NHL Schedule Analysis: Good Situation, Light Schedule

Four Aces

As always, you may want to avoid counting on players whose organizations (Calgary, Chicago and New Jersey) play just two games this week. Embedded in the group of 11 teams playing a four game schedule, we found four of them will be the busiest (six games in 10 nights) leading up until the All-Star break.

Sure they can handle Buffalo, maybe, but Philly has lost five straight to Tampa dating back to beginning of last season, outscored 21-11. Add in back-to-back contests with the Caps and Canucks and Steven Mason set to miss at least a week, we're going to pass on Flyers for the next seven days.

Rangers 2-0-1 against Pens, but have embarrassing defeats to both the Isles and Columbus earlier in the season. IF they can sustain their winning ways, they will have proven themselves to be a contender again. Derick Brassard is quietly turning things around as is Mats Zuccarello. While Henrik Lundqvist has allowed just one goal per game in his last three contests, Cam Talbot should get a start this week against either the Bruins or Jackets.

Tampa Bay will play two on the road against the Flyers and Bruins before heading home to play five of six to close out the month. After a three-game drought, Valtteri Filppula has a goal and an assist and six shots on net in his last two games. Radko Gudas was officially moved to the IR.

What's we find most interesting about this week's schedule is Toronto's trip out West. While the Leafs are seemingly are nearing dumpster fire status, they blew out the Jackets and have outscored the Pacific 21-11 en route to a 4-1 record. Can't believe I'm saying it, but I might be scanning for Leafs sleepers. Daniel Winnik and Mike Santorelli who both have experience playing in the Western Conference come to mind. We've been telling you about the Cody Franson sweepstakes all year, it's too late to jump on that wagon, but daily FanDuel owners should play with confidence. James van Riemsdyk has 11 points (five goals) in his last eight contests.

Three of a Kind

Hold 'Em

Anaheim finishes out its eight-game homestand with two gimmes, Leafs and Devils, before travelling 30 minutes west for a Saturday showdown with the rival Kings. The series is close (8 goals each) between these two with the Ducks holding a 1-0-1 record.

Florida closes out their six game road trip on Tuesday versus the Jets. The Panthers will then play the Avs (1-0 record this season), Oilers and Canucks (1-0) to start out a five game home-stand. Sean Bergenheim (six points in eight games) is refusing to get deep into a drought and there was a Dave Bolland sighting in Friday's win over Calgary. Jonathan Huberdeau has nine points in seven games since the holiday break.

While Minnesota's record (8-11) away from the Excel center leaves something to desire, the bulk of the heavy lifting on this current three game road trip started Sunday against the Blackhawks. Sure, Pittsburgh will be a tough matchup (lost 4-1 earlier this year), but the Sabres, 'Yotes and Blue Jackets (next week) could have their confidence up as they prepare for a dip in quality opponents. Nate Prosser (illness) returned on Saturday, displacing Jonathon Blum while Marcojeff Scandella (head) didn't travel to Chicago on Sunday.

Fold 'Em

Columbus not only plays three times in four nights, but they'll play three decent opponents in the Canadiens, Rangers and Bruins. Nick Foligno has 10 points in his last seven tilts. Ryan Johansen extended his point streak to 10 games.

Okay, Oilers fans, three quality wins over two weeks does not change an entire season. Edmonton begins a four game road trip this week. If their 2-10-7 record isn't enough to target them for easy money, check out their opponents (Blues, Lightning, Panthers) for more assurance. Anton Lander does have a three game point streak and Derek Roy has collected five points in six games since joining the team.

Playing two of three on the road, the Metropoliitan leading Islanders could have a bumpy week ahead. The Isles will visit the always raucous Madison Square Garden (Rangers, 3rd in the Metropolitan) to start the week and The Bell Centre (Canadiens, second in Atlantic) to end the week. Sandwiched in between will be a host date with a Penguins (2nd in Metropolitan) squad nipping at their heels to regain possession of first in the division. Cal Clutterbuck had an assist in his return to the lineup on Saturday. Mikail Grobovski (lower body) is considered day-to-day. Thomas Hickey snapped a five game point-scoring (minus-7 over that span) drought.  Read more on Ryan Strome below.

Table Talk with Phil Naessens

1). Questions about picking up Ryan Strome, David Perron, Jeff Skinner and Paul Stastny

Strome- Let me just say, I'm a fan.

Dual Eligibility in Yahoo and just now starting to mature. Isles an explosive bunch and play 15 games next month. Obviously not a lot of career numbers to analyze here, so look to his linemates. Anders Lee is the same type of hype with no career numbers to base off, so it's centerman Frans Nielsen that needs be in your microscope. Nielsen could be looking to avenge a broken hand that took away his January and February last year. But either way, his career numbers are pedestrian until you get to March when he's just under a point-per-game average. This is a gamble depending on who you're saying goodbye to, but overall, we love Ryan Strome's long-term value. 

Perron 

Well, Pens have only eight games over next 21 days, and play 12 games next month, but 15 in March. Throw out everything Perron's done to this point, it's a whole new ball game for the first round pick as he's likely going to remain on Pens top line, at least for now. I'd say yes, but stay patient with a light schedule over the next 50 days or so.

Skinner

Carolina scares me, but Skinner, always finds a way to avoid slump? Much like Perron, his team's schedule doesn't kick up until March. Top it off with some very decent career numbers as the season grows on, but be careful, he's got an X on his back nightly and could find himself injured at some point.

Stastny

Ordinarily, I'm meh on Stastny, he comes with a usually more expensive price tag than he's worth. If you can wait out January, the Blues play 14 games in the month of February and March, but his career numbers do not tail off too bad in the dead of winter (Jan, Feb), just his games played. Push.

2). A listener wanted to know if they should drop Ondrej Pavelec?

Hutchinson has really taken a strong hold here and Pavelec given up four in three straight contests. That said, over the course of Pavelec's career, statistically speaking December is his worst month, and he seems to turn on the jets in January and February, pardon the pun. But his numbers are irrelevant if Hutch can continue to shine. Meaning Pavelec has to outplay Hutch when he gets a chance and since the team has just three b2b occurrences for the rest of the season, that's not likely to happen. Either way, we've never been a Pavelec supporter, We say it's time to cut bait.

3). Another listener wanted to know if Cam Talbot is worth owning?

Yes and no... Ninety-percent of the time when he starts, he's lights out, save for his three goal performance against the Kings this week. But still, he got the win. We've been picking and dropping him out of FA pool for weeks. Most people are reluctant to pick him up on a permanent basis, there's a reason for that. So, if you're in a league with no max acquisitions, play the game. If you have max acquisitions, obviously you'll want to ensure who you're dropping for him is trending in the wrong direction or at least you're a Henrik Lundqvist owner. Bottom line, assuming King Henrik remains healthy, he's only likely to get starts when the team plays on b2b nights. While the team does have six b2b occurrences remaining, more than half of them (4) are in March.