I can't remember a season with so many teams having schedules this thin to start the year. The Colorado Avalanche are in the midst of their second of three weeks where they play just two games and the New York Islanders have only one game this week for the second time this year. There are obviously going to be high-end players from those teams like Nathan MacKinnon and Ilya Sorokin that you simply have to hold onto, but anyone from the fringes of your roster you might have to drop and add players that have three or four games.

In leagues that track volume stats like shots, hits, and blocks it's going to be very tough to compete in head-to-head matchups when you're rostering players that simply aren't playing more than a game or two in a given week. Don't discount the importance of the schedule and how it impacts your team.

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Alex Ovechkin moved into fourth on the all-time scoring list Friday, but this year he's piling up the assists too. The Washington Capitals forward currently has 12 assists in 14 games and his ratio of goals and assists is 50/50, which is much closer than it's been in recent years. Ovechkin hasn't even recorded 20 assists in a season since 2018-19 and he's already more than half way there after the first month of the season. Most people obviously draft Ovechkin for his scoring prowess, but if he can get his point totals up thanks to an abundance of assists this season that's only going to make him all the more valuable.

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Speaking of assists, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up a pair Friday. Nugent-Hopkins now has 17 assists on the year and zero goals. Not sure I've ever seen anything like that before.

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Nick Suzuki recorded just one point in his first five games, but things have certainly changed of late. The Montreal Canadiens forward has been on an incredible tear recently, posting nine points in the month of November alone. This run includes four multi-point games in his past five and Suzuki is averaging more than four shots per game over this stretch. These are all great signs for a player on a team that looks to be in for a rough year. Sometimes when a team is heading for a bad season the offensive numbers of a player like Suzuki can drop as well, but that doesn't appear to be case where the young center is concerned.

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The Los Angeles Kings have won seven-straight and usually when that happens a team is getting some depth scoring that you may be able to capitalize on. Adrian Kempe (6) and Andreas Athanasiou (4) are all on nice little point streaks and could be available in your league. Alex Iafallo also just concluded a seven-game point streak. It's good to keep an eye on hot teams to see where you may be able to take advantage, even if it's only in the short-term.

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Brady Tkachuk possesses a rare blend of physicality and scoring punch that every fantasy general manager covets and while Tanner Jeannot may not be at his level, there are positive signs from the Nashville Predators forward in these areas. Jeannot is scoring at a solid rate of 10 goals in 29 career games and is averaging three hits per game this season. At only 10% rostered, if you're in a deep league that counts hits you should have a look at Jeannot.

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Sticking with Nashville, Matt Duchene already has 14 points in 14 games this season, which is more than his season total from a year ago. Duchene has only exceeded 60 points three times in his career and at 30 years of age a renaissance didn't look like it was in the cards. I don't think I would sell high on Duchene, though, as it appears this could be a very good bounce-back in the making in Nashville.

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Joel Farabee scored his first goal and point in nine games on Friday in a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Philadelphia Flyers forward had been ice cold since putting up six points in his first six games and saw his ownership drop greatly in many leagues. Farabee doesn't provide you much in the way of shots or hits, so if you held onto him you have to hope that this goal gets him going on another streak.

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell turned in another impressive performance Friday night, allowing one goal or less for the seventh time this season. He's actually only allowed more than two goals on three occasions all year. It really doesn't get much more consistent than that.

The only fear with Camobell could be that he's played a ton this early in the season, which probably wasn't Toronto's plan but Petr Mrazek just hasn't been healthy. Campbell hasn't played more than 31 games in a season in his career and he's already at 13 in early November. The real test for Campbell is going to come in February and March to see if he can keep these numbers from falling too much when he likely shatters his career-high in games played.

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Oliver Kylington scored the lone goal on Campbell for the Calgary Flames. That's now points in eight of his past nine games and he's only 7% rostered. Kylington could be nice addition if you need defensive help.

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It was a tough week for Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, who couldn't take advantage of an opportunity with Mike Smith sidelined. Skinner lost to the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres and wasn't particularly good in either contest. If you were banking on Skinner to be a steal of a waiver wire pickup, I'm not sure it's going to work out.

For fantasy hockey tips and advice, follow me on Twitter at @amato_mike