2024-25 Fantasy Hockey Week 9 Primer And Pickups: Green Light On Blue Jackets

After a hectic Thanksgiving week, things are slowing down. The big news this week will be the announcement of the rosters for Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off in February on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

The newest episode of the Sleepers and Keepers podcast, published at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET on Mondays will feature picks for Team Canada made by myself, co-host Michael Amato and producer Connor Somerville. There were some differing opinions and strategies, so if you're curious who we picked for Canada - I made picks for USA, too - go ahead and take a listen!

The big fantasy takeaway from Week 8, along with the return of key players from injury, such as Auston Matthews, was the aggressive (careless?) use of goalies in back-to-back games.

It's funny that with all the talk about tandems and load management in this era, several teams opted to not use their goalie depth in back-to-backs. In Week 7, Utah decided not to start Jaxson Stauber and played Karel Vejmelka in a back-to-back.

On Saturday morning, the Avs and Preds swapped backup goalies Justus Annunen and Scott Wedgewood. The trade in itself made sense - the Avs needed a more reliable veteran presence, and the Preds got a younger goalie with more potential - but the timing was awful.

(This trade would've probably been unnecessary had the Preds kept Yaroslav Askarov and named him the backup rather than signing Wedgewood, but I digress...)

The Avs and Preds were both playing back-to-back that day with travel, and ended up being forced to start Alexandar Georgiev and Juuse Saros in both games. Goaltending wasn't the sole factor in the outcome, but it's noteworthy both the Avs and Preds lost on Saturday.

The Canes did something similar starting Spencer Martin on back-to-backs, only to see him get pulled in the second game and yield to Yaniv Perets, their fourth-string option.

The takeaway is that we shouldn't take the usage of backups for granted anymore in anticipation of back-to-backs. There are teams that trust their goaltending depth, but there are teams that obviously don't. Don't waste your waiver wire pickup on a goalie unless you're certain they're starting.

Anyway, Week 9 has comparatively fewer back-to-backs so that shouldn't be a big issue this week. Only seven teams will play four times while three will play twice.

There are some interesting plays later in the week, such as the Sens and Flyers, who play their three games in four days from Thursday to Sunday, and Utah, who play Monday but take the rest of the week off before a weekend back-to-back. If you're falling behind early in the week, these are the type of teams with packed schedules later in the week that you should target.

Schedule

Pick players from teams at the top of the schedule matrix to maximize games and matchups. Green is good. Red is bad. All advanced stats courtesy naturalstatrick.com. All positions and rostered percentages are courtesy of Yahoo Fantasy. Points percentages are as of Saturday.

Season-long adds

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Jake DeBrusk, LW/RW, VAN (50% rostered)

With a hat-trick performance Sunday against the Wings, DeBrusk is now on pace to set career highs. The key factor here is linemate Elias Pettersson, who now has 16 points in his past 11 games after a slow start in October. If DeBrusk is ever moved off Pettersson's wing, which I doubt even when J.T. Miller returns, his fantasy value obviously takes a nosedive.

Kirill Marchenko, RW, CLB (49% rostered)
Sean Monahan, C, CLB (43% rostered)

Just note that nearly all the Jackets forwards are criminally under-rostered in fantasy. Marchenko's goal Sunday against the Hawks - Monahan popped one, too - now gives Marchenko seven points in his past five games, and you can't argue against L1/PP1 deployment. Make no mistake, these Jackets can score.

Nazem Kadri, C, CGY (48% rostered)

I've been getting a lot of questions about Kadri (and Vincent Trocheck) this season and in both cases I preach patience. Both centers are coming off big seasons and offer really good value in the peripherals, but neither have been scoring. That's changed; Kadri has scored three goals in four games. Though the Flames have lost four in a row, the important thing is Kadri's production has finally started to roll in after severely underperforming his expected goals at 5-on-5, per naturalstattrick.com.

Will Cuylle, LW, NYR (39% rostered)

I've watched enough of Cuylle to feel confident that he should be rostered for the rest of the season. Not only is he getting consistent minutes now, he's actually producing, too, with five points in his past four games. He adds shots and hits, on a struggling team riddled with trade rumors, he seems to be one of the few players who's safe from trade, indicating how highly the Rangers think of him and how well he's been playing.

Mid-term holds

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Fabian Zetterlund, LW/RW, SJ (46% rostered)
William Eklund, LW, SJ (24% rostered)

The Sharks' recent scoring surge has been really impressive, but I like the way they've been aggressive in swapping scoring chances recently. This bodes will for both Zetterlund and Eklund's fantasy values, who are centered by Macklin Celebrini.

I'm not sure this scoring binge will last, but there's no doubt they have the talent. Even if the Sharks are a bottom feeder, their ability to score goals is more important in fantasy. Zetterlund offers more shots but Eklund's PP1 role is much more attractive, so it depends on your league settings if you had to choose only one.

Logan Cooley, C, UTA (40% rostered)

I'm not sold on Cooley's potential in redraft leagues, but certainly he has a ton of keeper value. He's been one of the league's best performers with a five-game points streak. Utah's offense ebbs and flows because they're young and still inconsistent, but Cooley may be useful as a pickup on Friday with weekend back-to-back.

Bryan Rust, RW, PIT (32% rostered)

Perhaps I owe a mea culpa for being down on Rust, though I sincerely think the Pens are a bad team. After moving back onto Sidney Crosby's line, where he usually plays, Rust has scored four points in his past three games. He offers shots and a decent amount of hits.

Pavel Dorofeyev, LW/RW, VEG (26% rostered)

Dorofeyev has scored five points in his past six games after scoring just one goal in his prior five games. Such is the life of a talented but inexperienced scoring winger, and the return of Victor Olofsson adds competition to minutes on the wing. For now, Dorofeyev remains a top-six winger and offers plenty of shots and offensive upside.

Kent Johnson, C, CLB (19% rostered)
Dmitry Voronkov, LW, CLB (15% rostered)

The only reason I don't have Johnson as a rest-of-season add is because even I can't believe his current scoring pace, and I'm a huge fan. He's up to four goals and seven points in five games since returning from injury, shooting an absurd 31.6 percent!

Voronkov's in a similar boat, who's shooting a slightly less absurd 21 percent. He's up to 10 points in 13 games and managed to stick with Monahan and Marchenko on L1 and PP1.

I have zero doubt that Voronkov and (especially) Johnson will slow down, but it's hard to deny the trajectory Johnson's on this season even prior to his injury. A couple more weeks like this, or even scoring at a slightly lower pace, will push Johnson and/or Voronkov into must-add territory.

Philip Broberg, D, STL (17% rostered)

It flew under the radar, but note Broberg is back. He was excellent prior to his injury and skated 24:08 on Saturday against the Flyers, registering three shots and a hit. He's a low-risk option for some decent upside on a team that looks a little more invigorated under Jim Montgomery.

Alex Vlasic, D, CHI (6% rostered)

If you're looking for 'D,' I'd again highlight Vlasic, who has three power-play assists in his past five games. Taking over for Seth Jones, Vlasic's a low-upside offensive threat but his scoring pace has picked up with his new role. Along with his usual diet of blocks, he can be a serviceable mid-term option.

Jared Spurgeon, D, MIN (5% rostered)

Interesting decision by the Wild to play Spurgeon on PP1. Brock Faber's not your prototypical PP QB, which is why I can see the Wild going back to Spurgeon, but he's now scored four points in two games. Normally, Spurgeon's an afterthought in fantasy, but with more minutes in the offensive zone, he's an intriguing option.

David Rittich, G, LA (27% rostered)

Not sure when Darcy Kuemper's slated to return, and it's been kind of quiet regarding updates. As long as Kuemper's out, Rittich's the No. 1. Just be wary of the occasional blowout loss.

John Gibson, G, ANA (21% rostered)

Gibson's been impressive this season and looks as good as he ever has in years. Interesting the Ducks started Gibson in consecutive games on two separate occasions over the past two weeks, and we're probably looking at a timeshare. If Gibson continues this pace, he can be a great source of saves.

Short-term streamers

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Nick Schmaltz, C/RW, UTA (21% rostered)

Schmaltz has been a bit of a darling in niche fantasy leagues because of his attractive possession metrics and scoring pace. Very quietly, he's one of those players who ends up scoring more points that you'd think. After scoring 17 assists but zero (!) goals in 23 games this season, he potted his first two goals in a 6-0 victory over Vegas.

Sometimes, when a goal-scoring drought is snapped, it ends up coming in bunches. Schmaltz is still a long way off from his career shooting percentage, and my hunch is he's going to score a lot more goals in the coming days and weeks.

Ryan Donato, C/LW/RW, CHI (15% rostered)

Consider Donato the king of peripherals in multi-category leagues with triple-position eligibility. His fantasy value is a lot more attractive as the Hawks 2C, and he's scored four points in three games to go with it.

The Hawks actually stuck with the same lineup for three straight games - shocking, I know - so that at least gives some hope that Donato's fantasy value has some lasting power. Once Donato is moved off his current spot, his fantasy value will drop.

Ville Husso, G, DET (1% rostered)

I have zero trust in Husso, but note Cam Talbot left Sunday's game against the Canucks with an injury, pressing Husso into action. He allowed three goals on 18 shots (.833 SP) and was tagged with the loss. With Alex Lyon not expected to travel on their upcoming two-game road trip, we will very likely see Husso again.

Honorable mention:

Matthew Knies, LW, TOR (40% rostered)
Adam Gaudette, C, OTT (11% rostered)
Will Smith, C, SJ (7% rostered)