Five players to add for Week 16…

* This article was written prior to the NHL games on Thursday, January 9^th, 2014

Here are some teams to target and avoid for the next week or two, several players to target that may be available in your league as well as teams that play a light schedule in the upcoming week.

New York Rangers = Target

Games: 7 (6H/1A)

Favorable Matchups:

    – vs. Dallas

        > 6^th worst defensive team

        > 10^th worst PK

        > 6^th most shots allowed per game

        > 18 goals allowed in last three games (6.00 GAA)

    – @ Ottawa

        > 4^th worst defensive team

        > 9^th worst PK

        > 4^th most shots allowed per game

        > Ten goals allowed in last three games (3.33 GAA)

    – vs. Washington

        > 7^th worst defensive team

        > 2^nd most shots allowed per game

        > 12 goals allowed in last three games (4.00 GAA)

    – vs. NY Islanders

        > 2^nd worst defensive team

        > Worst PK

        > 18 goals allowed in last six games (3.00 GAA)

The Rangers are about to embark on a run of nine games with seven coming at home, followed by two Coors Light Stadium Series games.  New York is in the bottom half of the NHL in terms of goals per game, but their powerplay and shots per game are both sixth in the league.  The Blue Shirts have 13 goals in their past three games thanks to a 7-1 romp of the Maple Leafs.  Ryan Callahan is back and healthy, Brad Richards is starting to put up points and Mats Zuccarello is quietly tied for the team lead in points with Richards (in one fewer game).  The Rangers surge up the standings should continue.

Philadelphia Flyers = Consider

Games: 7 (4H/3A)

Favorable Matchups:

    – vs. NY Islanders

        > See above

    – @ NY Islanders

        > See above

    – vs. Carolina

        > 7^th worst PK

        > 9^th most shots allowed per game

        > 30 goals allowed in last nine games (3.33 GAA)

The Flyers have netted 43 goals over the past 12 games, which equates to over three and a half goals per game.  Much like the Rangers, the Flyers are moving up in the Eastern Conference standings, as of late.  Claude Giroux has turned around his miserable start to the season and sits 21^st in the league in points.  With him he's bringing Jakub Voracek and whatever winger is lucky enough to line up with them.  Along with Giroux and Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell have been putting up impressive numbers.  Look for that trend to continue as Philly now sits #2 in the Metro Division.

Carolina Hurricanes = Beware

Games: 5 (3H/2A)

Unfavorable Matchups:

    – vs. Tampa Bay

        > 5^th best defensive team

        > 8^th fewest shots allowed per game

        > 21 goals allowed in last 11 games (1.91 GAA)

    – @ Philadelphia

        > 7^th best PK

        > Nine goals allowed in last five games (1.80 GAA)

        > Steve Mason: 2.35 GAA / .922 SV% / 1 SHO

The Hurricanes are one of a handful of teams to only play five games over the next two weeks.  Their Captain, and leading scorer, Eric Staal, is out for at least a couple more games.  Aside from Jeff Skinner, no one is putting up outstanding numbers recently.  Jordan Staal has struggled all season.  Alex Semin has battled injuries and motivation now that he's signed for five years.  Jiri Tlusty is proving that last year's stats were most likely a fluke.  Other than Skinner, I'd be wary of starting any Canes for the coming weeks.  Wait until Eric is back and healthy.

Pittsburgh Penguins = Avoid

Games: 5 (3H/2A)

Unfavorable Matchups:

    – vs. Montreal

        > 4^th best defensive team

        > 3^rd best PK

        > Carey Price: 2.22 GAA (8^th) / .928 SV% (5^th) / 2 SHO (10^th)

The Penguins are one of the most explosive offensive teams in the league.  They also have some pretty decent matchups other than Montreal.  It's the fact that they only play one game in a span of eight days from the 12^th through the 19^th and only five between the 10^th and the 22^nd.  I would never recommend benching guys like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal or Chris Kunitz.  Maybe Jussi Jokinen when he's not on a streak like he is on right now.  But just temper your expectations, especially if you are in a Monday to Sunday league, because next week Pittsburgh only plays once against Washington, and that's it.

Possible Pickups

Here's a list of some players, owned in less than 30% of Yahoo leagues, to target for the upcoming Monday to Sunday schedule.

Tampa Bay: Ondrej Palat (5%) – On a seven game point streak (eight points, three of which were goals).  He's +9 over that same span and has 16 shots as well.  Skating on Martin St. Louis' line never hurts either.

NY Rangers: Mats Zuccarello (27%) – Six points in his past six to go with 11 hits and 14 shots.  He's not getting prime offensive linemates, although he could do a lot worse than Benoit Pouliot and Derick Brassard.

Calgary: Mikael Backlund (3%) – Don't get too excited.  Calgary has gotten shut out in four of their last six games, including two of their last three.  So options are pretty slim in Cowtown, but Backlund lined up with Mike Cammalleri and Jiri Hudler last game so he has some of the better odds to chip in points.

Vancouver: Chris Higgins (15%) – Three in his last three, including four PIMs, five hits and nine shots.  He's also skating with Vancouver's best player: Ryan Kesler.  Yeah, I said it.  Right now, Kesler is better than the Twins, in my opinion.

Washington: Marcus Johansson (27%) – Three points in his past two games.  Adam Oates has juggled the lines up in Washington and has split up Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, at even strength.  Johansson gets Backstrom and Troy Brouwer and PP1 time as well with Ovechkin added in there.

Light Day Targets

Want to know what teams to target based on their schedule landing on light days for the upcoming Monday to Sunday schedule?

Week: Monday, January 13^th through Sunday, January 19^th

Monday: 8 teams

Tuesday: 22 teams

Wednesday: 6 teams

Thursday: 22 teams

Friday: 4 teams

Saturday: 26 teams

Sunday: 6 teams

Same schedule, different week.  Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday all have 22 or more teams in action.  Monday / Wednesday / Friday / Sunday all have 8 or fewer teams in action.

So what teams have a good schedule for the light days?