Fantasy Hockey Start Em Sit Em Week 15 - Oil Them Up
In this story:
The peculiar schedule this week is an interesting one. Let us take a quick scan on the number of games first.
- Monday -- 9
- Tuesday -- 10
- Wednesday -- 4
- Thursday -- 10
- Friday -- 5
- Saturday -- 13
- Sunday -- 3
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are still the busiest on the slate but Monday night is an unusual one. We like to take this from a couple different angles -- team and player. As we dip our toes in the water, bear with us.
Let us have some fun. Here we go!
Teams To Look At And Start Some Players
Edmonton Oilers
Obviously, playing five times helps the offense and Evan Bouchard. Edmonton plays Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. That means two stretches of three games in four nights. It is unusual but not uncommon. That is why you are going to see a lot of start players like Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen, etc.
These are players in the top six who benefit from the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Woule one touch the goaltending here? Probably not. Tristan Jarry is expected to return later in the week or weekend. Meanwhile, the offense will need to score more goals with Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram in net.
Arguably, the New York Islanders are the only team with a stingy defense (3rd in goals allowed) and that is mostly due to their goaltending. Ilya Sorkin has been very good since the Islanders changed goaltending coaches. He has four shutouts among his 14 wins this season.
Otherwise, it is clear sailing ahead for Oilers' forwards. One could go to the third line in some cases depending on how deep a league you may be in.
Buffalo Sabres
Hey, the Buffalo Sabres are rolling and play four times this week. They have games on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. All four contests are at home, too. Buffalo carries a 14-5-2 record at the KeyBank Center. The Sabres rank in the middle of the pack as far as goals and defense. However, they are in the Top 10 over the last month in both metrics.
Tage Thompson and Bowen Byram both have seven points in their last five games. We mentioned the goaltending in an earlier article. Injuries are a bit of an issue but players like Josh Norris and Jason Zucker have been quite good despite missing solid chunks of time. Norris has missed 25 games and Zucker has been out 18.
This is not about starting top players necessarily but the fantasy depth that typically helps in winning leagues.
Teams To Consider Sitting Some Players
New Jersey Devils
The Devils are 6-14-7 since their early start with including an unbeaten run at home the likes that hadn't been seen in Jersey for years. All the goodwill from that start evaporated after Jack Hughes was injured. Hughes has not fully recovered though he is continuing to mend. The heart of the Devils may be irrevocably broken. Many argue it already is.
Plenty of blame is to go around but a team built on offense is averaging a mere 2.56 goals per game. Their expected goals average at even strength is dead last by wide margin (more than -22 at this point). The New York Rangers are approaching -12 as the next worst team. Special teams has plummeted as well.
The power play dropped from 3rd to 14th and the penalty kill was 2nd last year but now 23rd at 77.6%. It is like playing a not to lose style does not work. Safe is death was once uttered by John Tortorella. New Jersey has fallen victim to it in so many ways on the ice.
Off the ice, there is enough drama to fill a book. Dougie Hamilton will eventually get traded. There are all sorts of wild rumors of the Hughes Brothers, etc. They are too soft, do not go to the net enough, etc. The Head Coach and General Manager are on the hot seat.
🚨 Team Update 🚨
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 12, 2026
We’ve relieved head coach Dean Evason and assistant coach Steve McCarthy of their duties and hired veteran NHL coach Rick Bowness as the club’s head coach.
CBJ x @OHHeartofitAll pic.twitter.com/cXWr59Pd5w
Columbus just did it so the writing may be on the wall. Wait a little on most of New Jersey's talent until things hopefully start to sort out.
New York Rangers
Without Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, it is tough to play much of anyone not named Artemi Panarin. Mika Zibanejad has been pretty good but again a liability on the other side of the ice (-14 in 45 games). Jonathan Quick is not going to be able to hold the fort for long if Shesterkin is held out several weeks. Again, does a team risk their starting goaltender at this point?
New York is on the outside looking in again at the playoffs. Last year, the swoon happened much earlier. This season has seen a different Rangers team on the road. At home, It is beyond bad. Injuries have been a problem but poor roster construction like New Jersey has caused further problems. From a fantasy standpoint, there is not a lot to trust.
Sitting some top players even given the home record is a real possibility even against Seattle and Ottawa. The Rangers head to Philly before going out West next week.
