By Garrett Rees
The NHL trade deadline has come and gone and we saw a bunch of big names get moved this year, such as Jarome Iginla to the Penguins, Jaromir Jagr to the Bruins, Jay Bouwmeester to the Blues, Derek Roy to the Canucks, plus many more. The deadline had some weird timing though this year for head-to-head leagues, as some leagues were already in their first week of the playoffs while the rest will be starting the playoffs this week, so hopefully some of those team changes didn’t affect your team’s chances too much. But it is what it is in this condensed season so good luck to you all who made the playoffs and are still battling it out in them. Going to be the biggest week of the season for some of you so let’s get right into it and check out the Weekly Breakdown for Week 12:
WEEKLY BREAKDOWN
Here is the weekly breakdown for the rest of this upcoming week, April 8 – 14:
- 4 GAMES: BOS, BUF, CAR, CGY, COL, STL, TBL
- 3 GAMES: ANA, CBJ, CHI, DAL, DET, EDM, LAK, MIN, MON, NAS, NYI, NYR, OTT, PHX, PIT, SJS, TOR, VAN, WAS
- 2 GAMES: FLA, NJD, WPG
A very strange time to have the slowest week of the season, but that’s what all of you playoff bound folks will have to deal with during Week 12 as there are only seven teams that are playing more than three games for the week with three teams not even seeing three games. Lots of big name teams with three games, too, as you’ll see limited time for the hottest NHL teams such as the Ducks, Blackhawks, Canadiens, Penguins, and Canucks. Let’s see how the week breaks down per day on this relatively light schedule:
- MON – 5 games
- TUES – 9 games
- WED – 5 games
- THU – 9 games
- FRI – 5 games
- SAT – 11 games
- SUN – 3 games
Pretty even week during Week 12 except of course on what’s perhaps the most important day, the last day of the week. Sunday will see matchups of CHI@STL, DET@NAS, and TBL@BUF so target players from those teams when checking the waiver-wire if you need some last minute help.
B2B: BACKUPS TO SEE ACTION?
All of these teams are scheduled to play in back-to-back games this upcoming week, so there are good chances that these teams’ respective backup/alternate goaltenders could see some action (not as many options this week as normal for 2013):
BOS, BUF, CAR, CBJ, CGY, COL, DAL, DET, OTT, STL, TBL
WHO’S HOT
- SJS – 7 wins
- STL – 4 wins
- WAS – 4 wins
- PHX – 3 wins
WHO’S NOT
- CGY – 5 losses
- NJD – 4 losses
- CAR – 4 losses
- OTT – 3 losses
STRONG SCHEDULES
Now let’s take a look at a couple of the most favorable matchups of the week:
St. Louis Blues – Opponents: – @NAS, @MIN+@CBJ, CHI – A good four-game week for the Blues against some opponents they have had success against while coming off a week where they won four straight. Not too shabby. They have a combined record of 7-1-0 against their first three opponents where they’ve scored 26 goals in those 8 games, who they face on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Their toughest matchup of the week will come during one of the three games on Sunday versus the Blackhawks. Despite that tough game, make sure to get your Blues out there during Week 12.
Boston Bruins – Opponents: CAR, @NJD+NYI, @CAR – The Bruins have yet to lose against any of their Week 12 opponents, although they have only played one-game so far against the ‘Canes, who they play on Monday and Saturday, however they are in the midst of a four-game slump so the opportunity is good for the Bs. They also have back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday versus the Devils and Islanders respectively where they are 2-0-0 so far this season against both of them. Newly acquired forward Jaromir Jagr has already provided a new scoring element to the Bruins roster so they should have good week. Make sure to get them into your lineups.
WEAK SCHEDULES
…And the least favorable matchups of the week:
Florida Panthers – Opponents: WPG, PIT– Two games on the two busiest nights, Thursday and Saturday, won’t bode well for your fantasy lineups during Week 12. The Panthers have pretty much been a disaster during this shortened season and are sitting only one point ahead of last place in the league. Things won’t be getting any better for fantasy owners during Week 12 so look elsewhere for help off the waiver-wire for your playoff run.
New Jersey Devils – Opponents: BOS, OTT – The Devils seem to really miss their offensive catalyst Ilya Kovalchuk as they have now floundered only a 0-3-4 record since he’s been out of the lineup and now find themselves on the outside looking in as they currently sit in 10th place in the East after coming out incredibly strong to start the season. It doesn’t help that they have yet to earn a ‘W’ against their only two opponents during Week 12 while being outscored 4-8 in four games against them both. The only thing saving them for fantasy owners are the days they will play, as they face the Bruins on a pretty slow Wednesday, who they are 0-1-1 against so far, and then face the Senators on another slow day on Friday, who they are 0-0-2 against this season. Regardless of the days they are playing, I’d definitely look elsewhere for help during Week 12.
Honorable Mention: Winnipeg Jets – only two games for the week Tuesday and Thursday, two of the busier nights of the week.
Good luck out there, everyone. Follow me on Twitter @G_Rees
