Hello and welcome back to Geek of the Week! In this article, I will be continuing the two-part series from last week where we will examine the fantasy playoff schedule and focusing on diamonds in the rough in the goalie position. Most of these goalies could be on the waiver wire in your league. I'll see if there are some backups worth rostering that could have some great matchups in the fantasy playoffs or some under-owned starters with nice upcoming matchups. Last week, I covered Week 22 and Week 23, which may be the first bit of playoffs for most leagues. A few names to keep an eye on for those weeks are Spencer Knight, Scott Wedgewood, Juuse Saros, Jordan Binnington, Karel Vejmelka, and Ilya Samsonov. In this article, I will cover the championship clinching weeks of Week 24 and 25.

I will also be referring to my True Value Goalie Rankings and constructs. If you are unfamiliar with these (Quality Weeks, Really Bad Weeks, and Star Weeks), I utilize these to model a Goalie's True Value in head-to-head (H2H) category leagues. You can find a deep dive into this topic in a previous article here. In general, these point to a goalies’ consistency, and the actual value provided to fantasy managers in head-to-head category leagues.

Here is a quick breakdown of the criteria of the True Value Goalie constructs:

Please note, these constructs may slightly differ from the constructs represented in FrozenTools.

Quality Week (QW) – When a goalie has performed above the weekly average in two out of three of the main goalie categories (Wins, SV%, GAA).

Star Week (SW) – When a goalie has ranked top 15 for the week in all three of the main goalie categories (Wins, SV%, GAA). OR if your goalie has had a quality week AND has also gotten a shutout (This assumes SO is a counted category).

Really Bad Week (RBW) – When a goalie has ranked below the top 30 goalies for the week in all three of the main goalie categories (Wins, SV%, GAA), and has not gotten a shutout.

You can find these rankings here, updated throughout the season.

Fantasy Playoffs

When referring to weeks 24 and 25, I am considering them with the following dates:

Week 24 (March 31 – April 6)

Week 25 (April 7 – April 17)

Week 24

Week 24 may be the final for some leagues and the semi-finals for others. It is a crucial week for our fantasy hockey season.

Lukas Dostal

Dostal is Anaheim's true number 1 starter for as long as John Gibson remains sidelined. Even when/if Gibson returns, Dostal should get at least half the starts. Somehow Dostal is still only 43% rostered in Yahoo leagues. Anaheim, given their past few seasons, isn't the most enticing team for a rostered goalie, but Dostal has actually been stellar this season. He is currently the ninth-best goalie in my True Value Goalie Rankings, yielding a 79% Quality Week percentage and picking up only one Really Bad Week all season.

Anaheim is hot of late, actually in the playoff hunt. If this all didn't convince you to grab Dostal, his Week 24 schedule should. Anaheim has the easiest schedule in terms of opponent goals for per game, playing San Jose, Calgary, and Vancouver. Dostal should get at least two of these matchups and is very likely to pick up a Quality Week in Week 24.

Charlie Lindgren

While Logan Thompson has catapulted himself into the Vezina conversation, Lindgren has been relegated to backup duties in Washington. This trend has slowed of late though, as Washington has opted for alternating starts. Lindgren has played well with this opportunity. As the regular season nears its end, there is no reason for Washington to overwork Thompson, giving Lindgren an opportunity for half the starts in Washington. Week 24 yields four games for the Capitals with one back-to-back. Lindgren should get two of these starts.

Lindgren might be hard to trust, given he's picked up a Really Bad Week 26% of the time, but in the past five weeks, he's grabbed three Quality Weeks and just one Really Bad Week. If you're rolling ZeroG, going with a goalie on a team pushing for the Presidents' Trophy is not a bad plan.

Scott Wedgewood

After I suggested Wedgewood for Week 22, he returns for Week 24. With Colorado also having a busy Week 23, he may be a hold for the fantasy playoffs. Colorado plays four games in Week 24 with one back-to-back. Their opponents have the 6th lowest combined goals for per game on the week. While Mackenzie Blackwood has commanded the starts in Colorado since his acquisition, his hot play has slowed down of late. Wedgewood has performed well in his two recent showings and may be leaned on as Blackwood gets some more rest before the playoffs.

Vitek Vanecek

In his first start with the Florida Panthers, Vanecek earned a shutout against the Sabres. He'll be the true backup on this strong team moving forward. In Week 24, Florida has two back-to-backs, giving Vanecek an opportunity for two starts this week. He has a great opportunity to pick up two wins and a Quality Week.

Week 25

Week 25 is the final week possible for fantasy hockey. If your league isn't done by now, hopefully you are battling it out in the final.

Yaroslav Askarov

This suggestion is purely speculative at the moment, but I would think with Vitek Vanecek shipped out, San Jose would love to get some more NHL starts for Askarov. In his short 12-game stint, he was not great, with only three Quality Weeks and one Star Week in eight active weeks. He has been playing well in the AHL though with a .922 save percentage. San Jose has a great schedule with the sixth-lowest opponent goals for per game and five of their six games on off-nights. They also might see an Oilers team without superstars in the last game of the season if they opt to rest the stars. With Askarov's potential, I'd turn to him if called up if there are no better options to stream.

Frederik Andersen

Andresen may be flying under-the-radar after being injured for the first half of the season. It looks like Carolina will continue to alternate starts between Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. Especially with two back-to-backs in this final fantasy week, Andersen is pretty much guaranteed three starts. On the season, he only has one Really Bad Week and has picked up a Quality Week 78% of the time. Adjusted for value per week, he is actually the top goalie in True Value (per active week). I would grab Andersen now if he's available in your league (36% of Yahoo leagues).

Streaming Decisions

In this final week of fantasy hockey, paying attention to goalie rotations and schedules will be key. Some starters may see some more rest, while some timeshares may turn into a true starting role as they gear up for the playoffs. The schedule planner will be key in the pivotal goalie decisions to win your fantasy championships.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s breakdown!

Follow me on Twitter/X @fantasycheddar for more fantasy hockey advice and updates throughout the season.