Fantasy hockey

Fantasy hockey is a game that has been around for decades and is played by millions of people. It’s also one of the most popular sports in North America, with an estimated 10 million players.

Fantasy hockey is a game where you draft and play with players from the NHL. It’s like fantasy football, but for ice hockey. You can find out how to play on ESPN.

Anton Forsberg is on pace for 745 fantasy points, while Andrei Vasilevskiy is on pace for minus-168. It’s the early stages of a fantasy hockey season, and every single statistic has much more power to try to influence you than it should.

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Vasilevskiy will be OK, and Forsberg will not be a world champion. Carter Hutton isn’t going to be allowing eight goals a game for the Arizona Coyotes… That is, in fact, a possibility. However, there is currently no need to be concerned about any of your forecasts or rostered players. As of this writing, we haven’t even seen seven NHL clubs on the field, and we won’t see four of them until Saturday.

The New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and Minnesota Wild make their first appearances on Friday, followed by the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, and San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

There are a few important things to keep an eye on from the teams who have yet to take the ice:

• Is Taylor Hall going to play on the top power-play unit to make it unstoppable, or will he be used to bolster the Bruins’ second unit? If they go with the latter, there will be a guy worth watching on the top unit (Nick Foligno?).

• Is Rasmus Andersson set to remain the Flames’ sole power-play quarterback once again, or will Noah Hanifin be given a chance?

• Will Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes lead the Devils’ finest offensive line? Is any of them up to the task of fantasy?

• Is Derick Brassard, who plays on the Flyers’ second line alongside Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson, deserving of any fantasy attention?

• With Ivan Provorov, Ryan Ellis, and Keith Yandle as possibilities, how do the Flyers divide up power-play quarterback duties?

• With so many chances on the table, can Jonathan Dahlen and/or William Eklund break through on the Sharks offense?

• On a Blues team that spreads offense three lines deep, who will be the most productive fantasy player?

2 Related

While we won’t be able to answer those questions conclusively from a one- or two-game sample over the next few days, we can get a better sense of deployment. It’s important to remember that everything that happened before the regular season began was simply guesswork about how the players would line up. In terms of fantasy evaluation, here is where the rubber meets the road.

Just remember not to overreact to the tiny samples.

From October 18 to October 24, the Fantasy Forecaster will be available.

The Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, and St. Louis Blues all have four-game weeks planned.

The Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and Vegas Golden Knights are all playing three games at home.

You can avoid the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators, and Tampa Bay Lightning with just two games on the schedule. Start your superstars here, but don’t go too deep in the lineup.

Team	Gms	Ratings	Mon 10/18	Tue 10/19	Wed 10/20	Thu 10/21	Fri 10/22	Sat 10/23	Sun 10/24
	4	1 3	@CGY 1 3	@EDM 1 2	OFF	@WPG 1 3	OFF	@MIN 1 3	OFF
	3	4 1	STL 5 4	OFF	OFF	EDM 5 3	OFF	NYI 1 3	OFF
	3	9 8	OFF	OFF	@PHI 10 7	OFF	@BUF 8 9	OFF	SJ 9 9
	3	5 4	OFF	VAN 5 5	OFF	OFF	BOS 2 3	@NJ 6 6	OFF
	3	7 8	ANA 9 10	OFF	OFF	@DET 7 10	OFF	@WSH 6 4	OFF
	2	7 6	OFF	OFF	OFF	@MTL 9 9	OFF	@CLS 10 9	OFF
	3	6 3	OFF	NYI 3 1	OFF	VAN 8 3	OFF	OFF	DET 7 7
	3	8 8	OFF	@WSH 8 7	OFF	@FLA 8 9	OFF	@TB 7 8	OFF
	3	3 1	OFF	@DET 5 7	OFF	NYI 1 2	OFF	CAR 1 1	OFF
	2	4 2	OFF	@PIT 4 5	OFF	OFF	LA 7 6	OFF	OFF
	4	4 6	OFF	CLS 4 5	OFF	CGY 1 4	OFF	@MTL 2 5	@CHI 4 4
	3	7 6	OFF	ANA 9 9	OFF	@ARI 8 6	@VGS 4 4	OFF	OFF
	3	5 5	OFF	@TB 4 6	OFF	COL 2 4	OFF	@PHI 8 6	OFF
	3	5 5	OFF	@NSH 4 6	OFF	OFF	@DAL 4 4	@STL 5 5	OFF
	3	7 7	OFF	WPG 7 6	OFF	OFF	OFF	ANA 9 10	NSH 6 7
	3	5 6	OFF	SJ 7 7	OFF	CAR 1 2	OFF	DET 5 9	OFF
	4	6 7	OFF	LA 5 6	OFF	NYR 4 5	OFF	@WPG 4 5	@MIN 3 5
	3	3 4	OFF	SEA 1 7	OFF	WSH 3 1	OFF	BUF 5 5	OFF
	4	10 10	OFF	@CHI 10 8	OFF	@CLS 10 9	OFF	@ARI 9 10	@VGS 4 7
	3	6 6	@TOR 7 6	OFF	OFF	@NSH 6 7	OFF	@OTT 5 7	OFF
	2	4 4	OFF	OFF	OFF	SJ 6 8	OFF	NYR 4 6	OFF
	3	4 4	SEA 2 7	OFF	BOS 4 2	OFF	OFF	FLA 5 4	OFF
	2	5 4	OFF	DAL 7 6	OFF	OFF	OFF	TOR 8 7	OFF
	3	6 5	@ARI 7 6	OFF	@VGS 3 4	OFF	OFF	LA 6 6	OFF
	4	5 6	OFF	@MTL 5 4	OFF	@OTT 2 5	@TOR 4 4	OFF	@BOS 2 3
	3	4 9	@PHI 4 9	@NJ 4 10	OFF	OFF	OFF	VAN 3 10	OFF
	2	3 3	OFF	FLA 6 7	OFF	OFF	OFF	COL 3 4	OFF
	3	6 5	NYR 5 5	OFF	OFF	OFF	SJ 8 7	@PIT 3 4	OFF
	3	6 6	OFF	@BUF 7 6	OFF	@CHI 8 4	OFF	@SEA 1 8	OFF
	3	6 7	OFF	OFF	STL 8 8	OFF	EDM 8 6	OFF	NYI 3 6
	3	7 5	OFF	COL 4 3	OFF	@NJ 10 7	OFF	CGY 7 5	OFF
	3	6 7	OFF	@MIN 5 5	OFF	ANA 8 10	OFF	NSH 5 6	OFF

Here are some explanations for people unfamiliar with the forecaster chart: The “O” (offense) and “D” (defense) matchup ratings for each game are based on a scale of 1 (poor matchup) to 10 (excellent matchup) and are calculated using a formula that considers the team’s season-to-date statistics, their performance in home/road games depending on where the game will be played, as well as their opponents’ numbers in those categories. The “Ratings” column shows the overall rating of the offensive (“O”) and defensive (“D”) matches for that week, ranging from 1 to 10.

Notes from the group

Anaheim Ducks: While Mason McTavish had a strong NHL debut, expectations should be kept in check until he progresses up the depth chart. For the time being, he’s on the third line and second power-play unit. Trevor Zegras is in a better position to thrive in this situation, skating alongside Rickard Rakell and Adam Henrique while also playing on the first power-play unit. However, if Zegras fails to take off, McTavish may be promoted. The Ducks play four road games next week in Western Canada and Minnesota, so Zegras, Rakell, and Henrique are all attractive short-term buys in shallow leagues, where they should all be available.

Detroit Red Wings: Just because this is the first season since 2018-19 that you haven’t made sure Tyler Bertuzzi is on all of your fantasy teams and he had a four-goal night doesn’t mean you should be sad (I keep telling myself). However, Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin are rostered in the majority of leagues, so adding them to your team for no reason is out of the question. However, by adding Lucas Raymond to your roster, you may still acquire a piece of them. On Thursday, the exciting youngster was the third member of the top line, and now that Jakub Vrana is out, he should be able to remain there for a while. Raymond has lots of time to establish himself as a fantasy regular. The Red Wings will play four games next week, two of which will be at home. On defense, now is the moment to bring in Raymond, as well as Nick Leddy and/or Moritz Seider (choice is between whether you like to gamble on veteran presence or rookie upside for that one).

Every night throughout the season, Barry Melrose and Linda Cohn will provide a postgame analysis and highlight program. ESPN+ is the place to be.

New York Islanders: While Ryan Pulock will continue to be a fantasy asset in ESPN settings due to hits and blocked shots, Noah Dobson was on the blue line for the Isles’ power play on Thursday. While the Islanders’ man advantage conversion percentage is unlikely to be among the best in the league, there should be enough chances for Dobson’s statistical profile to become fantasy relevant. While the Islanders will be on the road for all four games next week, one of them will be against the Arizona Coyotes. If things go as planned, it may be too late to acquire Dobson by this time next week.

Notes from the players

Jake Bean of the Columbus Blue Jackets is a defenseman. Meet Zach Werenski’s new defense partner, who made his Blue Jackets debut with a goal, plus-3 rating, and four shots in 19:37 of ice time. Bean is a late-season sleeper after being a highly regarded Carolina Hurricanes prospect who never rose through the levels. Because much of the lineup popped off against the Coyotes on Thursday, it’s difficult to tell where to look for value, but Bean is in a position to thrive in the long run.

Edmonton Oilers’ W Jesse Puljujarvi: I can’t guarantee the Oilers will keep Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line for the foreseeable future, but they are now, and Puljujarvi is the third member of the line. At this time, he should be on every single league’s squad.

Los Angeles Kings, Vladimir Tkachev, W: Tkachev was down the depth chart at even strength, but on Thursday he was the fourth forward on the Kings’ top power-play unit, picking up two assists in the process.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Michael Bunting (W): After Auston Matthews’ wrist heals, it’s difficult to predict how the lines will play out, but the best bet is that Matthews will rejoin a line with Mitchell Marner and Nick Ritchie, with John Tavares returning to William Nylander’s side. That line now consists of Nylander, Alexander Kerfoot, and Bunting. Now that Ilya Mikheyev is sidelined for eight weeks, I’m betting on Bunting to take his place in the starting lineup.

Hits that happen quickly

• It’s just one game, but if Shayne Gostisbehere continues to receive twice as much power-play time as Jakob Chychrun, the Ghost Bear’s value will skyrocket while Chychrun’s will plummet.

• Jesperi Kotkaniemi made his Hurricanes debut on the second line alongside Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas. It’s probably just something to keep an eye on for now, given the roster’s plenty of scoring alternatives. Most people didn’t think he’d make the top six, so it’s a pleasant surprise.

• This season, ESPN.com asked us to predict division winners and player honors. I’m tempted to withdraw my Charlie McAvoy Norris Trophy vote after watching Aaron Ekblad play almost 28 minutes of ice time, six minutes on the power play, and score two even-strength goals on Thursday.

• If Mark Stone (undisclosed) is out for an extended period of time, Evgenii Dadonov makes a good short-term replacement on the Vegas Golden Knights’ top line.

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