Lining Up: Hyman Returns; Bedard’s Line Mates; Bowman’s Opportunity; Calgary’s Schedule, and More
Lucas Main
2025-11-18
While I was checking the schedule last week, I found it odd that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators were playing a home and home against each other only to find out it was the Global Series. I had no clue it was happening and honestly neither did any friends of mine. This isn't a marketing column, but the NHL needs to do a better job of advertising their game on the global stage. Every other commercial break in the NFL has an ad for who is playing overseas that week, and the following week, so the fans know who is playing early. The NFL is in a league of their own when it comes to advertising dollars, but even in-game reads from the commentators would have been a step up. Anyway, time to get off my soapbox and give you guys what you came here to read about!
We have five teams that play four games for the rest of this fantasy week (New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks, and Seattle Kraken) and two of them play three of their games on lighter days (Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks).
But wait, there is more! This is a fun week because we have five other squads that play three games on light days. The Winnipeg Jets play tonight, Friday and Sunday, while the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, and Minnesota Wild all play Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. If you play in a league where you only get a certain amount of pick ups each week, these are the clubs we need to exploit.
– If you are looking for a little offensive pop, one player to consider would be Matt Coronato on the Flames. After being a healthy scratch last month, he has 30 shots in his past five contests. Even if the points are not coming at that same pace, you can't ignore a player who shoots the puck that much. He has been playing on the team's top line, number one power-play unit, and is averaging almost 19:30 minutes in his last five appearances.
– For the Blackhawks, Connor Bedard has been a man on a mission. With the Olympics a few months away, he is doing all he can to receive that call from Team Canada. Bedard is obviously owned in every single league, but his line mates are owned in 50% (Tyler Bertuzzi) and 24% (Andre Burakovsky) of Yahoo leagues. Both players are averaging just under a point-per-game, while Bertuzzi adds a little extra in some of your peripheral categories.
Bertuzzi is currently a game-time decision for tonight, but either of them would be a prime stream because they play the Flames, who sit in the bottom third of the league in penalty killing. Then they play the Kraken on Thursday, who rank 29th in killing off penalties, so two matchups that we can take advantage of for some extra powerplay points.
– The Edmonton Oilers received a big boost to their lineup when Zach Hyman made his season debut after dislocating his wrist in the Western Conference Final last spring against the Dallas Stars. He took his spot back on Connor McDavid's wing and immediately paid dividends with an assist, 11(!) hits, two shots, and over 23 minutes of ice time on Saturday night. Safe to say he is not scared of re-injuring his wrist.
For the time being, this means Jack Roslovic is still in play for us as the Oilers are still down Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Roslovic has his spot on Leon Draisaitl's line and has earned his spot on the top power-play unit, knocking Adam Henrique off that man advantage. When RNH returns, it remains to be said what the lines will look like, but you can bet that the extra-man unit that has had so much success over the last few seasons will stick together once everyone is healthy. Roslovic has earned his minutes this year so I don't think Kris Knoblauch will take away his keys five-on-five, but if you can find a trading partner for the American winger, I would sell high while you can.
– Looking for a shakeup, the Vegas Golden Knights have turned to undrafted rookie Braeden Bowman? I'm not sure what dirt he has on the coaching staff, but he is riding shotgun with Jack Eichel at even strength and on the top power-play unit that has five forwards. Of course, I'm kidding about the dirt, this guy deserves his opportunity. He started off hot in the AHL and earned this promotion. In just his second game, he scored a goal on the man advantage (and it ended up being a game-winning goal to boot, if your league counts those) and has eight shots on net through three outings.
William Karlsson is still considered week-to-week, and Mark Stone is on LTIR with no real update, so Bowman has some time to cement his spot in this lineup. He is owned in only 4% of Yahoo leagues, and he could be a great stash play because Vegas will have a number of players going over to Italy for the Olympics, so he'll probably be called upon to fill the lineup and "load manage" some of their forwards.
We are at about the quarter mark of the season. It is going by too fast! What has been your biggest surprise of the season? Let me know on X/Twitter @LAM1926.