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Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.comFeb 6, 2024, 01:00 PM ET
CloseSean Allen is a fantasy analyst for ESPN.com. He was the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hockey Writer of the Year. You can tweet him @seanard.
Not all schedules are created equal, that should go without saying. But it’s hard to remember that when we are comparing, rating, evaluating and projecting players in fantasy hockey.
Each player had a much different path to walk to their current place in your fantasy league. How can we add a dash of representation for their schedule to the mix that we use for evaluation?
Fantasy-points modifiers to schedules is a good starting point. Let’s stick to goaltenders for this, as it’s the most frustrating of the fantasy positions and arguably the one most reliant on schedule and opponents.
By looking at how many fantasy points each team allows opposing goaltenders to earn, we can start to manipulate our view of the schedule and results.
It can be telling.
Would it surprise you now to learn that the Buffalo Sabres had the best schedule for fantasy goaltenders so far in 2024? Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has exploded in the past month, earning 42.4 fantasy points since Jan. 1, placing him sixth among goaltenders.
And we aren’t talking about a self-fulfilling prophecy here, as this statement is based on stats as of Jan. 1. Taking the average fantasy points against per game for goaltenders from the start of the season to Dec. 31, 2023, then applying that average to the schedule so far in 2024, we can see the Sabres, even before the success in January of Luukkonen, had the best strength of schedule with opponents averaging 2.45 fantasy points against per game (FPAPG) to goalies.
Would that have been enough information to add Luukkonen to your fantasy roster on Jan. 1? At the time he had a grand total of 15.6 fantasy points on the season across 18 appearances — good for 46th among all goaltenders. It would have been a bold, bold move.
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Source link : https://www.espn.com/fantasy/hockey/story/_/id/39471380/fantasy-hockey-strength-schedule-best-worst-goalie-matchups-february-stuart-skinner
Author : Sean Allen
Publish date : 2024-02-06 18:18:21
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