Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and readers this week! It’s a busy schedule that is heavily weighted to Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday unlike the usual week where it is slanted to Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
There is only one game on Thanksgiving Thursday and that one takes place in Canada as New Jersey visits Montreal.
Enjoy the holiday and The Week Ahead!
Don’t forget, for everything NHL, check out Rotoworld’s Player News, and follow @Rotoworld_ HK and @mfinewaxhockey on Twitter.
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 1
4 Games – Boston, Buffalo, Columbus, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New York Rangers, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Vancouver
3 Games - Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Edmonton, New Jersey, New York Islanders, Toronto, Vegas, Washington, Winnipeg
2 Games – Florida
Columbus, Los Angeles, Montreal and Tampa Bay play three games at home.
Ottawa, St. Louis, Vancouver and Winnipeg play three games on the road.
Editor’s Note: If you’re on the hunt for rankings, projections, strategy and advice on how to dominate your drafts, check out the all-new Rotoworld NHL Draft Guide. Now mobile-optimized with a new look and feel, it’s never been easier to take our award-winning advice with you to your drafts for that extra competitive edge! Click here to learn more!
INJURIES
Nikita Kucherov is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. (Click here to see the rest of the injury list.)
ANAHEIM
Games this week
vs. New York Islanders, @ Arizona, vs. Winnipeg
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
Just like last season, John Gibson got off to a hot start this year but has crumbled of late. Gibson is regarded as a top-ten goaltender but he has given up 21 goals in his last five games, on only 162 shots. Last season, he was great until Christmas with a 15-11-4 mark to go with a 2.52 GAA and a .926 save percentage. He is currently 7-10-1 with a 3.02 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Ondrej Kase was supposed to be a top scorer this season for the Ducks but he was made a healthy scratch on November 16. He returned to action this week and scored his second of the season Thursday, while adding an assist to give him nine points in 17 games.
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ARIZONA
Games this week
vs. Anaheim, @ Vegas, vs. San Jose
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Coyotes are in second place in the Pacific Division with a 13-8-2 record despite dropping a 3-1 decision to Toronto at home on Thursday. We discussed the best goaltender in fantasy at the quarter pole in The Roundtable this week, and Darcy Kuemper swept the votes as the best thus far. He has 9-5-0 with a 1.85 GAA and a .937 save percentage and deservedly received the honor. Barrett Hayton was a healthy scratch for six straight games but an injury to Michael Grabner put him in the lineup Thursday to give him 10 games this season and burn a year in his entry-level contract. Phil Kessel has struggled this season offensively with only three goals and 13 points in 23 games. He is also a minus-eight.
BOSTON
Games this week
@ Montreal, @ Ottawa, vs. New York Rangers, vs. Montreal
Tired: @ Ottawa (Wednesday)
Rested: vs. Montreal (Sunday)
Notes
The Bruins play four games this week including three games in four nights. It’s possible that Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak share the net, but if someone is going to play three games, it is going to be Rask. Boston takes on Montreal twice this week and look for Brad Marchand to add to his penalty minutes total if there are any fisticuffs. Marchand has also taken over the points lead from David Pastrnak on the Bruins with 37 in 22 games, one better than Pastrnak. Patrice Bergeron returned to action Thursday after missing a couple of games with a lower-body injury. He had an assist and has eight goals and 20 points in 20 games. Torey Krug has been out a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury but is expected back on November 23. The Bruins need more offense from Charlie McAvoy who has only seven points in 22 games after picking up 28 last season in 54 contests.
BUFFALO
Games this week
@ Tampa Bay, vs. Calgary, vs. Toronto, @ Toronto
Tired: @ Tampa Bay (Monday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Sabres play three games in four nights as part of their four-game week. Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton have been sharing the net of late so don’t be surprised this week if they split it again. Hutton is 0-4-2 in his last six starts after starting the season at 6-0-0. The Sabres play a home-and-home series against Toronto following Thanksgiving and should tempers flare, Jimmy Vesey and Curtis Lazar are the only Sabres with a fighting major this season. The Sabres got off to a very hot start as they were 8-1-1 but they have faltered since as Buffalo is 2-8-2 since the hot start. I thought this would be a breakout season for Casey Mittelstadt but thus far he has proven me wrong with only three goals and seven points in 22 games, including none in his last 12 games.
CALGARY
Games this week
@ Pittsburgh, @ Buffalo, vs. Ottawa
Tired: None
Rested: vs. Ottawa (Saturday)
Notes
The Flames are another team who are flustered at the moment as they have lost six straight games and are 10-12-3 after finishing last season with 105 points. The team held a players-only meeting after Thursday’s 5-0 loss to St. Louis so expect a bit of a rebound this week. Bill Peters is the next coach who is on the firing line as the expectations were high in Calgary heading into this season. Sean Monahan and Jonny Gaudreau have similar stats this season and it is not on the good side of the ledger as they both have five goals and 13 assists in 25 contests with Monahan a minus-12 while Gaudreau is slightly better at minus-11. T.J. Brodie was finally back on the ice to skate Thursday, albeit with close medical attention. It was the first time since he collapsed on the ice in practice a week earlier.
CAROLINA
Games this week
@ New York Rangers, vs. Nashville, @ Tampa Bay
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Hurricanes three games in four nights so expect to see Petr Mrazek in the cage on two occasions with James Reimer getting the call once. Joel Edmundson has been a nice find on the blueline of late as he is on a five-game points streak, Andrei Svechnikov continues to excel as he has 10 goals and 24 points in 22 games and is on a six-game scoring streak. Sebastian Aho had three goals in his first 12 games but has eight in his last 10. Martin Necas continues to be undervalued in fantasy as the former first round pick in 2017 has five goals and 15 points this season. Dougie Hamilton continues to have a great season as the defenseman has nine goals and 23 points in 22 games with a plus-11 rating.
CHICAGO
Games this week
vs. Dallas, vs. Colorado, @ Colorado
Tired: None
Rested: vs. Dallas (Tuesday)
Notes
The Blackhawks play the Avalanche in a home-and-home series this week. Erik Gustafsson has the Blackhawks only fighting major (that occurred on Sunday) so don’t expect a lot of rough stuff. Gustafsson has three goals in his last five games after not scoring in his first 16 matches. In a minor league deal, the Blackhawks acquired Joseph Cramarossa from Pittsburgh in exchange for Graham Knott. Rookie Kirby Dach was some time with Patrick Kane on Tuesday but was back on the third line Thursday in a loss to Tampa Bay. Kane extended his points streak to 11 games on Thursday with an assist. He has 11 goals and 29 points in 22 games thus far and is headed to his third 100-point season in the last five seasons.
COLORADO
Games this week
vs. Edmonton, @ Chicago, vs. Chicago
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Avalanche play three games in four nights so expect Philipp Grubauer to play twice while Pavel Francouz should get one start. The Avs also play Chicago in a home-and-home series so expect to see Nazem Kadri get involved as he has two fighting majors to date. Nathan MacKinnon continues to shine without his two injured linemates as he has 13 goals and 32 points in 22 games. Gabriel Landeskog has not started skating and has been out since October 26 with a lower-body injury. Cale Makar is the heavy favorite for the Calder Trophy at this time as the rookie defenseman has seven goals and 25 points in 22 games including a pair of goals Thursday. Andre Burakovsky is finally having his breakout season with 10 goals and 20 points in 22 games. The former Capital has five goals and eight points in his last four games. Matt Calvert is out indefinitely with a head injury after taking a puck to the head Saturday.
COLUMBUS
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Philadelphia, vs. Pittsburgh, @ New York Islanders
Tired: @ New York Islanders (Saturday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Blue Jackets play four games this week including three games in four nights. Expect to see Joonas Korpisalo in net for three games with Elvis Merzlikins playing once. The Blue Jackets are in sixth place in the Metropolitan with 22 points in 21 games. They hired coach Paul McLean this week to help out with the power play and the Blue Jackets were two-of-five with the man-advantage in his first game Thursday. Nick Foligno returned to action Thursday after missing three games with a suspension for elbowing Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the Avs. Emil Bemstrom saw his five-game points streak end on Thursday.
DALLAS
Games this week
vs. Vegas, @ Chicago, vs. St. Louis, @ Minnesota
Tired: @ Chicago (Tuesday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Stars are red hot at this time as they are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games after starting the season at 1-7-1. They are definitely moving up the rankings this week. Dallas plays four games this week so Ben Bishop should see two or three games in goal with Anton Khudobin getting the rest of the action. Bishop continues to be a top-three goalie as he is 8-5-1 with a 2.25 GAA and a .926 save percentage. Tyler Seguin has 19 points in 22 games and that has been bolstered of late by his four-game points streak in which he has three goals and eight points. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen has been hot of late as well with two goals and eight points in a six-game points streak that has him at 17 points. He is only 20 and is going to be a stud in the NHL for a long time.
