Fantasy hockey forecaster: October 8 - 14

We here at Fake Teams are always looking for ways to improve. Given some self-reflection coupled with some feedback last year I’m hoping this new format will help you win each week of your fantasy season and ultimately the championship. Below are three separate sections:

1. (NEW) Each team’s ranking for goalies, forwards, PK and PP against the other teams in the league. As of now it’s so early in the year that we are using last year’s total stats to run this off. Once we get around 3 weeks in we will switch to this season
2. (NEW) The Three. I will provide, three players who are on fire (this might not even be points wise, it might be an uptick in play that signals to me they are on the cusp of some point production), three players who are cooling off (this will also include players that aren’t materializing the way we expect) and finally three free agent pickups (among all players under 50% owned, preferably some in the single digits and some that are close to 50 to feed all different sizes of leagues).
3. (OLD) The schedule which will show each team they play and what the individual rankings are for each matchup, this is more useful in the daily leagues where you are looking at individual matchups

3 players who are on fire

1. Auston Matthews (100% owned) 5 goals through his first three games.
2. Jonathan Toews (86% owned) his ownership is about to vault up real quick, watch for the Blackhawks to rebound this year, they aren’t completely tertiary yet.
3. Tyler Seguin (100% owned) Two games into the season, he has a pair of goals and assists, 12 shots and 23 faceoffs won, he is earning his fresh new contract.

3 players who are cooling off

1. Nikita Kucherov (100% owned) there is no cooling off when the season just started but he started the season with no points and no SOG through 21 minutes
2. Brent Burns (100% owned) Through three games, he has 2 SOG, no points and no plus/minus.
3. Aleksander Barkov (96% owned). Florida’s one game (a 2-1 loss) brought Aleksander with 4 SOG, no points and a -1, nothing to panic over but not a good opener for Barkov.

3 free agent pickups (under 50%)

1. Jordan Staal (23% owned) The Hurricanes look to be legit…so far, if they are Jordan will be one of the top 3 leading the charge. Ninth most SOG in the league so far.
2. Paul Byron (13% owned) a pair of goals and assists highlight the start of the season for the 29 year old who might see his first season with over 45 points as he is on Montreal’s third line but he’s alongside Max Domi (who will grind to win the puck and feed his linemates) and Artturi Lehkonen who is in his third year but a more than capable goal scorer. Paul isn’t an all-star but he should be more around 40% owned.
3. Jimmy Vesey (1% owned). The 2^nd line of Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello and Jimmy looks like it might be the best among the collective (at least so far). Mats speed coupled with Jimmy’s quick hands is materializing. The downside here is the Rangers rebuild which is destroying the players plus/minus. Jimmy is 12^th in the league in shots on goal so far and he should be at least 25% owned.

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports