The more time you invest in fantasy hockey-related research, the better your odds at eventual success. But with only so many minutes available, let us, ESPN's Fantasy Hockey department, crunch the relevant numbers, mine the analysis, and watch more NHL action than some might feel possible. We're in position to help you with advice, delivered in curated, digestible morsels.
The following weekly guide provides a day-by-day plan of how to take advantage of our material in managing your roster either on ESPN.com or in the ESPN Fantasy App, regardless of daily-adjustment league (H2H Points, H2H Categories, H2H Most Categories, Season Points etc.) Even those of you engaged in weekly set-and-forget competition should find this schedule useful. Just make sure you jam it all before Monday's first game.
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Monday: The most important day
Even in leagues that allow for daily lineup adjustments, there's a clear advantage in getting your fantasy ducks in order before week's launch. Here's your opportunity to size up current competition in head-to-head leagues, to review the fantasy-week-that-was - what went right/wrong - and to give your roster a thorough sussing out.
Underachieving fantasy players also deserve examination. A minor cold stretch is one thing; an obvious unravelling, demotion to the fourth line, or removal from the power play is quite another. If there's no quick turnaround in sight, our Monday Waiver Picks column helps in offering a choice of underrated -- and largely available -- performers, if a swapping out is needed. So first click on the 'My Team' tab and give your squad a good lookover. Reading their attached notes, while gauging their ESPN Fantasy-wide adds/drops (+/-) is also helpful. If droves of fantasy managers are dropping so-and-so, there's probably a good reason why.
While many leagues allow for shuffling players in and out everyday, some don't. Others include a cap on weekly transactions. You can see those limits as part of your weekly matchup scoreboard. Make sure you're planning accordingly by not overloading the early-week games with your backups. At the same time, make sure you're taking advantage of every GP you can as the NHL schedule doesn't provide every player three games a week. Sometimes it is two, sometimes it is four.
Once your team appears in reasonable order, fine tune your lineup for Monday with an eye to specific matchups. Then do the same, immediately, for every day of the week. Consider it an insurance move. Preferably, you still want to make adjustments daily with the latest info available, but sometimes life takes over and the fantasy team takes an attention hit. At least then you aren't leaving your only four active players benched during an ultra-light Wednesday.
Tuesday/Thursday: Column catchup
For those with a little extra time to spare, Tuesday's and Thursday's deeper-dive material offers the ripe opportunity to seize real advantage over your competition. Following up Monday's Waiver Picks, Sean Allen offers statistical analysis on player trends, goalies, power play notes, and the week's disappointing droppables who deserve the fantasy boot.
Thursday's file rotates through a variety of fantasy-relevant material, like how to hack the schedule in your favor, what to really expect from this year's crop of rookies, or a closer look at the fallout from certain significant injuries. By providing fodder outside the rise/fall box, these biweekly pieces grant that extra edge via additional insight. Give them a read, then adjust your roster/lineup accordingly (as usual).
Friday: Rankings review
After giving your roster the usual lookover, head to Allen's latest top-250 rankings, published every Friday. Has one of your performers jumped several spots? Good for you! But if another is suffering the opposite fate, there's likely justifiable cause. Figure out why, then determine whether they deserve a bit of time or an unceremonious jettisoning. In case of the latter, replace with a rising performer (obviously).
If competing in Category Leagues, start paying extra attention to your box score no later than Friday. If you're absolutely killing it in one category but lingering behind in another, that should help guide who to activate instead of another, heading into the weekend.
The weekend: Lineup management
It's almost unfair how Saturday's jam-packed schedule -- sometimes posting more games than Monday, Wednesday, and Friday combined -- can quickly derail an otherwise successful run. Which is why it's even more important to make the best decisions possible on who to start/sit, based on trending performance, current role, and strength of match-up.
This isn't a meritocracy. If it makes sense to bench the superior player because they're facing a staunch defense/hot goalie, so be it.
Maximize your GP potential! ESPN's fantasy game will count all of your games at a position as long as you begin the day below the limit. So if you have 5 defensemen with a 15 GP limit for defense and you have 14 GP to start Sunday, every one of those Sunday games will count. If Sunday is a scarce day, then try to set yourself up to get to 14 games through Friday night so that you can take advantage of Saturday's full slate.
Rinse and repeat on Sunday, while ensuring to pay extra attention to specific needs in Category Leagues. Flush in power-play points but need hits? Ensure the right fantasy character is in place to offer that specific advantage.
And voila: Our formula for fantasy success by investing only a few (fun!) minutes a day. While winning it all will always present as a tough task, a little daily diligence goes a long way in increasing your odds.