Well, it didn't take Evander Kane long to make an impact with the Oilers (and hopefully your fantasy team)! As mentioned in my article last week, we are quickly approaching the NHL All-Star Game weekend and subsequent break. This has a pretty big impact on fantasy hockey leagues of all formats. In roto leagues, you simply need to keep an eye out for teams that are playing a surplus of games, or conversely teams that aren't playing a ton. In head-to-head leagues there is some extra strategy since your normal one-week matchup will be lengthened to two weeks. Either way, it will pay to be extra vigilant over the next couple of weeks. This week I will provide a few more players who will see some extra ice time over the course of the next little while. 

Alex Formenton

I'm doubling down on Ottawa Senators players as this is the second straight week I am recommending a player from the nation's capital. Last week I suggested taking Tim Stutzle for your fantasy squad. If you were lucky enough to snag him already, you should be in good shape, as the Senators have had an unfortunate rash of injuries to multiple centers on their squad. Stutzle logged over 24 minutes in yesterday's game, so look for him to have plenty of opportunities to provide for you in the short-term future. I'm getting off track though, this week I'm choosing to highlight Alex Formenton.

The 22-year-old winger was a second-round draft pick of the Sens back in 2017. He's dabbled with the team a bit over the course of his short career, but this year he is finally getting a proper opportunity with the club. Though his opportunities have varied throughout the season, he is currently getting some quality deployment time. He's currently on the team's top power play unit which is a golden opportunity for him to produce for himself, and for you!  He has points in eight of his last ten contests, so it's a great time to take a chance on him.

He gets enough shots on net to be fantasy viable, but aside from his offense he won't net you a lot of other peripheral stats, so here's hoping he can get some production from being on that power play. When you add in the barrage of injuries to the Sens forward corps, as well as the fact Ottawa is the most active team in the next two weeks, there should be no shortage of opportunities for Formenton. He is rostered in just 4% of Yahoo leagues, 29% on Fantrax, and  only 1.3% on ESPN, so he should be widely available should you want him.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau

At first glance, I'll admit, this isn't a sexy pick. Maybe some of you will remember last year I wrote an article featuring Pageau. I was pretty high on him then, and I've tampered my expectations with him quite a bit. That being said though, he still can provide a lot of value to one's fantasy team. Offensively, there's not a lot to like. Five goals, six assists for a measly 11 points. And yes, it's the Islanders who aren't exactly known for their offensive prowess. 

Let's look at the positives. He is a freak on faceoffs. He has a win rate of 57.4 percent which is absolutely absurd. He's already sitting at 328 faceoff wins. On top of that, he lays the body on a frequent basis. He's gathered 75 hits through 34 games which averages out to be over two hits per game, which is a rock solid number for a forward. He could stand to shoot more as he averages just 1.7 shots per game, which isn't great, but could be worse.

He's currently centering a line with veteran Zach Parise and youngster Oliver Wahlstrom. Curiously, the Isles have been using him on their top power play unit. Over the entire season he's only averaged 38.3% of the power play time, so this may not be a permanent fixture for him, but for now take the bonus deployment while you can.  The Islanders are also one of the more active teams in the coming weeks with five contests over their next two weeks. Pageau is rostered in 23% of Yahoo leagues, 28% on FanTrax, but 66% on ESPN. 

Michael Bunting

This could be recency bias speaking, but Michael Bunting's performance Saturday versus the Detroit Red Wings has sold me at least for the short-term. The Leafs winger has quietly racked up 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points so far this season. Not bad for a player making an AAV under a million per season! From a fantasy perspective though, now seems like a great time to take a chance on Bunting. 

First off, he's playing alongside Auston Matthews, which generally isn't a bad thing. There's plenty of forwards vying for ice time in Toronto, but Bunting has managed to log over 15 minutes a night on average, which is good enough to be viable in fantasy. He generally doesn't get much action on the man advantage, so that's one downside. He shoots at a decent clip of 2.2 per game, with 87 total shots on the season. In addition to his offense, he plays a gritty game and averages nearly a hit per game, so he can help out there as well. 

Like the Senators and the Islanders, the Leafs have a bunch of games coming up and Bunting should see ample time to rack you up some stats. Hopefully he saved some goals in that stick after his hat-trick performance last night. Bunting is 16% rostered in Yahoo leagues, 56% in Fantrax, and just 9% in ESPN. He is on pace for 55 points and if he stays hot he could even break 60! 

That's it for this week everyone! Hopefully everyone in North America is weathering the heaping amounts of snow we've been getting the past handful of days! Stay safe out there and head into the All-Star break on a winning note!