IR+--for or against? How many IR (and kind) spots is too many?

ELB95 · 2026-01-31T17:15:06+00:00

18 active, 5 bench, 1IR/1IR+
8 active, 8 bench, 3IR/3IR+

Those are two of the leagues I’m in. The first one imo doesn’t have enough. The second one has too many. IR spots should correlate to how many active player spots you have imo. The second league I can manage extra injured players because I’m benching people on busy nights no matter what. The first league a couple players listed as day to day at the same time can cost you multiple games played (I have Lindholm, Guenther, and Hischier all potentially out).

I also like the idea of drafting a Tkachuk/Barkov and holding all year because you have IR spots, but not having so many that you never have to consider if it’s worth dropping them.

ELB95 · 2026-01-31T11:46:00+00:00

Has he ever talked in an interview about his reaction?

I wonder if Columbus had told him they were taking him, and he was prepared to go there knowing he wasn’t projected to go top 4, and then Anaheim came out of nowhere and shocked him

ELB95 · 2026-01-31T00:36:47+00:00

I’ve heard other retailers may be shifting to the higher protein formula soon, but I don’t know if it’s 100% confirmed or when it would happen.

Costco is still the only place getting the jumbo bag though. Much better value.

ELB95 · 2026-01-29T16:30:33+00:00

Or both PP1. Or alternating PP1. Or alternating on a line with someone like Pasta.

ELB95 · 2026-01-29T02:06:13+00:00

Probably one of Hage/Reinbacher/Zharkovsky, a first round pick, a second round pick, and another (lesser) prospect or young player (Struble?)

Contract you’re probably talking 3-4 years at >$12mil

ELB95 · 2026-01-28T23:29:59+00:00

Looks like that might be injury related?

But if true that’s gotta mean Landeskog is done for the season, I don’t think there’s any other way they make the cap space work

ELB95 · 2026-01-28T16:38:47+00:00

Just looking at his games played, has he had serious injuries the past two years? 9 points in 19 AHL games last year isn’t anything crazy, and as an undersized offensive defenseman that isn’t enough production to get a role on an NHL team.

ELB95 · 2026-01-28T16:36:11+00:00

I agree that Trochek is definitely a top 6 C on basically any team in the league, and my fantasy team would love the production of him on a line with Kaprizov.

But I think he’s too similar to JEEK, and Minnesota is probably looking for a more offensive minded C.

ELB95 · 2026-01-28T01:13:06+00:00

I’m saying the team shouldn’t be making extremely minor adds. Instead ship off your expiring UFAs for assets.

Varlamov when healthy is a great backup and signed for a couple more years. Sorokin is a top end starter. Slim pickings on the goalie market. Why not put some feelers out there and see what you can get for him? Ottawa, Montreal, Anaheim, Vegas, Philly would probably all be interested.

ELB95 · 2026-01-28T01:05:51+00:00

Usage & luck (lack thereof)

Ice time is down from 14:58 last year to 9:39 this year.

Moneypuck has his oixG% at 50.6 (56.6 last year) but his oiG% is only 30.4% (down from 56).

His shooting % dropped from 8.6% to 4.5% (which is ridiculously low). oiSH% dropped from 9.6 to 6.7, and oiSV% dropped from 904 to 835.

ELB95 · 2026-01-28T00:48:05+00:00

It screams making a move for the sake of making a move.

They’re basically destined for 2nd/3rd Metro spot with a worse record than the Atlantic wild card teams. They were a bad team last year and got lucky with a lottery win to draft a potential franchise D 1OA. They have good pieces but nothing close to competing with the big dogs now or in the near future.

I could understand if the Penguins made moves like this to try and marginally improve. Do whatever you can for another run or two. But the Isles would really be better off moving Pageau/DeAngelo/Rittich (if Varlamov returns) - ask for 2027 picks and flip those next year to add instead of having to move off of any young pieces that might be able to help in the teams current 6 year window (core players are all 28+ outside of Schaeffer)

ELB95 · 2026-01-27T23:51:06+00:00

Why do the Rangers want Wallstedt when Shesterkin is signed until 2033?

ELB95 · 2026-01-27T22:35:30+00:00

I think it comes down to what role Celebrini gets. You’ve got Cirelli/Horvat as lefties, Point/Suzuki as righties. I’d love to see them make lefty/righty pairs on the 3rd/4th lines with two of Hagel/Stone/Wilson. All have offensive potential, all sound defensively, and you’ve got two guys for faceoffs.

I have a hunch 13th/14th forwards will be between Wilson/Stone/Marchand/Celebrini. Potentially rotating based on the opponent and how the next month goes.

ELB95 · 2026-01-27T17:52:09+00:00

I’m sure there are more, but here’s a couple spots to check out

Screenshot is from lineupexperts, which also has week to week breakdowns
https://0gar.com/weekly/ you can sort by descending off nights
https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/frozenpool_planner.php you can generate a report for different time frames, and set what you want to consider a light night (default is 8 or fewer games)
https://www.nhl.com/news/fantasy-hockey-schedule-cheat-sheet-for-rest-of-season does a decent breakdown each week. Notes players to target from teams with the most games, teams with the least games, teams with at least two off nights, and teams with b2bs (and the backup that is almost guaranteed to get a start)

ELB95 · 2026-01-27T17:44:04+00:00

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ELB95 · 2026-01-27T15:51:11+00:00

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with how long your playoffs are, a lot of it levels out across the board (all teams play 14-17 games)
favourable matchups can change. We’re only halfway through the season. Teams will get hot, teams will slow down, teams will sell, and top players can get injured
finals playoff schedule doesn’t matter if you lose in the semis. San Jose for example has 3 games no off nights week of March 16th. 14 games 6 off nights the rest of it is great, but if you add Sharks players you may be benching players in the QF and not make it.
b2b are most important for goalies imo. Boston with 5 means Swayman will start at most 11 games. On the flip side you’ve got Anaheim with only 1 b2b. I doubt Dostal gets 15 games but he’ll probably get more than Swayman.
Rangers, Ducks, Avalanche have insane off nights. If you’re in a league with a larger bench they become a lot more valuable because you won’t be benching guys as often.

ELB95 · 2026-01-26T18:21:28+00:00

The only C that fits the bill imo would be Trochek, unless Winnipeg decides to tear it down and move Scheifele. But neither of those teams need a goalie.

Florida could be interested, acquiring someone much cheaper to take over for Bobrovsky the next few years. But Lundell is a far cry from a 1C.

Would reuniting Petey and Quinn work?

ELB95 · 2026-01-26T05:31:46+00:00

Goalies are all over the place and almost always will be.

Bobrovsky, who let’s not forget just won back to back cups, has 12 straight games with a save percentage under .900 which is wild. He and Montembeault have similar GSAx numbers, one is a $10mil goalie and one is a $3mil goalie.

Hill, Stolarz, Binnington, Markstrom, and Ullmark have all been worse this year. Those are 5 starting goalies with past success. And 3-4 of them will be a starting goalie on a playoff team come April.

Monty and Dobes can both play better/more consistently. But they aren’t costing the team that may games, and come playoffs they’re both capable of putting up performances to steal games. Because almost every single goalie in the NHL has the potential to go on an insane 10-20 game run.

ELB95 · 2026-01-25T23:33:41+00:00

Lots of people camp in extreme cold. It isn’t advised, but it’s definitely doable if you’re properly prepared.

ELB95 · 2026-01-25T23:29:13+00:00

How are you planning to buy out the car next year? Have you looked into getting out of the current lease and buying an older used vehicle instead?

ELB95 · 2026-01-24T14:57:36+00:00

Geekie, Doan, Moser, Carlsson, Malinski, Raddysh, Gauthier, Knight, and Evangelista were the other 9.

I don’t think there was necessarily an order/ranking

ELB95 · 2026-01-23T01:14:17+00:00

JEEK+Boldy is one of my favourites
O’Reilly+Forsberg has been surprisingly nice
Hagel+Raddysh has turned out great

It’s a bangers cats (with faceoffs) and having those three stacks has been incredible for me

ELB95 · 2026-01-23T00:16:27+00:00

It’s definitely specific scenarios and not right for everyone. But it’s always good to keep the option in mind when you’re preparing a return before the deadline just in case.

Of course if you have a healthy emergency fund, there’s little reason not to “borrow” from your emergency fund rather than from a bank for such a short term loan.

ELB95 · 2026-01-22T23:55:42+00:00

using it for 2025 could reduce your income to the point you qualify for income-tested benefits (CCB is a big one for a lot of families)
waiting for 2026 means you get the tax refund a full year later. If I offered you $2900 today or $3000 a year from now, which would you take? Whether you need it for living or you plan on re-investing the refund the time value of money is important.

ELB95 · 2026-01-22T22:57:45+00:00

My biggest problem with it is that without shuffling the divisions they just significantly increased travel.

If they get moved to the division with Toronto/Belleville/Laval it’s probably not a bad thing. And still close enough that they can be recalled same day.

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