Fantasy Hockey: Weekend Streaming Targets – Week 17
Our Weekend Streamers series aims to help you steal your matchup by getting the most value possible out of the limited transactions in your fantasy league. Every Friday, I break down the teams and skaters with the most streamer-friendly schedules over the weekend.
This weekend features four games on Friday, nine on Saturday, and nine on Sunday. All eight teams on Friday’s reduced slate are playing twice this weekend, giving us plenty of streaming options. After combing through the wire, I’ve narrowed down the top options at each ownership range in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues, starting with 40% – 31%. Good luck, and happy streaming!
40% – 31%: JJ Peterka (LW/RW – 35% Owned)
You won’t find a hotter player in the NHL entering this weekend’s action than Peterka, who still remains available in 65% of leagues. Peterka and the Sabres are fresh off a dominant win over the Bruins on Tuesday. Both Peterka and his more celebrated line-mate, Tage Thompson, recorded hat-tricks on Tuesday night. Tagged as one of the top breakout candidates in the pre-season, Peterka endured a slow start to the year, but is finally starting to fulfill the potential he flashed last season.
The 23-year-old winger is producing at a point per game rate over his last 22 games, and the shot volume that made him such an exciting breakout candidate is finally starting to return. Peterka has racked up 14 shots on goal in his last four games alone, tallying four goals and three assists over that span. Forget this weekend, he’s worthy of a long-term spot on your roster so long as he continues to see major minutes alongside Thompson.
30% – 21%: Adam Fantilli (C – 30% Owned)
Like Peterka, Fantilli is another example of a young player in the midst of a breakout that’s worth holding onto for the long-term, and what better time to make room for him on your roster than this weekend. Fantilli was tasked with taking over the reigns for Sean Monahan following the latter’s wrist injury on January 7th, and unsurprisingly, the uber-talented Fantilli looks right at home alongside Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov on the team’s top line. At just 20 years of age, the 2023 third-overall pick is proving that, given the ice time, he is already capable of producing at an elite rate.
Fantilli has 12 points in 11 games since Monahan went down, matching the amount of points registered in that same time span by Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Hughes, Artemi Panarin, and Mitch Marner. If you take a look at the underlying numbers, it’s obvious this recent hot streak is no fluke. Fantilli is firing just under 3 shots a game since his first line promotion, and the Blue Jackets are averaging 27 scoring chances per 60 when Fantilli, Marchenko, and Voronkov are on the ice. If you’re in one of the 70% of leagues where he is still available, you need to do all you can to make room for Fantilli on your roster.
20% – 11%: Kent Johnson (C/LW/RW – 18% owned)
Sticking in Columbus but dropping down to line two, we have another highly-touted young player in Kent Johnson. The fifth-overall selection in 2022, Johnson is in the midst of a breakout season, piling up 14 goals and 18 assists in just 37 games. He’s been particularly hot of late, scoring three goals and adding five assists in his last seven games. A lack of shot volume may limit Johnson’s upside, but his underrated playmaking ability combined with his power-play exposure to the likes of Marchenko, Voronkov, Fantilli, and Zach Werenski still leave him with plenty of potential fantasy value this weekend. He makes for a solid consolation prize if you’re beat to the punch on Fantilli or Peterka.
10% – 0%: Jiri Kulich (C – 2% Owned)
While he may be limited to a spot on the second power-play unit, Kulich is currently occupying that valuable third spot on Buffalo’s top line, centering Thompson and Peterka. The 28th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Kulich has slowly worked his way up the Sabres lineup this season after appearing in just a single game last year. Despite an ATOI of just over 14 minutes a night, the 20-year-old centre has still managed 82 shots on goal in just 36 games. That certainly bodes well for his future production, and we’ve already seen it come to fruition following his recent promotion to the top line.
Kulich has put up five points across his last five games while playing just under 17 minutes a night and averaging over 3 shots a game. Small samples can obviously be misleading at times, but when we’re looking for potential breakout players, these are the kinds of short-term booms in production that you need to pay attention to, especially when we’re scraping the bottom of the free agency barrel. Given his increased role and reliable shot volume, Kulich is certainly worth a roll of the dice this weekend, and is probably only a spot on the top power-play unit away from possessing real season-long value.