2024-25 Fantasy Hockey Week 12 Primer And Pickups: Happy Holidays In Abbreviated Week

Week 12 will be very abbreviated since there are no games during the NHL's holiday break from Dec. 24-26. In past years, Yahoo has usually combined the last week of December and the first week of January into an extended two-week matchup, but not this season, presumably because Dec. 25 falls on a Wednesday.

When play resumes on Friday, Dec. 27, there are 15 teams playing a back-to-back over the next three days, including three sets of a home-and-home series: Blue Jackets-Bruins, Devils-Hurricanes and Islanders-Penguins.

This ensures plenty of backups will be in action, but the three-day break prior to the Friday-Saturday-Sundy games also means players will get a chance to rest. The Avalanche and Kraken are the two teams to avoid in Week 12 because both teams play just one game. If you roster Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen or Cale Makar, this might be only week where you should consider bolstering your roster. If you have any Kraken player, you can't afford to leave your roster as is. There are 20 teams playing three games, the most in Week 12.

Given that the schedule is so dense, my advised strategy would be to stream players playing on either Monday or Friday, and then dropping them for a player playing back-to-back over the weekend. For example, you might want to stream Logan Cooley early in the week since Utah plays Monday and Friday, and then drop him for Nazem Kadri for the weekend. It ensures you'll get four games instead of three.

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)

Lane Hutson, D, Canadiens (46% rostered)

I've seen quite enough. Yes, Hutson doesn't offer a lot of peripherals and doesn't shoot the puck much, but he's racking up the points with 14 in 12 games. His production is quite reminiscent of when Quinn Hughes first broke into the league, though clearly Hutson is not at Hughes' level just yet. In leagues that emphasize points, and in keeper leagues, Hutson has shown tremendous value that should continue for the rest of the season. Having Patrik Laine to pass to on the power play has been a huge boon to Hutson's production.

Mid-term holds

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Gabriel Vilardi, C/RW, Jets (49% rostered)

It certainly feels like Vilardi is cooling off again, doesn't it? He was held without a point in a 5-0 win against the Wild but you never quite know when hot streaks end. I'd stick with Vilardi for now, though he has tough matchups against the stingy Leafs, the red-hot Sens before facing the bottom-dwelling Preds.

Quinton Byfield, C/LW/RW, Kings (31% rostered)

I'm not sure I buy Byfield's recent scoring binge - four points in four games - as a long-term development since he's been quiet for long stretches of the season, but his potential certainly keeps me intrigued. He's firing the puck with far more regularity - that is, more than one shot per game - which bodes well for his point production. I'd pick up Byfield and hold him to see if he becomes something more, but I'm also not overly optimistic.

Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW, Flames (27% rostered)

Another two-point effort for Huberdeau gives him 25 points on the season, putting him on pace for 60 points, which would be his highest total as a Flame. He's on fire right now - no pun intended - which makes him worth rostering, and I do feel there's still some lingering frustration about the significant drop-off from his 115-point season. I think that was an anomaly, but Huberdeau is a consistent 60-point player and, in deeper leagues, that kind of production is worth rostering.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, C, Capitals (26% rostered)

Dubois is another player who's burned so many fantasy managers that he's going too far under the radar. He's on pace for around 60 points, which would match his best seasons with the Jackets and Jets. He will likely never reach his potential as a powerful, reliable two-way center, but he doesn't have to be 'the man' in D.C., and in leagues that count faceoffs, Dubois can be a very good fantasy asset.

Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, Blackhawks (16% rostered)

I really struggle with Teravainen sometimes because he's streaky and scores in bunches. He's on a four-game multi-point streak, with his nine points scored during that span accounting for over one-third of his entire season total. There's no doubt the Hawks are playing much better under Anders Sorensen, and also no coincidence Teravainen's production has gone up with Connor Bedard's improvement. I waffle between holding Teravainen medium-term for his hot streaks versus just streaming him on a daily basis; either way, I don't think he's a season-long hold.

Jackson LaCombe, D, Ducks (11% rostered)

Trading Cam Fowler has reduced some competition on the Ducks blueline and LaCombe has emerged as a big winner as their PP1 QB. He's stayed in that spot longer than some of their other options - Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov - and let's hope that stays true. LaCombe has scored five points in his past four games.

Charlie Lindgren, G, Capitals (39% rostered)

About a month into the season, the Caps said they'd go with Logan Thompson as their 1A option, but for pretty much the entire season they've rotated between Thompson and Lindgren.

Thompson has been the better goalie, but Lindgren has picked up his game lately and it doesn't make sense that Thompson is rostered in 75 percent of leagues but Lindgren is rostered is less than half.

Yaroslav Askarov, G, Sharks (10% rostered)

Askarov was the reason why the Sharks eked out a point in an overtime loss to the Oilers, almost managing to win in regulation. Askarov is now 1-0-2 with a spectacular .928 SP this season, and as long as Vitek Vanecek is out, Askarov will have value.

In redraft leagues, Askarov will rack up the saves and occasionally steal a game. That has a ton of value even though it's risky. In keeper leagues, there's no doubt Askarov is their future in net, and as soon as they trade one or both of Alexandar Georgiev and Vanecek, Askarov will have tremendous value. Dec. 23 matchup against the Canucks and Dec. 28 against the Flames, where the Sharks are playing back-to-back, could be good matchups to target for Askarov.

Short-term streamers

(< 50% rostered on Yahoo)

Jeremy Lauzon, D, Predators (20% rostered)

If you need hits and you missed out on Kiefer Sherwood and Will Cuylle, Lauzon's widely available. I think Cuylle's slowed down a little bit and Sherwood is playing lower in the lineup with J.T. Miller returning and the Canucks in flux. Lauzon's registered five hits in each of the two games since returning from injury, and the Preds feel like they've turned a corner going with a 3-1-1 record in their past five.

Honorable mention:

Pavel Buchnevich, C/LW, Blues (49% rostered)
Marco Rossi, C, Wild (31% rostered)
Shane Pinto, C, Senators (8% rostered)

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