Fantasy Hockey 2024-25: Weekly Strength of Schedule and Streaming Targets — Week 17
Identifying the players with four games each week and filling your roster with those players can increase your chances of winning your fantasy hockey matchup. That’s why our Weekly Schedule tool is so helpful!
I combined that weekly schedule with a Team Defense Score I created using key defensive metrics to find which teams/skaters have the best schedule this week.
How it Works:
- Team Defensive Ratings are given on a scale of 0-100, with 0 being the best possible defensive team and 100 being the worst.
- SCORE: The sum of all the Defensive Ratings the team will face this week.
- AVG Opponent: The Average Defensive Ratings that the team will face this week.
- The strength of the Schedule is determined by the sum of defensive ratings because we want players who play the most games but also have the easiest matchups.
- Light Nights: A night in the NHL with eight or fewer games.
Week 17 – Strength of Schedule
Week 17 Streaming Targets
The NHL schedule is very balanced this week, meaning you shouldn’t have full lineups on most nights, making Light Nights essentially irrelevant.
Calgary Flames
The Flames are a heavy focus this week because they have by far the best schedule overall and almost their entire forward group is available on the waiver wire. Their week starts off with a difficult matchup vs. the red-hot Logan Thompson, but gets much easier from there with meetings vs. Anaheim, Detroit and Seattle.
Jonathan Huberdeau (C/LW) – 42% Rostered)
Since the Christmas break, Huberdeau has led the Flames with six goals and is second on the team with 11 points. After a disappointing couple of seasons to start his Flames career, Huberdeau has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in 2024-25. He’s been a point-per-game player over his last 24 games, posting 12 goals and 12 assists (24 points), tied for 48th in the NHL during that stretch. He’s developed a nice rapport with Nazem Kadri on the Flames’ top line and is also on their top PP unit.
Blake Coleman (C/LW/RW – 37% Rostered)
Coleman probably isn’t available in banger leagues, but he’s a fine option in standard leagues this week, especially points leagues. He has a solid floor thanks to strong shot volume (8.1 SOG/60 since Christmas) and enters the week with 15 points (5G / 10A) in his last 19 games. Since the break, Coleman has led the Flames in ixG (5.6), Scoring Chances (43), and high-danger chances (22).
Yegor Sharangovich (C/LW/RW – 15% Rostered)
Sharangovich has started to heat up recently, scoring three goals with four assists (seven points) in his last seven games. He plays on the Flames third line, but he’s used in all situations, so he still has strong usage (16:41 ATOI during that stretch). He’s on the top PP unit but only has one PP point in his last 10 games.
Mikael Backlund (C/LW – 13% Rostered)
Backlund is typically a reliable streaming option, but his offence has dried up recently, scoring just three goals with one assist (four points) in his last 13 games. Still, since Christmas he’s third on the Flames in Shot Attempts (73) and Scoring Chances (37), while ranking fifth in ixG (4.1) and High-Danger Chances (12).
Matt Coronato (RW – 5% Rostered)
Coronato was hot before the break, with seven points in six games heading into Christmas. Since then, he has just six points (2G / 4A) in his last 14 games. Most of that can be blamed on his 5.1 SH%, so positive regression could set in this week. He’s tied for the team lead in Shot Attempts (82) and is second in Scoring Chances (38) in those 14 games.
Jakob Pelletier (C/LW – 1% Rostered)
Pelletier may be the hottest player on the team over the last couple of weeks. The 23-year-old has six points (3G / 3A) in his last seven games and has earned himself a promotion to the top line with Kadri and Huberdeau. His shot volume will make it difficult to maintain his recent pace, but he’s a sneaky deep banger-league target, averaging nearly two hits per game during that stretch.
Seattle Kraken
The Kraken have the second-best schedule of the week, and similar to the Flames, almost their entire forward group is available on the wire.
Jaden Schwartz (C/LW – 15% Rostered)
Since the Christmas break, Schwartz has led the way for the Kraken, scoring seven goals with six assists (13 points) in 14 games. During that time, he leads the team in shots (40), six (6.0), and high-danger chances (21). Schwartz gets to the dirty areas of the ice more than anyone else on the Kraken roster and is by far their best streaming option this week.
Kaapo Kakko (RW – 15% Rostered)
Kakko has been excellent since arriving in Seattle. He has four goals and 10 assists (14 points) in 17 games with Seattle, exactly matching his production from the first 30 games of the season with New York. He’s seen a 3:32 bump in TOI since the trade and has formed a strong relationship with Matty Beniers and Schwartz on the top line. You’d like to see more shot volume out of Kakko, but that line has done a nice job of generating high-danger looks.
Chandler Stephenson (C – 13% Rostered)
Scooping Stephenson will be more of a heat check than anything. He’s been a point-per-game player in January, posting five goals and seven assists (12 points) in 12 games, but he’s relied on a 35.7 SH% and 15.2 on-ice SH%. Given his poor underlying metrics, I don’t think this run is very sustainable, but he has more points than any other Kraken skater during that time.
Matty Beniers (C – 12% Rostered)
Since adding Kakko, Beneirs has taken off, scoring seven goals with three assists (10 points) in his last 15 games. He was goalless in his previous 18 games. As previously stated, that line has done a nice job generating high-quality looks, which is why Beniers ranks second on the team in ixG (4.0) and first on the team in Scoring Chances (40) since the break.