As the National Hockey League continues to deal with several COVID outbreaks around the league, fantasy hockey managers continue to prepare for what’s next with the schedule set to resume this week.

The league has been on a full pause since last Tuesday.

There’s not much fantasy managers can do at this point other than to follow the news as it unfolds and hope for the best.

As of this morning, the NHL is attempting to return to play on Tuesday with three games scheduled.

Fourteen games scheduled for Monday have already been postponed, the NHL postponed an additional three games on Sunday night, meaning we’ve gone from a 60-game week to just 43 games.

The NHL stated Sunday night that it plans on playing out the remaining 43 games as scheduled, but we can expect this to change at any moment.

With that said, we can still try to build a strategy off what we know right now.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Week 11 originally had a hefty 25 teams scheduled to play a four-game week. That number is down to one after the 17 postponements. That team is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They’ll begin their week on Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens, then play a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday before finishing the week off on Sunday against the Rangers.

The Bolts just placed four players in COVID protocol on Sunday, including both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott, leaving the team without an NHL netminder at the moment.

We’ll have to monitor the Bolts situation closely, but for now they’re the only team with a four-game week, making them an obvious streaming target.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota Wild

On the flip side, the Leafs and Wild are down to just one game each this week after the recent postponements, with both teams playing their only game on Saturday.

The Leafs currently have 13 players in COVID protocol, so that Saturday game should also be considered in doubt.

Since we’ll be starving for man games in this light week, I wouldn’t wait around until Saturday when it comes to any of the fringe players on these teams.

Top streamers and waiver adds:

W, Taylor Raddysh, Tampa Bay Lightning (2 per cent rostered, up 1 per cent)

The Bolts have the heaviest schedule this week as they are set to play four games. Most of their fantasy-relevant players are rostered in all but the shallowest of leagues, but further down the depth chart is rookie Taylor Raddysh who is available everywhere. Raddysh was catching fire over his past 10 games before the stoppage, putting up four goals and eight points, while seeing time on the top power-play unit. Raddysh was also getting shuffled around the lineup, ending up on the top line with Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat at times. He’s worth a look in deep leagues, and if he ends up seeing more consistent ice time as a top-six forward, he’ll be worth a look everywhere.

W, Alex Tuch, Buffalo Sabres (48 per cent rostered, up 4 per cent)

Alex Tuch is ready to make his Sabres debut on Wednesday when the Sabres take on the Devils. Tuch, who was acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent Jack Eichel to Vegas, has been sidelined all season, recovering from shoulder surgery. Tuch had 18 goals in 55 games with the Golden Knights a season ago – a 27-goal pace. He’ll likely play on the second line, and he’ll see some time on the power play as well. If he’s available in your league, scoop him up to see how he gels with the new squad.

C, W, Paul Stastny, Winnipeg Jets (6 per cent rostered, up 1 per cent)

Paul Stastny is quietly having a respectable season with 15 points in 22 games – a 57-point pace. The veteran was recently moved up to the top line alongside Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers with Blake Wheeler on the shelf, and Stastny put up three points in four games with the unit before the shutdown. Wheeler got moved to the long-term IR last week and is expected to miss significant time. If Stastny can hold down the real estate on the top line, he’s a must add.

W, Nino Niederreiter, Carolina Hurricanes (52 per cent rostered, up 1 per cent)

Nino Niederreiter had a bad start to the year with just four points in his first 12 games, leading to a lot of managers moving on. He’s turned it on since then, putting up 11 points in 11 games. Niederreiter is coming off a fairly productive season where he put up 20 goals in just 56 games, so he’s no stranger to hot streaks like this. It’s worth noting he’s been playing on the top line while Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov missed time in COVID protocol. Both Aho and Svechnikov are out of protocol now and expected to return, so Niederreiter might move down the lineup. But considering how hot he’s been, he’s worth an add where he was dropped to see if he can keep it up.