Fantasy Hockey 2025-26: Weekly Strength of Schedule and Streaming Targets — Week 15
Finding an edge in fantasy hockey often comes down to maximizing your man games — and targeting players with favourable matchups. Our Fantasy Hockey Strength of Schedule tool helps you do precisely that.
Each week, we evaluate every NHL team’s upcoming slate using three key factors:
- Games Played: More games mean more opportunities for fantasy points.
- Strength of Schedule (SOS): Based on opponent difficulty, the higher the score, the easier the matchups.
- Light Nights: Nights with eight or fewer NHL games, when it’s easier to fit extra players into your active lineup.
By combining these three components, the tool highlights which teams — and streamers — are best positioned for fantasy success this week.
If you’re looking for a full breakdown of every team’s upcoming schedule, check out our Fantasy Hockey Strength of Schedule Tool — updated daily to show which teams have the most games and valuable light-night matchups each week.
Week 15 Strength of Schedule
Week 15 Streaming Targets
It’s a busy week across the NHL. Based on our traditional definition of a “light night” (eight games or fewer), there are only three light nights on the schedule — and just one day with more than 10 games. Typically, even on 10-game slates, you’ll still have at least one open roster spot, so the focus this week is on teams with the most games from Monday through Friday, plus Sunday.
Four teams fit that criteria with four games on those days: Edmonton, Detroit, Dallas, and Tampa Bay. The challenge is that none of those teams have elite, widely available streaming options. Because of that, this breakdown is split into two categories:
- Schedule-Driven Streams
- Form-Based Streams
Schedule-Driven Streams
Schedule-Driven Streamers focus on teams that meet our key scheduling criteria: four games on days that aren’t Saturday. The goal here is to maximize games played with a single pickup, rather than strictly chasing short-term hot streaks.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers are one of four teams with four games this week that don’t fall on Saturday. Among those teams, Edmonton has the easiest average opponent rating (55.93), which ranks 10th-easiest league-wide for the week.
Kasperi Kapanen (RW – 7% rostered)
Since returning to the Oilers’ lineup on January 6, Kapanen is riding a three-game point streak with one goal and three assists. He’s skating alongside Leon Draisaitl at 5v5, which is the primary appeal here. While he’s averaging just 1.7 SOG/gm, he’s also contributing 2.7 hits per game, giving him some added value in banger formats.
The defensive underlying numbers aren’t pretty — but they’re not the focus. In those three games, the Draisaitl line is averaging 3.21 xGF/60 and 31.8 Scoring Chances For/60. If Kapanen continues to see around 15 minutes per night next to Draisaitl, there’s a clear path to another productive week for the Finnish winger.
Vasily Podkolzin (LW/RW – 15% rostered)
Podkolzin has been skating on the other side of Draisaitl and has also picked up three points (1G / 2A) over the same three-game stretch. He offers even more banger-league appeal, averaging 3.1 hits per game on the season.
Podkolzin knows his role: get the puck to Draisaitl and get to the front of the net. The results have been modest but usable. Over his last 18 games, he has six goals and three assists (9 points) while averaging 1.3 SOG/gm and 3.3 hits per game. He’s primarily a banger-league stream, but with this deployment, it wouldn’t be surprising if he chips in a few more points this week.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings open the week with a difficult matchup on Monday (vs. CAR), but things ease up quickly after that with a road game in Boston followed by two home games against the Sharks and a Senators team dealing with major goaltending issues.
Andrew Copp (C/LW – 5% rostered)
Copp’s season took a clear turn once he was bumped up to the second line alongside Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. After managing just nine points (1G / 8A) in his first 27 games, Copp has erupted for 17 points (6G / 11A) over his last 19 contests. That’s a 26-goal, 48-assist (74-point) pace over a full season.
The floor isn’t great — 1.8 SOG, 2.8 Shot Attempts, and 0.6 hits per game — but the opportunity is doing the heavy lifting here. As long as he’s seeing 17+ minutes per night with DeBrincat (on pace for 41 goals and 82 points) and Kane (on pace for 50 assists and 71 points), Copp is well-positioned to remain productive offensively.
James van Riemsdyk (LW – 1% rostered)
“JVR” has been doing this for a long time. He’s not flashy, but he remains an elite net-front presence, and the results continue to show up on the scoresheet. Over his last 20 games, van Riemsdyk has produced 10 goals and six assists (16 points) — a 41-goal, 66-point pace for the 36-year-old.
As long as he’s parked on PP1 for a top-five power play in the NHL, van Riemsdyk is firmly in play as a streaming option. The role is stable, the usage is strong, and the matchup quality later in the week makes him an especially appealing add in deeper formats.
Dallas Stars
The Stars technically check the box with four games on the days we want, but the schedule itself is far from appealing. Outside of a Tuesday matchup against the Ducks in Anaheim, the rest of the week is rough — road games in Los Angeles and Utah, followed by a home date against the Lightning.
With a difficult slate and limited quality streaming options available, this is a spot where I’d generally be looking elsewhere unless you’re desperate for games played.
Matt Duchene (C/RW – 42% rostered)
If Duchene is available, he’s the one Dallas forward I’d consider — and even then, it’s far from ideal. He was recently skating on the top line with Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen, which is the only scenario that makes him appealing, but he slid back to centering the third line on Saturday.
Away from the Johnston or Roope Hintz lines, Duchene’s underlying numbers crater, as he’s averaging just 1.82 xGF/60 in those situations. If he sticks in a top-six role, there’s some short-term upside, but without that deployment, he’s a risky stream given the matchup quality this week.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Similar to Dallas, the Lightning don’t have the friendliest schedule this week (@PHI, @PIT, @STL, @DAL), but unlike the Stars, they at least offer a few viable streaming options based on current deployment and recent form.
Anthony Cirelli (C – 32% rostered)
Cirelli is centering a line with Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel, and the trio owns some of the most dominant underlying numbers in the NHL. In 91 minutes together at 5v5, they’re averaging 86.5 CF/60, 4.74 xGF/60, 49.5 SCF/60, and 21.8 HDCF/60.
Put simply, they’re absolutely caving in their opponents. That line is controlling 63.4% of shot attempts, 68.2% of scoring chances, and has outscored opponents 8–3 (72.7%) at 5v5. The deployment has driven a noticeable uptick in production for Cirelli, who has nine points (3G / 6A) in his last 10 games.
He doesn’t offer strong shot volume or much power-play production to fall back on, but as long as he remains on this line, Cirelli is a strong 5v5 contributor and a legitimate streaming option this week.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (RW – 4% rostered)
Proceed with caution here. Bjorkstrand is only viable because of his role on PP1, and even that comes with risk. He’s recently been bumped down to the fourth line, which has completely wiped out what little 5v5 upside he had remaining.
Bjorkstrand has 11 points (4G / 7A) in his last 14 games, but he’s goalless with four assists over his last seven while averaging just 13:50 TOI/gm. In this case, the downside likely outweighs the upside, making him a very fragile stream outside of deeper leagues.
Gage Goncalves (C/LW – 1% rostered)
Goncalves, a second-round pick in 2020, put up strong numbers in the AHL before becoming a full-time NHLer this season. He’s spent most of the year in the bottom six, but a recent promotion alongside Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov has led to an immediate spike in production.
He enters Week 15 with eight points (4G / 4A) in his last nine games. The volume isn’t great (1.3 SOG/gm, 2.1 Shot Attempts/gm), and he’s not going to sustain a 33.3% shooting percentage, but the opportunity alone makes him intriguing. Goncalves profiles more as a passer than a finisher, so he’s not ideal if you’re strictly chasing goals — but if you’re looking for pure point production, he’s as well-positioned as anyone on the wire this week.
Form-Based Streams
Form-Based Streamers prioritize individual performance and deployment over the weekly schedule. These are players who may not have ideal game volume, but are worth targeting due to strong recent production, favorable line usage, or power-play roles.
Jared McCann (SEA – C/LW – 34% rostered)
The Kraken play three times in the first four days of the week, making McCann an easy plug-and-play option early before reassessing over the weekend. That said, he carries more long-term appeal than most players in this tier.
Since returning to the lineup on December 4, McCann has produced five goals and five assists (10 points) in 12 games. That output aligns perfectly with what we’ve come to expect from him over the past few seasons. Over the last 3.5 years, McCann has quietly averaged 31 goals and 34 assists per 82 games. Give him a three-game audition to start the week, then decide whether you’re dropping McCann or someone else on your roster for another streamer over the weekend.
Logan Stankoven (CAR – C/RW – 22% rostered)
This isn’t sustainable, but it doesn’t need to be. Stankoven is riding a four-game goal-scoring streak while shooting 44.4%, and while that rate will come down, he can absolutely stay hot for a few more games — which is all you’re really asking for from a form-based stream.
He enters Week 15 with six points (4G / 2A) during a five-game point streak. Ride the heater while it lasts.
Matty Beniers (SEA – C – 21% rostered)
A few weeks ago, Beniers was piling up assists but had just two goals over a 25-game stretch. That script has flipped in January. He’s now scored five goals in six games while averaging a strong 2.8 SOG and 5.2 Shot Attempts per game.
The usage has never been an issue, and if Beniers continues shooting at this rate, the production should follow. Over his last 10 games, he has five goals and five assists (10 points) and is trending in the right direction.
Jake DeBrusk (VAN – LW/RW – 20% rostered)
DeBrusk was mentioned last week, and the case hasn’t changed. Since being a healthy scratch in Seattle, he has produced five points (3G / 2A) in six games while averaging a robust 4.0 SOG, 7.3 Shot Attempts, and 1.8 hits per game.
The floor here is excellent, even if the ceiling remains uncertain. Vancouver’s offense can be hit-or-miss — and lately, more miss than hit — which makes DeBrusk a lower-confidence stream overall. Still, it’s hard to find this kind of volume-based floor on the wire.
Alexandre Texier (MTL – LW/RW – 10% rostered)
Much like Seattle, the Canadiens play three times in the first four days of the week, making Texier another strong early-week audition candidate. A couple of weeks ago, he was promoted to the top line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, and the offensive results followed immediately.
Texier has four goals and four assists (eight points) in his last six games, including back-to-back three-point outings last week. He’s also logged 17+ minutes in consecutive games, setting him up nicely for another productive week in Montreal.