Week 3 Strength of Schedule <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Week 3 Streaming Targets<\/p>\n
Buffalo Sabres (#1 SOS, 3 Light Nights)<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Sabres are my favourite team to target for streamers this week. They\u2019ve got one of the most streamer-friendly schedules in the league \u2014 second only to Calgary \u2014 and they also offer a few strong individual streaming options worth a look.<\/p>\n
Zach Benson (LW \u2013 18% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Benson missed the first few games of the season with an upper-body injury but has been on fire since rejoining the lineup. He recorded four assists in his season debut and added another in his second game. The 20-year-old is seeing a significantly expanded role compared to his first two seasons, skating on the top line and top power-play unit while averaging nearly 17:30 TOI per game. With that kind of usage, Benson could be headed for a Year 3 breakout and may soon be more than just a Week 3 streaming option.<\/p>\n
Josh Doan (RW \u2013 10% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Doan was one of the key pieces the Sabres acquired in the JJ Peterka trade this summer, and he\u2019s made an immediate impact in Buffalo. After starting the season on the third line and second power-play unit, Doan has already earned a promotion to the top-six and top power-play. He\u2019s picked up five points (2G, 3A) in his last two games and is generating elite shot volume, ranking second in the NHL in SOG\/60 (14.6) among players with at least 70 minutes played. He\u2019s also contributing 1.4 hits per game, adding extra value in banger leagues. Doan is a top streaming target for Week 3.<\/p>\n
Jason Zucker (LW \u2013 7% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Zucker is your prototypical streaming option, not someone you\u2019ll hold all season, but a reliable short-term contributor. He\u2019s opened the year with three goals, one assist, 13 shots, and nine hits. Those numbers don\u2019t leap off the page, but his averages of 2.6 SOG and 1.8 hits per game provide a steady floor, and we know he\u2019s capable of chipping in offensively. Over his last 78 games in a Sabres uniform, Zucker has produced a solid 24 goals and 33 assists (57 points), making him a dependable plug-and-play option when the schedule lines up.<\/p>\n
Jiri Kulich (C \u2013 1% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Kulich is the definition of a high-risk, high-reward streamer. He\u2019s already gone from top-line center to potential scratch this season but currently finds himself back between Tage Thompson and Benson. Dating back to last year, that line has produced well together, averaging 3.03 xGF\/60. Kulich\u2019s shot is his calling card, and he ranks second on the Sabres in individual expected goals (1.89) so far this season, a sign that the production should start coming soon.<\/p>\n
New Jersey Devils (#2 SOS, 3 Light Nights)<\/p>\n
New Jersey also has a strong streaming schedule this week, but they lack high-upside players to stream.<\/p>\n
Dawson Mercer (C\/RW \u2013 13% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Mercer has had a strong offensive start, with three goals and two assists (five points) through his first five games. That said, he\u2019s been a bit fortunate to get there \u2014 shooting 37.5% with an on-ice shooting percentage of 22.7. Still, he\u2019s skating on the second line with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier and getting top power-play minutes, so the opportunity is definitely there. Even if some regression is coming, it might not hit right away, making him a solid short-term streaming option.<\/p>\n
Arseny Gritsyuk (1% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Gritsyuk is more of a deep-league or dynasty streaming option this week. The talent is undeniable, but his current role limits his immediate fantasy upside. He\u2019s averaging just 13:39 TOI per game over his last four but has still managed three assists and eight shots in that span.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old Russian winger posted 44 points (17G, 27A) in 49 KHL games last season, so there\u2019s clear offensive potential once he settles into the NHL and earns a bigger role. According to Sportslogiq, Gritsyuk ranks fourth on the Devils in Offence-Generating Plays per 60, trailing only Jack Hughes, Hischier, and Jesper Bratt \u2014 an encouraging sign for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n
Minnesota Wild (#3 SOS, 3 Light Nights)<\/p>\n
The Wild have the third-ranked schedule this week and are one of just five teams with at least three \u201cLight Night\u201d games. However, their offence is heavily concentrated among a few key players, which makes them a tricky team to target for streaming. There just isn\u2019t much secondary production to bank on right now.<\/p>\n
Marco Rossi (C \u2013 29% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Rossi is a much more appealing streaming option when he\u2019s skating with Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy \u2014 which he wasn\u2019t in their last game. It\u2019s no surprise his 5v5 on-ice xGF\/60 drops from 3.03 when playing with them to just 2.49 without.<\/p>\n
The bigger issue is that the Wild have been the NHL\u2019s worst 5v5 offence so far. They\u2019re being completely carried by their league-leading 38.5% power play, and Rossi isn\u2019t on the top unit. Until Minnesota\u2019s even-strength play improves, I\u2019d only consider streaming Wild players who are on PP1.<\/p>\n
Vladimir Tarasenko (LW\/RW \u2013 15% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Tarasenko is part of the Wild\u2019s top power-play unit, which is worth mentioning given how hot that group has been. The veteran winger has five points (1G, 4A) in his last five games, with all four assists coming on the power play.<\/p>\n
That said, he ranks 5th out of 5 in Offence-Generating Plays (per SportsLogiq) on that top unit, so he\u2019s clearly not the focal point in a group that also features Kaprizov, Boldy, and Zeev Buium. Tarasenko could continue to chip in this week \u2014 especially in leagues that count PPP \u2014 but his value is limited since his production is almost entirely power-play dependent.<\/p>\n
Ryan Hartman (C\/RW \u2013 7% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Without top power-play deployment, Hartman profiles as more of a low-ceiling streamer, but his peripheral production makes him worth a look in certain formats. He\u2019s averaging 5.2 shot attempts and 3.3 shots on goal per game this season, while also bringing his usual physical edge \u2014 averaging over one hit per game for his career.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s provided a decent floor in banger leagues and has chipped in offensively with two goals in six games, making him a serviceable short-term option even if the upside isn\u2019t huge.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets (#6 SOS, 3 Light Nights)<\/p>\n
The Jets are in a very similar spot to the Wild right now. Their 5v5 offence has been underwhelming, and most of their production is coming almost entirely from the power play. As a result, the number of viable streaming options from Winnipeg is pretty limited at the moment.<\/p>\n
Nino Niederreiter (LW\/RW \u2013 6% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Niederreiter is a solid banger-league streaming option this week. He\u2019s off to a nice start with five points (2G, 3A) in five games, while averaging 2.4 shots and 2.0 hits per game.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t offer much high-end offensive upside, but he\u2019s carved out a steady role in Winnipeg\u2019s middle-six and on PP2, giving him reliable category coverage and making him worth a look in multi-cat formats.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Toews (C \u2013 5% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Toews is coming off a two-assist performance vs. Nashville on Saturday, marking his first multi-point game since January 19, 2023. The question is whether it\u2019s a feel-good blip or a sign of things to come \u2014 and right now, it looks more like the former.<\/p>\n
His underlying numbers in that game weren\u2019t encouraging, and his season metrics have been rough overall: a 37.0 CF% and an on-ice xGF\/60 of just 1.6. He likely needs more time to get fully up to speed before being a realistic fantasy option. For now, he\u2019s only a deep-league stream if you\u2019re banking on Saturday\u2019s outing being the start of something bigger.<\/p>\n
Alex Iafallo (C\/LW\/RW \u2013 2% Rostered)<\/p>\n
While the upside is still somewhat limited, I actually prefer Iafallo over Toews this week. Like Minnesota, the Jets\u2019 5v5 offence has struggled, but their power play has been one of the league\u2019s best.<\/p>\n
Since Cole Perfetti\u2019s injury, Iafallo has stepped onto Winnipeg\u2019s top power-play unit and made the most of it \u2014 posting three power-play points (1G, 2A) in five games. His value hinges on that PP1 role, but as long as he\u2019s there, he\u2019s a better short-term streaming option than Toews.<\/p>\n
Calgary Flames (#8 SOS, 4 Light Nights)<\/p>\n
The Flames are an interesting streaming case this week.<\/p>\n
The good: They\u2019re the only team with four \u201cLight Night\u201d games, which gives you a big scheduling advantage for lineup flexibility.<\/p>\n
The bad: They\u2019ve been the worst offensive team in the NHL by a wide margin \u2014 averaging just 1.64 goals per 60, which is half a goal less than the next-worst teams.<\/p>\n
So, while you can easily fit their skaters into your lineup all week, the real question is: will it even be worth it if they can\u2019t find the back of the net?<\/p>\n
Jonathan Huberdeau (C\/LW \u2013 37% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Huberdeau made his season debut on Saturday and wasted no time making an impact. He scored a power-play goal, registered three shots and five attempts, and logged 18:48 of ice time.<\/p>\n
Could his return spark some much-needed offence in Calgary\u2019s top-six? Possibly. The Huberdeau\u2013Kadri\u2013Farabee line was easily the Flames\u2019 best trio that night \u2014 controlling 75% of the shot attempts and posting a team-high 0.48 xGF at 5v5. It\u2019s a small sample, but hopefully a positive sign of things to come for the Flames\u2019 top unit.<\/p>\n
Blake Coleman (C\/LW\/RW \u2013 22% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Coleman is really only a viable option in deeper or extended formats, but he brings steady category coverage that makes him valuable in those leagues. He\u2019s averaging 2.5 shots on goal per game this season (right in line with his 2.4 career average in Calgary) and adds 2.5 hits per game for solid multi-cat production.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s shown offensive upside before (30 goals in 2024), but given how poor Calgary\u2019s offence has been, it\u2019s tough to bank on that level of scoring right now.<\/p>\n
Matt Coronato (RW \u2013 17% Rostered)<\/p>\n
Coronato is one of the few players the Flames truly need offence from, and he\u2019s been doing his part early on. He\u2019s got two goals and one assist so far, and it\u2019s not for a lack of effort \u2014 he\u2019s fired 12 shots on goal and a whopping 35 shot attempts through six games, averaging 5.8 attempts per game.<\/p>\n
That kind of shot volume ranks inside the NHL\u2019s top 30, and it\u2019s one of the few reliable things about Calgary\u2019s offence right now. There\u2019s still real long-term upside with Coronato, and maybe this is the week he starts to turn those chances into more consistent production.<\/p>\n
Joel Farabee (LW\/RW \u2013 2% Rostered)<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary to dig too deep into Calgary\u2019s roster, but if you\u2019re determined to get a four-game streamer into your lineup in deep leagues, Farabee is the best bet.<\/p>\n
As mentioned, the Huberdeau\u2013Kadri\u2013Farabee line looked great on Saturday, and if that chemistry carries over, Farabee could pick up a couple of points this week. He\u2019s averaging 1.7 shots and 1.3 hits per game, so even if the offence doesn\u2019t pop, he offers a serviceable floor in extended formats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finding an edge in fantasy hockey often comes down to maximizing your man games \u2014 and targeting players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-227794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}