A weekly victory in head-to-head fantasy competition carries just as much weight in the first quarter of the season as it does in the final stretch. Plus, laying a solid foundation on the fortitude of a winning record earned early on offers significant advantage as the campaign wanes to a close, particularly as far as roster flexibility is concerned.
By hacking the schedule – figuring out which teams are more active when most others are not — you can seize greater elasticity in boosting your lineup’s potential, each and every night. The greater number of players in action on every occasion – the greater potential for positive fantasy returns. A keen benefit, especially in tight head-to-head competition, where every point can mean the difference between weekly victory and defeat.
Setting the benchmark at six games — when another 20 teams, at minimum, are idle — the following clubs are booked to compete more on so-called slower nights, from Nov. 7 to Nov. 30. A handful of teams to recognize when deciding which available players to pick up or stream, all else being equal.
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Vegas Golden Knights: Playing on six so-labelled lighter nights until the end of November, the Knights comprise a few attractive fantasy performers that could be available as free agents. Making his healthy season debut just last week, ahead of Wednesday’s stop in Edmonton, William Karlsson has two goals and three assists on 11 shots in four games. Nothing wrong with that haul. More intriguing and obtainable, Pavel Dorofeyev has five goals and three helpers in his most recent five contests.
Skating on a dynamic scoring line with Tomas Hertl, the under-radar winger is quickly building on his solid collection of 13 goals and 11 assists in 47 games last year as a rookie. The 24-year-old, only rostered in 19% of ESPN Fantasy competition, is my favorite schedule-hack-add to launch November. After visiting the Kraken Friday, Vegas plays every second day next week starting Monday, against the Hurricanes, Ducks, Utah HC, and Capitals, in that order. We could be in for a fair bit of scoring from Dorofeyev and other productive Golden Knights.
Also, give your league a quick skim to gauge if Adin Hill is available. Ilya Samsonov is hurt, and Hill is performing much better after a wobblier start to the season. At last check, the netminder was rostered in fewer than 70% of ESPN Fantasy leagues.
Washington Capitals: How about them Capitals? Off to an 8-3-0 start, with a nearly flawless home record, Washington is comfortably maintaining stride with the perceived heavier hitters in the Metropolitan. Beyond Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome — who’s averaging 1.5 real-life points/game — Tom Wilson somehow remains available in about third of ESPN Fantasy leagues. Serving as a top-20 forward heading into Wednesday’s tilt with Nashville, Wilson is pacing out at 2.7 fantasy points/contest by scoring, throwing hits, and blocking shots.
Competing on a scoring line with Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois, Connor McMichael is also enjoying an explosive start to 2024-25. Rostered in only 37% of leagues, the 23-year-old winger has the same team-leading number of goals as Ovechkin (7) while sitting second in shots (33). Just wait until he starts contributing with the extra skater, which feels a bit overdue. I had the chance to pick up McMichael in one of my leagues earlier this season and now much regret not pulling the trigger on that move.
If Wilson and McMichael are already spoken for, managers engaged in deeper competition might give Aliaksei Protas a look. After a rather pedestrian start, the hulking winger — skating on Ovechkin’s top line — has three goals and fours assists in four games ahead of Wednesday’s action. On defense, Trevor van Riemsdyk is pitching in helpers and blocking an admirable number of shots, while goalie tandem-teammate Logan Thompson is serving as the better fantasy netminder to date, in comparison with Charlie Lindgren.
Anaheim Ducks: We need to talk about Lukas Dostal. No question, the Ducks’ young netminder has been terrific. But no other goalie has faced as many shots: 355 through 10 games. That constant bombardment is bound to wear down anyone, as made evident in Sunday’s 4-2 loss in hosting Chicago, and Tuesday’s 5-1 defeat to Vancouver. Until the Ducks improve their team defense, carefully choose when and where to toss Dostal out there. Some matchups hold more promise than others. An improvement in Anaheim’s scoring would also help. The Ducks currently sit dead-last in that department with 2.08/game.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Skating on a top line and power play with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in suiting Rickard Rakell just fine. Averaging 20:20 of ice-time alongside the two generational players, the winger has a pair of goals and four assists on 16 shots in his past five games. Only Crosby himself has earned more (and just a titch) fantasy points in conventional leagues these last two weeks. Consider picking up Rakell ahead of the Penguins’ pending stretch — comprising five matchups on so-called lighter nights — and including next week’s dates with the Red Wings, Blue Jackets, and Sharks.
Just keep a watchful eye on how Bryan Rust figures back into the lineup once healthy, any game now, and how his return affects Rakell’s role. If the 31-year-old’s production dries right up, pull the chute. Then check on whether Rust is available himself. Otherwise, aside from Crosby and Malkin, there isn’t much shaking on Pittsburgh’s fantasy front these days.
Then there are those teams that play most often when everyone else is also active. For the remainder of this November, six teams compete on only one night when fewer than six games are scheduled: Jets, Blues, Rangers, Devils, Oilers, and Blackhawks. Worth the extra fantasy thought if considering adding one player over another, all else being perceived as equal.
