Weekend Outlook: Navigating championship Weekend

Happy Weekend everyone! For most leagues out there, this isn’t just any weekend, it’s championship weekend! We’re going to do our best here to give you lower rostered options for those that might be in need of some goaltending help for the final days of the fantasy season. Let’s dive in!

Joonas Korpisalo, Los Angeles Kings (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 55% Fantrax, 52% Yahoo) 26 starts, 11 wins, 3 OTL, 3.17 GA/G, .913 Sv%, 0 SO

I feel like Joonas Korpisalo wins the award for “Most times recommended” in a single NHL regular season. Still, I think that there was reason for that. He was actually alright on a very weak Columbus club and has been good so far in his time in Los Angeles.

Korpisalo has allowed two goals or fewer in his past seven starts for the Kings, which is a great run. If you’re in a league that dishes out negative points for goals allowed, well first of all tell your commish negative points are negative fun, and second that means Korpisalo has been your best friend over this stretch. Still, his record doesn’t exactly reflect his play as the Kings have gone 4-2-1 over that timeframe.

Korpisalo is likely to start in tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken, but with the Kings on a back-to-back this weekend we won’t get confirmation until that game starts. The problem we’ll run into there is that this will be well past when lineups lock, so you’ll have to make this add early. The good news is that if he doesn’t start tonight against the Kraken then he will most certainly be in net tomorrow against the Vancouver Canucks.

Mackenzie Blackwood, New Jersey Devils (Rostered in 2% of ESPN leagues, 33% Fantrax, 9% Yahoo) 17 starts, 9 wins, 2 OTL, 3.04 GA/G, .900 Sv%, 0 SO

I thought I’d have written about Mackenzie Blackwood more by this point, but an upper-body injury has unfortunately sidelined him up until his most recent start on March 25th. This is an addition I like for tonight and one that I might also be making myself. I hope nobody in my league is reading this right now.

Blackwood has started in 17 games this season and while out the Devils relied heavily on Vitek Vanecek and got pretty goaltending from him at points this season. With Blackwood back in the lineup and New Jersey on a back-to-back this weekend, I think he likely starts tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. For those out there just in need of points now more than ever, I’ll pull back the curtains a bit and let you in on a little secret. The Hawks aren’t good, and this is a spot where if Blackwood is even just okay, I don’t see the Devils walking out of this game with at least one point.

New Jersey has changed up their lines a fair bit in games recently and while it may be rough fantasywise, it’s the smart move. Better to try things out now than in playoffs. That could come back to hurt them but again, there’s no Chicago line I’m particularly worried about. For Blackwood and the Devils, I think this makes for a great lower rostered starting oppurunity.

Semyon Varlamov, New York Islanders (Rostered in 7% of ESPN leagues, 92% Fantrax, 35% Yahoo) 22 starts, 11 wins, 2 OTL, 2.71 GA/G, .913 Sv%, 2 SO

The starts have been few and far between for Semyon Varlamov, but when you have Ilya Sorokin in net that’s understandable. This weekend there are a multitude of clubs on a back-to-back which gives us a good idea of who will be starting, the issue is guessing which day. Lucky for us, the Islanders confirmed that Sorokin will likely start tonight against the Lightning, meaning Varlamov should start tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Varlamov has been a solid backup for the Islanders this season and I think someone that is reliable to go to in fantasy or DFS for a much lower rostered option. His last start out was on March 25th where he only allowed one goal on 34 shots. Tomorrow he’ll go up against a Carolina club that has gone down in shot volume and I think that has to do with the style of play they’re going with lately. Still, on a smaller Sunday slate I think Varlamov might be the goaltender to either make-or-break your fantasy season or just pad the stats enough to secure you a championship.

For continued fantasy news and notes throughout the season, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz