Fantasy hockey SOS: Nov. 9-15
So much was made of the Minnesota Wild’s change in philosophy this season. Jacques Lemaire out; Todd Richards in. Defense first out; offense first in. Passive trap out; high-tempo game in. And while the lukewarm results of the past are also gone, they’ve been replaced with even less desirable results – a last-place standing in the Western Conference through 14 games.
But not all is lost for Minnesota. Winners of its last two games, the Wild get four games on the road this week with favorable matchups: Minnesota will take on the two worst defensive teams in the league (Toronto and Carolina) this week. The trick will be finding possible benefactors. Forward Eric Belanger(notes) has been a pleasant surprise so far, while the likes of Antti Miettinen(notes), Owen Nolan(notes) and Petr Sykora(notes) could be available in deeper leagues.
Here a few other notes from this week’s slate of 43 games:
• Columbus plays just twice this week, but both games are against weak penalty killing teams in Detroit and Anaheim (fourth and second worst in the league, respectively). The Blue Jackets have been splitting their time between the two power-play units pretty evenly of late, so there are a bunch of options out there in guys like Fedor Tyutin(notes), Anton Stralman(notes) and Antoine Vermette(notes).
• Pittsburgh and Boston hook up for a pair of games this week, which boosts the value of Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury(notes). Not only are the Pens among the league’s leading defensive teams, but the Bruins are among the worst offensively. Consider Fleury a must-start.
• Detroit plays two defensively weak teams this week in Columbus and Anaheim. No one on the team averages more than a point per game, but fantasy owners might be able to scrounge up some points from guys like Justin Williams(notes), Todd Bertuzzi(notes) and Daniel Cleary in the short term.
| Home | Away | Total | ||||||||||
| Chicago | 4 | 0 | 4 | LA | COL | TOR | SJ | |||||
| San Jose | 2 | 2 | 4 | NAS | DAL | stl | chi | |||||
| Los Angeles | 0 | 4 | 4 | chi | crl | atl | tb | |||||
| Minnesota | 0 | 4 | 4 | tor | tb | was | crl* | |||||
| Carolina | 3 | 0 | 3 | LA | NYI | MIN* | ||||||
| St. Louis | 3 | 0 | 3 | VAN | NAS | SJ | ||||||
| Atlanta | 2 | 1 | 3 | nyr | LA | EDM* | ||||||
| Boston | 2 | 1 | 3 | PIT | FLA | pit | ||||||
| Buffalo | 2 | 1 | 3 | EDM | CGY | phi | ||||||
| Detroit | 2 | 1 | 3 | cbj | VAN | ANA | ||||||
| New Jersey | 2 | 1 | 3 | ANA | pit | WAS | ||||||
| Ottawa | 2 | 1 | 3 | EDM | phi | NYR | ||||||
| Pittsburgh | 2 | 1 | 3 | bos | NJ | BOS | ||||||
| Toronto | 2 | 1 | 3 | MIN | chi | CGY | ||||||
| Washington | 2 | 1 | 3 | NYI | MIN | nj | ||||||
| Montreal | 1 | 2 | 3 | CGY | phx | nas | ||||||
| Nashville | 1 | 2 | 3 | sj | stl | MTL | ||||||
| Anaheim | 0 | 3 | 3 | nj | cbj | det | ||||||
| Calgary | 0 | 3 | 3 | mtl | buf | tor | ||||||
| Edmonton | 0 | 3 | 3 | ott | buf | atl* | ||||||
| N.Y. Islanders | 0 | 3 | 3 | was | crl | fla | ||||||
| Vancouver | 0 | 3 | 3 | stl | det | col | ||||||
| Columbus | 2 | 0 | 2 | DET | ANA | |||||||
| Philadelphia | 2 | 0 | 2 | OTT | BUF | |||||||
| Phoenix | 2 | 0 | 2 | MTL | DAL | |||||||
| Tampa Bay | 2 | 0 | 2 | MIN | LA | |||||||
| Colorado | 1 | 1 | 2 | chi | VAN | |||||||
| Florida | 1 | 1 | 2 | bos | NYI | |||||||
| N.Y. Rangers | 1 | 1 | 2 | ATL | ott | |||||||
| Dallas | 0 | 2 | 2 | sj | phx |
The Four-Game Conclusion
Looking ahead, four teams play four games during the fantasy week from Nov. 16-22: Florida, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tampa Bay.
| Home | Away | Total | ||||||||||
| Phoenix | 2 | 2 | 4 | TB | min | stl | PHI | |||||
| Florida | 1 | 3 | 4 | LA | buf | det | nyr | |||||
| Philadelphia | 1 | 3 | 4 | NJ | la | sj | phx | |||||
| Tampa Bay | 0 | 4 | 4 | phx | ana | crl | atl | |||||
| Atlanta | 3 | 0 | 3 | BOS | PIT | TB | ||||||
| Nashville | 3 | 0 | 3 | SJ | NJ | CBJ | ||||||
| Ottawa | 3 | 0 | 3 | TOR | PIT | BUF | ||||||
| Anaheim | 2 | 1 | 3 | pit | TB | SJ | ||||||
| Buffalo | 2 | 1 | 3 | FLA | BOS | ott | ||||||
| Calgary | 2 | 1 | 3 | COL | CHI | la* | ||||||
| Carolina | 2 | 1 | 3 | mtl | TOR | TB | ||||||
| Dallas | 2 | 1 | 3 | det | CBJ | NJ | ||||||
| Detroit | 2 | 1 | 3 | DAL | FLA | mtl | ||||||
| Edmonton | 2 | 1 | 3 | cbj | COL | CHI | ||||||
| Los Angeles | 2 | 1 | 3 | fla | PHI | CGY* | ||||||
| Montreal | 2 | 1 | 3 | CRL | was | DET | ||||||
| Boston | 1 | 2 | 3 | NYI | atl | buf | ||||||
| Columbus | 1 | 2 | 3 | EDM | dal | nas | ||||||
| Pittsburgh | 1 | 2 | 3 | ANA | ott | atl | ||||||
| San Jose | 1 | 2 | 3 | nas | PHI | ana | ||||||
| Toronto | 1 | 2 | 3 | ott | crl | WAS | ||||||
| Washington | 1 | 2 | 3 | nyr | MTL | tor | ||||||
| Chicago | 0 | 3 | 3 | cgy | edm | van | ||||||
| Colorado | 0 | 3 | 3 | cgy | edm | van | ||||||
| N.Y. Islanders | 0 | 3 | 3 | bos | min | stl | ||||||
| New Jersey | 0 | 3 | 3 | phi | nas | dal | ||||||
| Minnesota | 2 | 0 | 2 | PHX | NYI | |||||||
| N.Y. Rangers | 2 | 0 | 2 | WAS | FLA | |||||||
| St. Louis | 2 | 0 | 2 | PHX | NYI | |||||||
| Vancouver | 2 | 0 | 2 | COL | CHI |
