NHL action comes to a close for the Olympic break on Thursday, creating an extended and unbalanced scoring period that lasts from Feb. 2 to Feb. 22, but only features games through Feb. 5. Fantasy hockey then resumes with an abbreviated Week 19 that runs from Feb. 23 to March 1, with games beginning Feb. 25.
Players from the Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins won’t move the needle much in this scoring period, with only one game each. At the other end of the spectrum, the Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers all squeeze in three games before Thursday.
Every Monday, we’ll mine the waiver wire for lesser-rostered performers who have the potential to help fantasy teams in a variety of leagues. We’ll also present several strong streaming candidates for the immediate week ahead.
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Forwards
Anthony Duclair, LW, New York Islanders (1.25 FPPG, 93.1% available): No doubt Duclair’s impressive return over the past month was spiked by him opening January with an 8.3-fantasy-point performance. But he’s managed to keep up the momentum and stick to Mathew Barzal on the top line. The power-play units for the Isles are very fluid, but Duclair is often present there as well. To top off the recommendation, the Islanders have three games this scoring period while most teams only have two.
Justin Sourdif, RW, Washington Capitals (1.23 FPPG, 94.5% available): It wasn’t his first game of the month, but in the same vein as Duclair, Sourdif used an early January explosion (another 8.3-fantasy-point performance to move up the Caps’ depth chart. Now locked in with Alex Ovechkin and earning secondary power-play minutes, Sourdif has posted just 0.9 fewer fantasy points than Duclair since the start of January, across the same 13 games. And, just like the Isles, the Capitals play three times this scoring period.
Matty Beniers, C, Seattle Kraken (1.68 FPPG, 67.8% available): Which came first: A sharp uptick in Beniers’ performance or Jared McCann ramping up his scoring? To be fair, the two probably have a lot to do with each other. Beniers is the more available of the options in fantasy hockey, following an extended drought to start the season. But he’s been a firm fantasy performer of late. The Kraken have only two games this scoring period, but they are against the 25th-ranked Ducks and 27th-ranked Los Angeles Kings in power-play goals allowed per game.
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Matty Beniers gets the Kraken on the board
Matty Beniers nets one to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead.
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Jack McBain, C, Utah Mammoth (1.28 FPPG, 95.2% available)
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Ivan Barbashev, LW, Vegas Golden Knights (1.58 FPPG, 59.2% available)
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Eeli Tolvanen, LW/RW, Seattle Kraken (1.87 FPPG, 42.7% available)
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Jason Zucker, LW, Buffalo Sabres (1.75 FPPG, 79.2% available)
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Ryan Hartman, C, Minnesota Wild (1.78 FPPG, 73.4% available)
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Mason Marchment, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets (1.47 FPPG, 48.3% available)
Defense
Sam Rinzel, D, Chicago Blackhawks (1.11 FPPG, 97.1% available): The Blackhawks made the call to ease Artyom Levshunov out of the lineup approaching the Olympic break, calling up Rinzel to take his spot. That also means power-play minutes on the top unit with Connor Bedard. The power-play didn’t connect in Rinzel’s first game back, but he still notched 2.3 fantasy points on the strength of four blocks and three shots.
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Alexander Nikishin, D, Carolina Hurricanes (1.51 FPPG, 76.7% available)
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Vince Dunn, D, Seattle Kraken (1.69 FPPG, 51.4% available)
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Esa Lindell, D, Dallas Stars (1.70 FPPG, 51.5% available)
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Tom Willander, D, Vancouver Canucks (1.09 FPPG, 99.7% available)
Goaltenders
Jakub Dobes, G, Montreal Canadiens (2.06 FPP60, 77.7% available): Having himself another nice little run, reminiscent of the early season, Dobes won six games in January, including the past three consecutive contests. Montreal is one of only a handful of teams that don’t have a back-to-back set among their games this week, but we may not want Dobes to catch both of the games. The Winnipeg Jets aren’t so bad (1.74 fantasy points for opposing goalies), but the Minnesota Wild are a dangerous task (0.89). Either way, he’ll come back from the break as the clear favorite for starts down the stretch.
Karel Vejmelka, G, Utah Mammoth (2.01 FPP60, 37.0% available): The schedule for a (possibly) available goaltender who isn’t involved in a back-to-back set happens to also belong to a goaltender that started the calendar year in top form. Vejmelka ranks fourth among all goaltenders for fantasy points in 2026. This week, the Mammoth face the teams ranked second (Canucks) and 10th (Red Wings) for most fantasy points to opposing goaltenders.
Nikita Tolopilo, G, Vancouver Canucks (1.63 FPP60, 99.8% available): In what has quickly become a lost season for the Canucks, it’s intriguing to see Tolopilo start to emerge as a better option since Thatcher Demko was ruled out for the remainder of the season. He’s shown well in three consecutive games, two of them as the starter. We’ll likely have to pick our spots if he does continue to perform, but it can be tough finding a goaltender. The Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights offer tougher competition this week, so keep an eye on the response.
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Short-term streamers
Jacob Markstrom, G, New Jersey Devils (0.54 FPP60, 58.5% available): It’s not a guarantee he’ll get the start, but it’s worth noting that Markstrom surely has Feb. 5 circled on the calendar. That’s when the Devils face the Islanders again for the first time since the Isles burned Markstrom for nine goals on Jan. 6. Markstrom has been OK since then, earning positive fantasy value in five of seven games, totaling 14.0 fantasy points. The Devils also catch the Blue Jackets in non-back-to-back games, so it’s possible Markstrom could close strong into the Olympic break.
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Jacob Markstrom robs Flames with save
Jacob Markstrom robs Flames with save
Anthony Mantha, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins (1.67 FPPG, 74.9% available): Bryan Rust has one more game in his suspension, but it’s a solid one for the Penguins power play against the Ottawa Senators. Invariably, the Pens keep coming back to the Mantha well to replace injured (or in this case, suspended) players. Mantha played 6:46 with the top unit on Saturday, indirectly helping them to a goal. Oh, yeah, and he has five goals and three assists in his past four games outside of that.
Kailer Yamamoto, RW, Utah Mammoth (1.05 FPPG, 99.6% available): The Mammoth top six is going to fill back up again quickly after the Olympic break with Logan Cooley likely healthy again, but it’s worth noting some of Yamamoto’s performances when given a chance on a scoring line. He has three multi-point efforts in his past five games, with two of them coming while he was slotted into the top six. He picked up a goal and helper while playing with Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller on Jan. 24, and then scored two goals himself with JJ Peterka and Barrett Hayton on Saturday. In between those, he posted a three-point game while playing in the bottom six.
Jordan Kyrou, RW, St. Louis Blues (1.44 FPPG, 36.1% available): Since Robert Thomas was placed on the IR, Kyrou has stepped into an offensive leadership role with the Blues. He has nine points in nine games since Thomas was hurt.
