John’s List

If you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you’re undoubtedly familiar with “John’s List” – John’s shit list of players past and present. We throw in the occasional Commissioner, GM, Coach, or newsworthy topic from around the hockey world. 

Yanni Gourde, Steve Kozari, Corey Perry

Fantasy Lock Of The Week:

🔥Stuart Skinner, G, EDM 89% Rostered (Yahoo), 97% Rostered (Fantrax)

Source: NHL Public Relations – Stuart Skinner improved to 10-0-0 in his last 10 appearances and tied franchise icon Grant Fuhr (10 GP in 1985-86) for the longest winning streak in Edmonton Oilers history! 1.49 GAA, .947 SV%, 12.64 GSAx and 1 Shutout.

Honorable Mention this week is: 

Edge Work | NHL Schedule – Week 16

The segment where we put in the work to give you the EDGE in your fantasy hockey leagues! Each week the Hacks will cover the NHL Schedule and Waiver Wire Targets to guide you to victory. 

Need To Know: 

Week 16, the schedule is back to normal this week, 3 full days and 4 light days (50% or fewer NHL teams in action). There are a total of 51 games on the schedule this week, With Tuesday(9), Thursday(9) and Saturday(14) being the full days on the schedule. The remaining light days of the week have 4 games or less.  

In terms of attempting to optimize the schedule for games played, 8 teams play 4 games next week. Of those teams Los Angeles plays all 4 of their games on light days and Florida & St. Louis play three of their 4 games on light days. Also of note, Seattle plays all 3 of their games on light days.

The teams to fade this week are COL & TOR as they only play 2 games

• Monday – 6 Games
• Tuesday – 9 Games
• Wednesday – 7 Games
• Thursday – 9 Games
• Friday – 4 Games
• Saturday – 14 Games
• Sunday – 2 Games

Teams With 4 Games: ARI, BOS, CBJ, CHI, FLA, LA, STL and VGK

Teams With 3 Games: ANA, BUF, CAR, CGY, DAL, DET, EDM, MIN, MTL, NJ, NSH, NYI, NYR, OTT, PHI, PIT, SJ, SEA, TB, VAN, WPG and WSH

Teams With 2 Games:  COL & TOR

Teams With 1 Game: N/A

Edge Work | NHL Waiver Wire Targets For Week 16

Waiver wire targets will be focused on players that are rostered in ~50% or less of Yahoo (or Fantrax) leagues. When considering players to target, we review recent performance, player deployment, upcoming schedule and more.  

Forwards

🎯 Warren Foegele (LW), EDM

Rostered: 5% Yahoo (16% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.CBJ, Vs.CHI, Vs.NSH) | Line: 2 (w/ Leon Draisaitl & Evander Kane) 

Warren Foegele has really impressed of late, and is now playing at a career-best pace of 47 points over a full 82-game season. 13 points (5 goals) over his last 12 games and a role on the second line with Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane is far too intriguing to pass up.  

🎯 Wyatt Johnston (C), DAL

Rostered: 21% Yahoo (67% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@DET, Vs.ANA, Vs.WSH) | Line: 1 (w/ Jason Robertson & Roope Hintz, PP2)

Wyatt Johnston is fortunate enough to find himself on the Stars top line, riding shotgun next to Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz! Johnston appears ready to improve on his impressive rookie season and is currently on-pace for 51 points with 7 points (4 goals) over his last 10 contests. 

🎯 Owen Tippett (LW/RW), PHI

Rostered: 66% Yahoo (82% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.TB, @DET, Vs.BOS) | Line: 1 (w/ Sean Couturier & Travis Konecney, PP1) 

Owen Tippett is currently listed as DTD after leaving Saturday’s matchup with the Colorado Avalanche, but his recent performance is worth noting, especially if he happens to be available in your league. 8 points (6 goals) in his last 7 games played, and is averaging nearly 4.5 SOG/GM! First-line, first PP unit; assuming the injury is just a minor one, Tippett’s percentage of ownership should continue to climb. UPDATE: According to Kevin Kurz (The Athletic), Tippett was walking around fine after the game; could just be a mild ankle sprain. 

🎯 Logan O’Connor (RW), COL

Rostered: 6% Yahoo (17% Fantrax) | GP: 2 (Vs.WSH, Vs.LAK) | Line: 2 (w/ Ross Colton & Miles Wood) 

11 points (6 goals) in his last 10 games, playing in the top 6 for the Avalanche. O’Connor’s nearly 16% iSH% is a career-high though, so expect the offense to cool at some point. Luckily for the Avs forward, his role is all but guaranteed due to personnel issues.

🎯 Sean Monahan (C), MTL

Rostered: 16% Yahoo (49% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.OTT, Vs.NYI, @PIT) | Line: 3 (w/ Joshua Roy & Joel Armia, PP1) 

Sean Monahan is having a really solid season for the Montreal Canadiens, playing at a 56-point pace through 46 games to date this season. 10 points (2 goals) in his last 10 games, Monahan is a trade target for many contenders around the league and should be on fantasy managers radars as well. At 56% on draws this season and 66% PP Share, Monahan could help a lot of fantasy rosters, particularly in deeper leagues. 

ALSO: Philip Danault, LAK (26%/44% – mentioned on Hacks Hangout, productive and 4 games this week); Sam Bennett, FLA (28%/58% – Centering Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk. 8 points, 5 goals and 1.3 Hits/GM in his last 10 games. 4 games this week). 

Defensemen

🎯 Brock Faber (D), MIN

Rostered: 46% Yahoo (68% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.WSH, Vs.NSH, Vs.ANA) | Pair: 1 (w/ Jonas Brodin, PP1) 

We’ve talked plenty about Minnesota Wild rookie Brock Faber; HOWEVER, at 46% rostered the window to pick up a first-pairing stud D-man is quickly closing. With a 3-point (3 PPP, 1 PPG) performance in 25:33 TOI on Friday (6:25 PPTOI, 80.2% PP Share) and another 2-point effort on Sunday, Faber now has 11 points (1 G) in his last 9 contests! Averaging nearly 25 minutes per game and on-pace for 48 points over a full season, the rookie blueliner should not be this widely available.  

🎯 Cam Fowler (D), ANA

Rostered: 31% Yahoo (49% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.BUF, @DAL, @MIN) | Pair: 1 (w/ Ilya Lyubushkin, PP1) 

With Jamie Drysdale now in Philadelphia and Pavel Mintyukov on injured reserve, there aren’t a ton of options on the Anaheim blue line. Cam Fowler is averaging 24:37 TOI since January 1st, and more recently has been given a larger role on the PP (69% PP Share on January 16th). Fowler has not been rewarded with a ton of offense at this point with just 3 points in his last 9 games, but the deployment is ideal.

🎯 Esa Lindell (D), DAL

Rostered: 10% Yahoo (23% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@DET, Vs.ANA, Vs.WSH) | Pair: 1 (w/ Jani Hakanpaa) 

Esa Lindell has benefited from the Miro Heiskanen injury, and over his last 7 appearances has produced 6 points while playing nearly 21 minutes per game on the first pairing. 2.42 Blocks/GM and nearly 1 Hit/GM in January.  

ALSO: Colton Parayko, STL (19%/36% – top pairing alongside Nick Leddy, 3 points and 1 goal in his last 5 contests, but an excellent option for category coverage – 2.6 Blks/GM, .7 Hits/GM, and 2.1 SOG/GM while averaging over 24 minutes per night over his last 10 games. Additionally, 4 games this week with 3 of them occurring on off-nights). 

Goaltenders

🎯 Samuel Ersson (G), PHI

Rostered: 38% Yahoo (45% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.STL, Vs.CBJ, Vs.CHI) | Role: Tandem

In 7 appearances prior to Saturday night, Samuel Ersson posted a 4-1-1 record with a 1.63 GAA and .936 SV%. Ersson has been alternating starts with Carter Hart, but has been the more consistent of the two so far this season. Shockingly, Philadelphia sits second in the Metropolitan with a 25-15-6 record, so any share of the crease you can grab should be a boost to your fantasy squad. 

🎯 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G), BUF

Rostered: 39% Yahoo (56% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@ANA, @LAK, @SJS) | Role: Starter

5 consecutive starts for the Sabres has UPL the starter for Buffalo, at least for the time being. That said, since December 30th Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been stellar, posting a 5-2-0 record with a 1.29 GAA, .948 SV%, 7.7 GSAA and 2 shutouts! ALSO: Laurent Brossoit, WPG (16% Yahoo/Fantrax). Limited starts for the former Oiler, but since December 1st Laurent Brossoit has posted 6 quality starts, a 5-1-0 record, 1.51 GAA and .952 SV%! It’s conceivable that the Jets may rest Hellebuyck a little bit down the stretch and Winnipeg’s backup has been excellent when called upon.