Fantasy hockey: What coaching change means for Islanders
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Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.com
Welcome back, coach Patrick Roy.
The New York Islanders, with Roy behind the bench, snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday for their new coach. The lines weren’t different, the deployment wasn’t different, but the Isles got the first result they wanted from the coaching change.
From a fantasy perspective, we weren’t as worried about the results we were still getting from the skaters under former coach Lane Lambert. In fact, Noah Dobson (2.81 fantasy points per game) is having a banner season, with Bo Horvat (2.19 FPPG) and Mathew Barzal (2.10 FPPG) both doing just fine for fantasy. You can even round out rosters with Brock Nelson (2.01 FPPG) and, when healthy, Ryan Pulock (1.94 FPPG).
So, really, Roy probably can’t improve the outcomes for many of the skaters here beyond what we’ve already been getting. Maybe he can get Anders Lee, Simon Holmstrom or Oliver Wahlstrom to start picking up points on the top line with the Horvat-Barzal duo? But that’s just gravy at this stage of the fantasy season, as the skaters on Long Island aren’t disappointing.
It’s in the crease that we in the fantasy realm want Roy to have an impact. Short of strapping on the pads himself, the hope is to make Ilya Sorokin remember who he is: A goaltender that should be competing for the top spot among all fantasy goaltenders this season.
Sorokin currently sits 11th for fantasy points, but it’s a ranking achieved by virtue of sheer playing time — he’s second in total ice time, but 27th in fantasy points per 60 minutes (that’s FPP60 with a minimum 10 starts). It does look like a player issue versus a team issue, if only because of Semyon Varlamov‘s results this campaign. Sorokin has 2.16 FPP60 this campaign, but Varlamov has earned 3.19 FPP60, which actually ranks ninth in the NHL.
If Sorokin had an FPP60 equal to Varlamov, he’d be top three in fantasy points among the goaltenders this season.
So if there is anything we want from the Roy era on the Islanders bench from a fantasy perspective, it’s for the coach to impart some of his swagger and passion to the team’s best goaltender.
Of course, there’s also the possible familiarity factor that could throw a wrench into that hope. Who was Roy’s goaltender in his previous NHL head coaching stint with the Colorado Avalanche? Oh, that’s right, Varlamov, who finished first overall in fantasy points in the 2013-14 season. It’s worth making a mental note to monitor the usage once Varlamov returns to health.
The next few days in the NHL are busier than usual, with six games on Monday, nine on Tuesday and another seven on Wednesday. The result is every NHL team in action to start the week, with 12 teams playing twice through Wednesday’s action.
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Stock up
David Rittich, G, Los Angeles Kings (99.1% available): With a pair of wins across three starts in the past four Kings games, Rittich is making this look more like a Cam Talbot problem than it is a team problem. While Talbot has earned -3.6 fantasy points since Christmas, Rittich has actually done OK in the Kings’ net when called upon. Now, he was called upon very sparingly until recently, but he’s responded well, posting 14.6 fantasy points across three starts in the past week or so — including 2.2 fantasy points in a loss.
If you want to try him out, the timing couldn’t be better as the Sharks and Sabres are next on the docket. That said, those are two of the teams you’d want to throw your struggling goaltender at to try to get him back on track, so we’ll have to see how the Kings play it.
Adam Henrique, C/W, Anaheim Ducks (88.6% available): Henrique goes through peaks and valleys with production and is currently somewhere near one of his peaks. Playing with recently returned rookie Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry, he’s picked up 21.7 fantasy points across his past nine games.
Samuel Girard, D, Colorado Avalanche (84.0% available): Returning from the player assistance program, Girard had a couple of games with minimal minutes as it looked like he was being eased back into the lineup. That ended quickly when Bowen Byram was hurt and Girard was forced to the second pairing with Josh Manson. And Girard has responded to the responsibility, averaging 2.32 fantasy points across his past 10 games.
Warren Foegele, W, Edmonton Oilers (98.0% available): Absolutely, there will be games where Foegele doesn’t get any fantasy points. Those, however, will be more than buttressed by the nights when Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane light the lamp or make Foegele do so. Of his past 10 games, 14.6 of his total 20.3 fantasy points came in just three contests — but that’s an overall average of 2.03 FPPG.
Stock down
Alex DeBrincat, R, Detroit Red Wings (1.4% available): It’s benching time. It’s been 10 games without a goal for DeBrincat (only two assists) and he wasn’t even on the top power-play unit in their last outing. With Patrick Kane sidelined, Dylan Larkin appears to be the only safe start from the Red Wings forward group at the moment.
Travis Sanheim, D, Philadelphia Flyers (32.2% available): Something has changed with Sanheim’s game in the past month. To put a bow on the 2023 portion of the schedule this season, Sanheim finished with 72.1 fantasy points across 34 games (2.12 per game), including 64 shots (1.9 per game) and 62 blocked shots (1.8 per game).
In the 2024 portion of the schedule so far, Sanheim has played 11 games with 10.8 fantasy points (0.98 per game), 20 shots (1.8 per game) and 13 blocked shots (1.2 per game). So he’s not blocking shots so far in January and it’s killing his fantasy value. Keep an eye on the situation, as Sanheim was one of the top fantasy D options when the shots were being blocked.
Streamer specials
Matt Roy, D, Los Angeles Kings (45.4% available): Nothing quite like starting the week off with a little Sharks and Sabres action for opponents. Roy, somewhat quietly, ranks 38th among defense for fantasy points this season.
Alec Martinez, D, Vegas Golden Knights (58.6% available): Martinez is always a good choice. But he’s an even better choice when a combination of injuries and situations has him playing more power-play time than Alex Pietrangelo on some nights.
Chandler Stephenson, C, Vegas Golden Knights (53.8% available): As the Golden Knights pile up more and more injuries, those remaining have more and more responsibility. Stephenson is now the top-line center and locked in on the first power-play unit. It looks like this could be the case for a while, but certainly for the short-term against the Devils and Islanders.
