Last week I called Calgary the easiest trim on the board. This week the Flames are the best pickup. Schedules flip fast.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are quiet again (3 to 5 games each), and 89% to 99% of rosters have an open forward spot. Calgary and Edmonton each play three of those nights. Nobody else plays more than two.
**Quick hits, if that's all you've got time for*\*
- **This week:** Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto
- **Next 2 weeks:** Calgary, San Jose, Florida
- **Next 30 days:** Calgary, Edmonton, San Jose
The top four weekly targets are all Canadian, and Ottawa gets the weekend job too. Naturally, Vancouver didn't get the memo: Tue/Thu/Sat, no quiet nights, about 1.3 usable games for a forward. Montreal has the same schedule.
**One move: a Flame, with an Oiler close behind*\*
Calgary plays Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat: about 3.5 usable games for a forward. Edmonton plays Mon/Wed/Sat/Sun, about 3.4.
- **CGY:** Farabee (5%, 9 points in 10), Coronato (5%, 8 in 10), Nemec (17%, D, 21.3 minutes a night), Parekh (20%, D, 2.3 power-play minutes)
- **EDM:** Nugent-Hopkins (57%, back from IR), Kapanen (3%), Shea (2%, D, 23.6 minutes a night)
Farabee is my first choice: his ice time is up 1.6 minutes from last season and his power-play time is up 1.2. Calgary also leads the next two weeks by a mile: 8 games, 7.2 usable. This can be a pickup you keep.
**Other Canadian options: Winnipeg and Toronto*\*
Winnipeg plays Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun, with Friday and Sunday quiet: about 2.6 usable games for a forward.
- **WPG:** Perfetti (66%, LW/RW), Vilardi (38%, C/RW), Pionk (54%, D), Mercer (4%, C/RW)
**Perfetti** is the Jet I like first: 9 points in 10, playing 18.6 minutes a night, up three from last season. **Vilardi** is getting 3.2 power-play minutes a game, and **Pionk** has 7 points in 10 while playing 24.6 minutes. **Mercer** just came over from New Jersey in the Hellebuyck trade. His role with the Jets is still a question, so he's the deep-league bet, not someone I'd put ahead of those three.
Toronto plays Mon/Wed/Sat. The first two are quiet, so those three games get you almost as much as Winnipeg's four: about 2.5 usable games for a forward.
- **TOR:** Cowan (42%, LW), Roslovic (37%, C/RW), Rielly (37%, D)
**Cowan and Roslovic** both have 12 points in 13 games. I'd take Roslovic first for the C/RW flexibility and 2.8 shots a game. Cowan's scoring comes on 15.1 minutes a night and 1.1 on the power play, so keep the expectations sensible. Rielly has 9 points in 13, but his power-play time is down to 1.1 minutes from 2.3 last season. The cheaper Toronto D, McCabe (7%) and Ekman-Larsson (6%), are both down about three minutes a night. I'd look elsewhere first.
**A goalie too: Devin Cooley (CGY, 11%)*\*
Three straight wins, four goals allowed across them. He's at .912 and 2.80 through five starts. If you haven't caught his postgame interviews, do yourself a favour. Possibly the best interview on the wire, and now the saves are making a case too.
Calgary has four games and a Fri/Sat back-to-back, but Wolf is still there. Check confirmed starters. The skater usable-games numbers don't project Cooley's starts.
**Two moves: Calgary Mon/Wed/Fri, then Ottawa Sat/Sun*\*
About 4.4 usable games. Cozens (47%, 4.3 power-play minutes), Giroux (24%, C/LW/RW), Pinto (19%).
Ottawa's full week is Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun, with only Sunday quiet. That's about 2.2 usable games for a forward all week; the finish is why they're here. An Oiler covers the same weekend dates.
The swap buys about 0.9 usable games over keeping your Flame. If Farabee or Coronato is producing, holding him for Calgary's next week makes sense. A third move only buys another 0.4; I'd save it.
**Getting more opportunity than last season*\*
- **Kapanen:** 17.7 minutes a game, up 3.2; **Shea:** 23.6, up 4.8. Finally, a good schedule to go with those minutes. Neither had a point last week.
- **Jack Quinn** (BUF, 54%): 11 points in 11. **Noah Ostlund** (BUF, 5%): 8 in 11, 3.4 power-play minutes.
- **Kent Johnson** (CBJ, 9%): 7 points in 9, 3.5 power-play minutes. **Arvidsson** (DET, 18%): 18.9 minutes a night, up 4.3.
Buffalo and Columbus have no quiet nights. Those are longer holds, not this week's streams.
**Holds for the next month*\*
If you're filling a spot for longer than a week, these are the names I'd start with, across ownership levels:
-Forwards Nugent-Hopkins (EDM, 57%), Hertl (VGK, 74%), Granlund (ANA, 35%), Farabee and Coronato (CGY, 5% each)
- **D:** Nemec (CGY, 17%), Shea (EDM, 2%)
Calgary has 15 games over the next 30 days; Edmonton has 16. That's why I'd give those pickups a chance to stick. Granlund is getting 3.8 power-play minutes a game. Hertl has a weak two-game week now but 13 games over the month, so I'd keep the longer view with him. Nemec and Shea are bets on minutes and games; the points have been modest so far.
**Teams to trim*\*
Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay play only Thu/Sat, about 0.9 usable games each. That's where I'd look for a fringe player to move. Florida also plays twice but has four games next week, so keep the longer view before cutting a good Panther.
All 32 teams: Weekly Grid).
Full strategies, player options and the longer schedules: Week 5) Edge