With the Winter Classic on tap to take centre stage in Seattle, pitting the two newest NHL franchises in an outdoor head-to-head matchup at T-Mobile Park, I thought it a fitting time for a more fun retrospective on the fantasy history of the outdoor game.
Prior to the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken lacing up on Monday, there have been 37 NHL matches played outside since the 2004-05 lockout. Here are some of the fantasy highlights of the spectacles.
Henrik Lundqvist is the all-time fantasy points leader in outdoor games with 22.8 fantasy points across four starts and four wins. The next closest player is Craig Anderson with 13.2 career outdoor fantasy points.
Even though no franchise has appeared in more than six outdoor games, James van Riemsdyk has managed to appear in seven (three for Toronto and four for Philadelphia). He leads all skaters in career outdoor fantasy points with 12.3.
Erik Karlsson leads the all-time fantasy points list for outdoor games by defense with 9.2 points in two games. If that feels low, all defenders in outdoor games have averaged 1.31 fantasy points per game (FPPG) compared with all D this season averaging 1.38.
Goalies haven't fared better either. All goaltenders this season have collectively averaged 1.76 fantasy points per 60 minutes, but in the 37 outdoor games they have a collective 0.83 FPP60.
There's a smaller gap for forwards as a whole when comparing to the season, as forwards have managed 1.19 FPPG this season compared to 1.21 in the outdoor games.
Tyler Toffoli has the best single-game fantasy score from his hat-trick in the 2020 Stadium Series for the Los Angeles Kings that helped him to 8.1 fantasy points. Keep that nugget filed away for when the Devils and Flyers meet in February for another Stadium Series games.
Fun details, right? Not super useful for Monday's action, so let's dive into the players in action.
There are 29 players on the Kraken and Golden Knights rosters that have played in an outdoor game before.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the Kraken has the most experience with four games, but won't be on the ice as he's out with a leg injury for at least a few more weeks.
After him, Brian Dumoulin, Andre Burakovsky and Tomas Tatar from the Kraken and Alec Martinez of the Golden Knights each have three games of experience outdoors.
Tatar, for his part, has been pretty good outside, notching 2.17 FPPG across his three appearances. He's been lining up with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle of late and could be a nice spot start. He's posted 1.84 FPPG across his last five games.
Same goes for Martinez, which shouldn't be a surprise as he regularly puts up the fantasy stats with his blocks. He's averaged 1.87 FPPG outside.
Others that have managed better than 1.70 FPPG outside in the past include Justin Schultz (2.35 FPPG in two games), Alex Pietrangelo (2.05 FPPG in two games), Jonathan Marchessault (1.80 FPPG in one game) and Ivan Barbashev (4.10 FPPG in one game).
Yes, take note of that Barbashev performance. Maybe the fresh air does him good.
With Phiipp Grubauer expected to be out, none of the available goaltenders have any history in outdoor games.
But as a reminder, the Kraken have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing goaltenders this season (3.05 fantasy points against per game), while the Golden Knights rank 21st (1.50 FPAPG).
Burakovsky, by the way, is back with the Kraken after an extended injury absence, but has only managed 0.40 FPPG across his three outdoor games.
The outdoor game is the only contest slated for Monday. Week 13 of the fantasy season gets underway in earnest on Tuesday with a 13-game slate, while Wednesday gets quiet again with two contests.
The Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues aren't scheduled to hit the ice until Thursday, but all other teams get at least one game in the early part of the week. The Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs, in fact, actually get two outings with back-to-backs on Tuesday-Wednesday. You'll see them featured in the streamer specials below.
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Stock up
Marcus Johansson, W, Minnesota Wild (99.1% available): Kirill Kaprizov's absence on Sunday threw the lines into a mix, but Johansson has been enjoying life in the top six with Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi. Even with the Kaprizov absence changing up the flow, Johansson has still managed to average 2.36 FPPG during his past five. The Wild feel like they are on the upswing since the coaching change and Johansson has worked for John Hynes in the past, so him getting trusted and featured makes some sense. He's not getting power-play work when everyone is healthy, which is maybe the only knock right now.
Alex Kerfoot, C, Arizona Coyotes (97.8% available): At the expense of Logan Cooley, Alex Kerfoot has pushed himself up the Coyotes depth chart to the top line and top power-play unit. He's posted seven points in the past six, which about coincides with when he moved up the depth chart.
Dakota Joshua, C, Vancouver Canucks (95.5% available): He's not getting a ton of minutes and he's playing in the bottom six, but he's somehow getting it done for fantasy. Over the past 10 games, Joshua has contributed 22.6 fantasy points while playing tough minutes with Conor Garland and Teddy Blueger.
Streamer specials
Timothy Liljegren, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (96.3% available): With a nice West Coast back-to-back on tap, it's a good time to kick the tires on Liljegren. He's posted five points in his seven games back from injury -- but better yet 20.1 fantasy points.
Mikey Anderson and Matt Roy, D, Los Angeles Kings (92.8% and 52.2% available) and/or
Jackson LaCombe and Ilya Lyubushkin, D, Anaheim Ducks (99.8% and 97.4% available)
The Leafs allow the second-most fantasy points to opposing blue liners. All four of these defenders have been doing enough in recent days to be worthy of a spot start against the Leafs if you need to slide in a defender.
Dylan Strome and/or Anthony Mantha, C, Washington Capitals (44.8% and 98.7% available): If you are looking to stream forwards, consider the Capitals. They take on the Penguins and Devils. The Devils, in particular, are a good matchup as they allow the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing forwards.
Alex Lyon, G, Detroit Red Wings (90.0% available): He didn't do so hot against the Bruins on Sunday, but did OK in the game before that against the Predators. He's likely the Red Wings only option with James Reimer allowing too many goals and Ville Husso injured, so Lyon is likely worth a whirl against the San Jose Sharks.