2024-25 Fantasy Hockey Week 6 Primer And Pickups: John Gibson Returns, And Opportunities For Nicolas Roy And Jonathan Lekkerimaki

Are the Winnipeg Jets for real? With a historic 14-1-0 start, they're by far the league's best team. They had an easy schedule to start the season but over the past week they've defeated the 2020 and 2021 champion Lightning, the 2022 champion Avalanche, and last season's Central Division champion and 2023 and 2024 conference finalist Stars.

The road gets really hard from here. While they are ranked at the top of the list among the 20 teams that play three times this week, they have one of the hardest schedules with road games against the Rangers, Lightning and Panthers. The Panthers will be part of their home-and-home series and the Jets are going to travel a ton of miles in November with 11 of their next 13 (!) games on the road.

Week 6's schedule is pretty even although Thursday and Saturday will feature the most games. With the 4 Nations Faceoff coming up in February, the league will be cramming a bunch of games before their two-week break. That means plenty of back-to-backs, which is ideal for streaming players.

For example, it might be prudent to stream a Flame for Monday-Tuesday (they don't play again until Friday), a Leaf for Tuesday-Wednesday (next game Saturday), and a Predator for Thursday-Friday (next game Sunday). If your league allows five moves per week, then consider a Penguin, Blue Jacket or Red Wing for Friday-Saturday, and then a Hurricane, Canuck, Kraken or Blue for the weekend. There should be plenty of ways to play this week and there's no wrong answer as long as you can be active to take advantage of the plethora of games.

Also, it means plenty of backups will be in action with some matchups that could be worth taking advantage, including the Canucks' starter Saturday vs. the Blackhawks, or the Red Wings' starter Friday at the Ducks.

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)

Anton Lundell, C/RW, Panthers (49% rostered)

The return of Aleksander Barkov has reduced Lundell's point production but not his minutes. That's the key; as long as Lundell plays a lot of minutes, he's going to steadily rack up the points. He averaged 19 minutes in his past three games, and despite scoring one assist, also contributed eight shots, 21 faceoff wins, a hit and four blocks. He has multi-category value all season even as the 3C.

Casey Mittelstadt, C, Avalanche (43% rostered)

Valeri Nichushkin is set to return Friday, which makes the Avs power play quite crowded. I suspect Mittelstadt will be the odd-man out, but I can also envision a scenario where the Avs play Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar for the full two minutes and rotate the other two spots.

At even strength, however, this should help bolster the quality of Mittelstadt's wingers as one of Nichushkin or Lehkonen will be playing with Mittelstadt. When Jonathan Drouin returns, it's possible Mittelstadt will get both Lehkonen and Nichushkin. The future prospects on a high-scoring team are really good for Mittelstadt.

Bryan Rust, RW, Penguins (41% rostered)

I get the Pens are not an attractive hold, but as long as Rust gets top-six minutes at ES and PP1 minutes, he's going to score points. The Pens have broken up Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at even strength, though Rickard Rakell has remained with Crosby while Rust plays with Malkin on L2. It's usually the other way around with Crosby-Rust and Malkin-Rakell, but either Crosby or Malkin will be good for Rust's fantasy value. He should be a good source of points and shots.

JJ Peterka, LW/RW, Sabres (39% rostered)

I know LW and RW can be deep positions, but still a little perplexed why the Sabres' top left winger and PP1 option is so under-rostered. He doesn't have much name recognition (outside Germany) and the Sabres have two other young wingers in Zach Benson and Jack Quinn, but neither come with the same kind of upside as Peterka in fantasy. He's up to 13 points and 29 shots in 13 games this season.

Pavel Dorofeyev, LW, Golden Knights (24% rostered)

With PP1 minutes and a pattern of consistency, I think Dorofeyev is safe to roster the rest of the season. The lack of quality winger depth ensures Dorofeyev will remain in the top six, and with 40 shots in 14 games, the shooting volume is very, very good.

Conor Garland, RW, Canucks (14% rostered)

Garland will likely finish the season with somewhere around 70 points and 200 shots, making him worth rostering. He's consistently played top-six and PP1 minutes so far this season, and he's making a lot of things happen on the ice. He has zero name recognition but worth a spot on your roster in deeper leagues.

Mid-term holds

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Matthew Knies, LW, Maple Leafs (46% rostered)

I'm not sure about Knies' potential this season, but certainly one day he has the tools to be a consistent 30-goal, 200-hit asset in fantasy. He still doesn't shoot the puck a lot, but he offers modest production and his inclusion on PP1 should boost his fantasy value. Right now, he's great for goals and hits as a depth player in deeper leagues.

Gabriel Vilardi, C/RW, Jets (37% rostered)

Really streaky scorer who's on a hot streak, but on the plus side is shooting the puck a lot more than I expect. He's on a seven-game points streak after scoring just three assists in six games to start the season. It's a tough, tough schedule coming up, so I'm not convinced about Vilardi's long-term value once this hot stretch inevitably ends.

Jake DeBrusk, LW/RW, Canucks (33% rostered)

With Brock Boeser potentially missing an extended period of time, DeBrusk should see increased minutes. He bounces between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson's line, but either center should be good. DeBrusk can be invisible for stretches, but he's on a four-game points streak and offers some modest potential in hits. He needs to be more consistent and shoot the puck more to be a season-long hold.

Short-term streamers

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Tyler Seguin, C/RW, Stars (24% rostered)

The only thing that prevents Seguin from being a season-long hold is his durability. The injuries have piled up and he's unlikely to ever play 82 games ever again, but when healthy, Seguin can be a great source of points. He's up to 13 points in nine games when many of the Stars' top players have struggled to score consistently.

Jack Roslovic, C/RW, Hurricanes (11% rostered)

We'll see how long the hot streak lasts, but it may not be for much longer. In 13 games, Roslovic has already tied last season's goals total (nine) in 46 fewer games. In a 6-4 loss to the Avs, Rod Brind'Amour mixed up the lines and moved Roslovic down to Jesperi Kotkaniemi's line. If Roslovic is not on L1 with Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho, he has no fantasy value.

Pavel Zacha, C/LW, Bruins (11% rostered)

I'm not a big fan of the Bruins this season but Zacha is showing life lately with three points in two games and averaging 20 minutes per game. Zacha feels streaky, but he can offer shots and faceoff wins if he's not scoring. Perhaps Zacha's scoring will pick up going forward, but I'm not confident, so he remains a streamer for now.

Nicolas Roy, C/RW, Golden Knights (3% rostered)

No word on how long Mark Stone will be sidelined, but it's an annual with the Knights captain. Roy has since been promoted to Stone's spot on L1, and Friday against the Kraken logged 20:36 with a goal and an assist. He's played with Jack Eichel before, so that's encouraging, and in the interim should be a great streaming option since the Knights' top line has been excellent.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Canucks (2% rostered)

The 2024 World Juniors MVP, Lekkerimaki is an offensive winger who's expected to make his NHL debut soon. The injury to Boeser has necessitated the call-up for the Canucks' top prospect, and even if he plays limited minutes, look for Lekkerimaki to play some power play. The Canucks have always had excellent success with Swedes, and this could be the start of something special. No doubt there is plenty of risk in picking up Lekkerimaki because there are no guarantees, and it's possible Pius Suter moves up the lineup instead.

Timothy Liljegren, D, Sharks (1% rostered)

Jake Walman is nursing an injury so there's no immediate threat to Liljegren's role as the PP1 QB. Though he's yet to score a point as a Shark, he's quickly established himself as their go-to weapon on the blueline, and he's offering a modest amount of shots, blocks and hits.

John Gibson, G, Ducks (11% rostered)

Gibson had a strong season debut Sunday against the Jackets, and he'll start eating into Lukas Dostal's ice time, who frankly has been playing too much. Gibson's a big trade bait target, and with the playoffs out of the question, perhaps the Ducks will start Gibson in easier matchups to boost his trade value. He has not been worth rostering for a few seasons now, but he's a streaming option nonetheless.

Tristan Jarry, G, Penguins (10% rostered)

He's back, baby. Jarry was re-called after a conditioning stint in the AHL where he was very good, going 4-1-0 with a .926 SP and 2.16 GAA. With Alex Nedeljkovic fumbling a few opportunities and Joel Blomqvist showing well once again, the Pens plan on carrying three goalies going forward. Jarry's fantasy value has likely reached rock bottom, and might be worth the risk if he can win back the starting job.

Honorable mention:

Stefan Noesen, LW/RW, Devils (42% rostered) - L3, PP1
Trevor Moore, LW/RW, Kings (41% rostered) - L2, PP2
Quinton Byfield, C/LW/RW, Kings (36% rostered) - L3, PP2
Sean Monahan, C, Blue Jackets (36% rostered) - L1, PP1
Rickard Rakell, C/RW, Penguins (32% rostered) - L1, PP1
Marco Rossi, C, Wild (29% rostered) - L1, PP2
Dawson Mercer, C/RW, Devils (28% rostered) - L1, PP2
Yegor Sharangovich, C/RW, Flames (25% rostered) - L1, PP1
Josh Norris, C, Senators (24% rostered) - L2, PP1
Anders Lee, LW, Islanders (13% rostered) - L1, PP1
Aliaksei Protas, C/LW, Capitals (13% rostered) - L1

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