won both Penguins games despite a shaky .886 save percentage. With four games, including a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday, he should see at least two starts, and the Jets and Blue Jackets are both top-10 matchups for fantasy goalies. Steer clear of the Saturday date with the Stars, who rank last for fantasy points allowed to goalies.