Fantasy Hockey 2024-25: Weekly Strength of Schedule and Streaming Targets — Week 4

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 4 – Strength of Schedule

Week 4 Streaming Targets

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets are one of 11 teams with four games this week but have the easiest overall schedule, mostly thanks to mid-week meetings with the Red Wings and Blue Jackets.

Cole Perfetti (C/LW) – 31% Rostered

After being held without a point in the first three games of the season, Perfetti and the Jets’ second line have heated up over the last five games. Perfetti has scored three goals with six assists (nine points) and 13 shots on goal. This production looks wildly unsustainable long-term, but it’s worth riding the hot hand for another week with a few cushy matchups on tap. Perfetti has a 15.8 SH%, a 20.3 on-ice SH% and WPG2 has averaged just 1.5 xGF/60 and 22.1 SCF/60. So he’s going to cool off, but hopefully not this week.

Gabe Vilardi (C/RW) – 22% Rostered

Vilardi’s performance has been disappointing, but there’s still plenty of hope for better days ahead. He’s still skating on the top line and top power-play unit, and WPG1 has scored just 1.05 GF/60 while generating 2.47 xGF/60. Vilardi’s also missing the net more frequently than he did in years past, so his shot volume should start to improve. The 25-year-old plays a lot (18:40 ATOI) in all the key situations and has the highest upside of all the Jets streamers this week.

Nino Niederreiter (LW/RW) – 14% Rostered

Niederreiter enters the week riding a four-game point streak, scoring four goals with two assists (six points) during that stretch. Unlike Perfetti and WPG2, Niederreiter, Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton have great underlying numbers and should continue to have success moving forward. They’re averaging 3.7 xGF/60 and 32.4 SCF/60. Niederreiter plays more than Perfetti and sees similar PP2 deployment, so he might be the second-best Winnipeg streamer this week.

New York Islanders

The Islanders also have four games this week and the second-easiest schedule overall. Their week starts out great with games against the Ducks, Blue Jackets and Sabres but finishes with a rough matchup against the Rangers.

Kyle Palmieri (RW) – 16% Rostered

Palmieri won’t be a season-long asset but he will pop up on this streamer series a lot this season. When the schedule lines up right, Palmieri is always a strong option and is rarely over 20 percent rostered. Palmieri has two goals and two assists in his last two games and seven points (4G / 3A) in seven games this season. What always makes Palmieri an attractive streaming option is his consistent usage (17:54 ATOI) and great shot volume (2.9 SOG/gm).

Anders Lee (LW) – 12% Rostered

I didn’t think I would be writing about 34-year-old Anders Lee this season, but here we are. Lee’s shot volume has been insane to start the season. He’s averaging 4.3 SOG/gm and is currently 11th in the NHL in SOG (34). With that kind of shot volume, he will find the back of the net with enough regularity to be a viable streaming target this season.

Maxim Tsyplakov (RW) – 4% Rostered

Tsyplakov has been skating on the Islanders’ second line with Palmieri and Brock Nelson, and the trio has been great so far. They’re averaging 3.6 xGF/60 and 33.2 SCF/60, which has led to five points (1G / 4A) in eight games for Tsyplakov. The 26-year-old first-year NHLer has been playing big minutes (17:21 ATOI) and is also seeing power-play time, although he’s yet to record a power-play point. He’s an excellent streaming target in banger leagues, averaging 2.5 hits per game.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken are on an east-coast road trip this week, playing in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Boston. That makes up the third-best strength of schedule for the week.

Jordan Eberle (RW) – 15% Rostered

The Kraken’s ice time and scoring are usually pretty spread out, but Eberle has been one of their most consistent producers this season. The veteran winger has six goals and two assists (eight points) in nine games. While the 55-goal pace is obviously impressive, he’s shooting a league-high 40.0 percent, so don’t expect it to continue. Still, Eberle’s on-ice xGF/60 (3.2) and SCF/60 (30.0) suggest he’ll be around enough scoring chances to remain viable for at least another week.

Matty Beniers (C) – 14% Rostered

Beniers doesn’t have the same level of production as Eberle so far, but he’s the better streaming target. Beniers, who has five points (2G / 3A) in nine games, has been shooting the puck more than he has in year’s past. Coming into this season, he averaged 1.8 SOG and 3.5 shot attempts per game; this year, he’s averaging 2.3 SOG and 3.8 SA per game. Both Beniers and Eberle are on the top line and top power-play unit in Seattle, so they’ll have as good of usage as you’ll find on the waiver wire this week.