Welcome back to the Fantasy Hockey Hacks Podcast! In the fifth episode of the podcast, Devon and Bruce discuss hockey news from the past week, including the NHL’s new TV deal with Turner Sports. Weekly injury report, potential waiver wire targets heading into the fantasy hockey championship week; and a few notes on the upcoming schedule.
Have questions or feedback? Please reach out on Twitter, @FHHacks, or email us at FantasyHockeyHacks@Gmail.com.
HOCKEY NEWS | April 26 – May 2
- NHL announces 7-year deal with Turner Sports as secondary U.S. TV partner
- The NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights agreement Tuesday that will have regular-season, Stanley Cup Playoff and Stanley Cup Final games televised on TNT and TBS starting next season and running through 2027-28.
- As part of the agreement, Turner Sports networks will televise the NHL Winter Classic, the annual New Year’s Day outdoor game, in all seven seasons of the deal.
- It will televise all games in the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, 2025 and 2027, one conference final series each season, and half of the first two rounds of the playoffs, plus 72 regular-season games per season.
- The Stanley Cup Final will be televised on ABC in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028 as part of the deal with The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN.
- It has the rights to one conference final round per season, half of the first two rounds of the playoffs, 25 regular-season games on ABC or ESPN, and 75 national games that will stream on ESPN+ and Hulu.
- In addition, they will stream more than 1,000 out-of-market games each regular season on ESPN+, which will replace NHL.TV.
- The upcoming deals will average $635 million a year ($410 million from Disney and $225 million from Turner).
31 Thoughts, enjoy!
What the Turner Sports TV deal means for the NHL https://t.co/davpLGMHeS— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 27, 2021
- Release the Kracken!! Seattle Kracken are now officially the NHL’s 32 team as of Friday. They can now sign players and make trades.
Signed, sealed, delivered. ✅
On what is a monumental day for hockey in the Pacific Northwest, the #SeaKraken share their thoughts on the meaning of today & what’s next for the @NHL‘s 32nd franchise → https://t.co/LANabjaipd pic.twitter.com/6EgycmxXGn
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 30, 2021
- Cole Caufield NHL Debut with the Montreal Canadiens
- Played on the top line with Philip Danault and Tomas Tatar
- 15:40 TOI, 2:02 PP, 4 SOG
- 1st goal was OT winner vs Ottawa
FIRST @NHL GOAL AND IT’S THE OT WINNER! @colecaufield pic.twitter.com/wrWkNMiOT6
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) May 2, 2021
- Jonathan Drouin takes a leave of absence from the Montreal Canadiens
- Quinton Byfield made his NHL Debut on Wednesday against the Ducks
- 17:57 TOI, 4:20 PPTOI, 4 SOG, 2 PIMS
- Note, ice-time went down in the next two games, particularly on the power play (0:30)
- 17:57 TOI, 4:20 PPTOI, 4 SOG, 2 PIMS
- Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller announces that he will retire following the season.
- Started his final game on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, .920 SV% and a 6-2 win!
All the LA Kings players stuck around after the game to pay respect to Ryan Miller. Awesome. pic.twitter.com/KMnDg4uLvk
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 2, 2021
- Connor McDavid with a Hat-Trick, assist in Edmonton Oilers win over the Winnipeg Jets!
- 10 points in 4 games played this week (7.1 Pts/60)
- 21:14 ATOI, 18 SOG, 3:12 PPTOI
- Edmonton Oilers over-take the Jets for 2nd place in the Scotia North Division
- McDavid now on pace for 99 points over 56 games (146 points over 82 GP)! Will he reach the century mark this season?
- Played his 400th NHL game on Saturday night, 556 points to date. Only 6 players in NHL history ahead of him Wayne Gretzky (935), Mario Lemieux (774), Peter Stastny (607), Mike Bossy (598), Jari Kurri (570) and Eric Lindros (563).
- Ryan McLeod NHL Debut with the Oil
- Played with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujärvi on the second line on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.
- 14:18 TOI
- Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, and Washington Capitals all clinched playoff berths.
- Vancouver Canucks place Jake Virtanen on leave after sexual misconduct allegations.
- Final thought on the Calder Trophy Race
- Should criteria be altered:
- Cap eligibility based on age (i.e. 22 years of age and younger)? Brought up to me by our buddy Jon; who didn’t feel that Kaprizov should be eligible. Personally, I didn’t like that Artemi Panarin won it at the age of 24 (77 points in 80 games, playing with Patrick Kane).
- % of games played? RNH and Connor McDavid were more proficient in their rookie seasons, but the thought process was that durability (i.e. games played) was more important. RNH HAD 52 POINTS IN 62 GAMES, LANDESKOG WON WITH 52 POINTS IN 82 GAMES.
- Should criteria be altered:
INJURY REPORT | April 26 – May 2
- Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG, LW/RW (62.9% ESPN, %Yahoo)
- Done for the season after sustaining an upper-body injury last weekend against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Head coach Paul Maurice says Nikolaj Ehlers is out for the rest of the regular season after this hit from Leafs’ Jake Muzzin on Saturday pic.twitter.com/0V7LNMifky
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 26, 2021
- Mikko Rantanen, COL, RW (99.9% ESPN, %Yahoo)
- Returned from injury on Friday night versus the San Jose Sharks. The winger was in COVID protocol for the past week or so.
- 5 points in 2 games since returning (7.3 Pts/60)!!
- 20:31 ATOI, 4:30 PPTOI
- Alex Ovechkin, WAS, RW (99.9% ESPN, %Yahoo)
- Ovi missed a number of games this week with a lower-body injury.
- Carter Hart, PHI, G (44.2% ESPN, % Yahoo)
- Will miss the rest of the regular season with an MCL strain. Hart has been one of the biggest busts in fantasy hockey, finishing the season with a 9-11-5 record, a 3.67 GAA, and a .877 SV%.
WAIVER WIRE ADDS | May 3 – May 9
- Sam Bennett, FLA, C/LW/RW (38.7% ESPN, 60% Yahoo)
- 15 points in his last 11 games played, centering Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair.
- Since joining Florida:
- 9 GP – 13 Points (4.8 points/60!!)
- 18:13 ATOI, 3:29 PP TOI
- +11, 36 SOG, 21 PIMS, 28 Hits
- OFFERS: Complete Category Coverage
- 2 GAMES (DAL, TBL)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Cole Caufield, MTL, RW (9.9% ESPN, 14% Yahoo)
- Scored his first career goal, the overtime winner against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night!
- Top 6 Placement, and power play time
- Pure goal-scorer and volume shooter that has excelled at every level of play.
- With Brendan Gallagher out with injury, and the Montreal Canadiens thin at the RW position; Caufield should be given every chance to excel.
- OFFERS: Goals, SOG, PPP
- 4 GAMES (TOR, OTT, TOR, TOR)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Nick Bonino, MIN, RW (11.5% ESPN, 15% Yahoo)
- 11 points in his last 7 games played, while averaging 3:02 on the first PP unit with Kirill Kaprizov!
- Playing on the 4th line, however, he has been playing with Kevin Fiala, Zach Parise, and Joel Eriksson Ek and ATOI is 16:11
- OFFERS: Points, PPP, PIMS, FOW
- 4 GAMES (VGS, VGS, ANH, ANH)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Jack Hughes, NJD, G (45.2% ESPN, 43% Yahoo)
- 13 Points, 57 SOG in his last 17 games played
- ATOI 20:10, 3:35 PPTOI
- OFFERS: SOG, Points, PPP
- 4 GAMES (BOS, BOS, NYI, NYI)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Yegor Sharangovich, NJD, (5.4% ESPN, 7% Yahoo)
- 8 Points, 21 SOG in his last 7 games (3.8 Pts/60)
- ATOI 18:03, 2:00 PPTOI, playing with Jack Hughes 5v5
- OFFERS: Goals, Points, PPP, SOG
- 4 GAMES (BOS, BOS, NYI, NYI)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Alex Goligoski, ARI, (50.8% ESPN, 36% Yahoo)
- 12 Points in his last 16 games played
- ATOI 23:51, 1:42 PPTOI, playing with Jacob Chycrun 5v5
- OFFERS: Points, PPP, Blocks, Hits
- 4 GAMES (LAK, LAK, SJS, SJS)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Cody Ceci, PIT, (8.1% ESPN, 9% Yahoo)
- 10 points in his last 16 games played, +7
- OFFERS: Points, +/-, exposure to PIT top 6
- 4 GAMES (PHI, PHI, BUF, BUF)
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Alex Nedeljkovic, CAR, G (38.1% ESPN, 59% Yahoo)
- 14 Wins in 21 Games Played – 67% quality starts (Frozen Tools)
- 1.89 GAA, 0.934 SV%, 3 SO
- OFFERS: Excellent GAA, SV%, Wins
- 4 GAMES (Chicago x3, NSH)
- Petr Mrazek will likely be back, or Nedeljkovic will split time with Reimer. Still, expect at least 2 starts.
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
- Spencer Knight, FLA, G (9.2% ESPN, 11% Yahoo)
- 3 Wins in 3 GP
- 1.67 GAA, .943 SV%
- OFFERS: Excellent GAA, SV%, Wins
- 2 GAMES (DAL, TBL)
- May only receive one start next week with Driedger healthy, and Bobrovsky playing well.
- Bruce: Buying or Selling?
Schedule Notes | May 3 – May 9
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Play four times next week, three times against the Chicago Blackhawks, and once against the Nashville Predators.
- Colorado Avalanche
- Play four times next week, twice against the San Jose Sharks and twice against the Los Angeles Kings
- Edmonton Oilers
- Play four times against the Vancouver Canucks next week
- New York Islanders
- Play four times next week, twice against the Buffalo Sabres, and Twice against the New Jersey Devils.
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Play four times next week, twice against Philadelphia and twice against the Sabres.
- Check out 0GAR’s weekly off-night schedule tool!