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          The "set and forget" stars: Fantasy hockey lineup picks

          Ryan O'Reilly has been a consistent performer each month. John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images
          • Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.comJan 16, 2024, 01:00 PM ET
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              Sean 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.
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          If you are feeling the January lull and just want to set and forget your fantasy NHL roster, this is the column for you.

          Not that such a process is encouraged in this space; but I get it. Sometimes you don't have it in you to min-max every week in a long season -- especially when you get kicked around here and there. In one such league, I sit third in overall fantasy points, more than 200 points ahead of some teams. But that doesn't matter as they have a better head-to-head record than my rotten 4-10-0 in last place. To make matters worse, I wanted to set and forget the roster this week, and I decided that Mark Stone could ride the bench. Who knew he never had a regular season hat-trick until Monday night?

          But whether you are among the silent legions who don't always start each day with box scores and fantasy hockey reading, or just want a roster spot or two that you can lean on longer-term, this breakdown looks at some consistency from players this season.

          If you don't count days the NHL had the day off, we've had 93 days of hockey so far. If we split the season up into approximate thirds to date, we get Oct. 10 to Nov. 9 as the first third, Nov. 10 to Dec. 13 as the second third and Dec. 14 to Jan. 15 as the final third. So let's see which players were in the top 150 for a given stat in all three thirds and might be available in your league.

          To drive home the exercise: Below is a list of players in individual stat categories who managed to be among the top 150 in the NHL for that stat in all three segments of the season to date. As further qualifiers, they can't be rostered in much more than 80% of ESPN leagues (no point in highlighting them if they aren't available) and they must have a minimum of 1.7 fantasy points per game overall this season (no point in discussing them if there are better options).

          The idea here is that these players have managed to at least earn categorical value across an extended period of time. Get them on your team, leave them there and you'll probably be happy with the result. Of course, overall fantasy points is the best target here, but some of you may be in rotisserie leagues or need to prop up a certain stat in a head-to-head categories league.

          The numbers after their name are the stats they earned in each third of the season.

          Fantasy points

          Obviously all of the above names are getting the job done enough to warrant some attention as this is overall fantasy points as the focused stat, but some offer more upside than others.

          O'Reilly, if he's available, stands head and shoulders here, as he's the driving pivot on the top line for his club. But chances are that the players at the top of this list (sorted by availability) aren't options for most of you. Still, they are included here to check on because 20% is 20%.

          Moore is my top recommendation that actually has a decent chance of being on your free-agent list. Sure, he's not on the top line or the top power play for the Kings, but his empty-netter on Monday was goal No. 20 on the season.

          Don't overlook Farabee as an option either. Two positives here: his fantasy points in each third are on a clear upward trajectory and he's done this despite being yanked around the depth chart throughout the campaign.

          As for the defense, there are a lot of good choices here, but Ferraro, like Farabee, has trajectory and, like O'Reilly, has depth chart status, so he stands out.

          Goals

          As you can see by some of the goal stats here, it doesn't take a lot to make the top 150 in each third of the season (Duchene and Batherson with just three goals in the first third). If you want to focus up this list, if we use the top 100 per third, the group becomes just Nelson, Skinner, Jarvis, Moore and Coyle. And if you use just the top 50, it's only Nelson and Moore. O'Reilly, Jarvis, Moore and Farabee are the only repeats from the same listing for total fantasy points.

          Assists

          It's a much shorter list if you are trying to focus on assists in your league -- especially considering that all three players are rostered in at least two-thirds of leagues. Duchene gets a special shoutout here for appearing on both the goals and assists lists. Given the results to date with Duchene and Jamie Benn, I can't help but hope the Stars consider bumping Benn from the top power-play unit to get Duchene on the ice with the elite playmakers on the advantage.

          Special-teams points

          • Jonathan Marchessault, W, Vegas Golden Knights: 3, 6, 3 (19.6% available)

          • Ryan O'Reilly, C, Nashville Predators: 5, 6, 7 (19.7% available)

          • Mats Zuccarello, RW, Minnesota Wild: 6, 7, 4 (20.0% available)

          • Tomas Hertl, C, San Jose Sharks: 3, 4, 3 (20.1% available)

          • Sean Durzi, D, Arizona Coyotes: 3, 4, 3 (20.2% available)

          • Shayne Gostisbehere, D, Detroit Red Wings: 6, 5, 6 (22.4% available)

          • William Karlsson, C, Vegas Golden Knights: 3, 6, 3 (35.2% available)

          Again, not much availability here, as all players listed are at least two-thirds rostered. That said, I'll highlight that it's at least worth checking if you are among the 20 percent that could pickup Zuccarello. The results haven't been fantastic, but the upside for the remainder of the season for Zuccarello and the Wild is enough to keep him on your team. Sure, Minnesota could continue fumbling along, but they have the same kind of sleeping-giant energy that the Oilers invoked in November. O'Reilly makes his third appearance among the stat lists here, with Durzi and Gostisbehere making it two.

          Shots

          • Brock Nelson, C, New York Islanders: 41, 51, 44 (19.3% available)

          • Owen Tippett, W, Philadelphia Flyers: 42, 52, 67 (19.3% available)

          • Jonathan Marchessault, RW, Vegas Golden Knights: 41, 57, 53 (19.6% available)

          • Ryan O'Reilly, C, Nashville Predators: 28, 41, 34 (19.7% available)

          • Tomas Hertl, C, San Jose Sharks: 28, 42, 33 (20.1% available)

          • Evander Kane, W, Edmonton Oilers: 34, 48, 32 (21.9% available)

          • Trevor Moore, W, Los Angeles Kings: 38, 42, 47 (39.2% available)

          • Tom Wilson, W, Washington Capitals: 28, 45, 35 (56.1% available)

          • Joel Farabee, W, Philadelphia Flyers: 30, 33, 35 (66.6% available)

          Here is O'Reilly making his fourth -- and with hits and blocked shots to come, we'll just call it his last -- appearance on these stat lists. It strengthens the case for him being the top option to at least check on. Again, just don't hold your breath as you only have a one in five shot that he's there as a free agent. Moore and Farabee make the cut again, which is not a surprise as you have to shot to score. If you focus this list down to just top 50 in each third of the season, only Nelson, Tippett and Marchessault make the list.

          Hits

          • Eeli Tolvanen, W, Seattle Kraken: 28, 34, 27 (19.1% available)

          • Evander Kane, W, Edmonton Oilers: 47, 50, 23 (21.9% available)

          • Seth Jarvis, W, Carolina Hurricanes: 19, 21, 22 (37.6% available)

          • Ben Chiarot, D, Detroit Red Wings: 26, 18, 39 (49.1% available)

          • Radko Gudas, D, Anaheim Ducks: 30, 39, 35 (50.9% available)

          • Tom Wilson, W, Washington Capitals: 36, 36, 41 (56.1% available)

          • Connor Murphy, D, Chicago Blackhawks: 30, 31, 32 (87.5% available)

          Jarvis is a nice surprise here, as he also made our list for goals and fantasy points. He's not getting top-line looks at even strength as often as he was earlier in the season, but is still on the top power play most nights. Kane cracks the list for both shots and hits, but take note that he's not been a top-six forward lately, rather just filling in when someone else is out (Ryan McLeod at the moment). Surely a couple of the defense here will make the cut for blocked shots as well, which will help separate the wheat from the chaff.

          Blocked shots

          • Sean Durzi, D, Arizona Coyotes: 19, 34, 22 (20.2% available)

          • Ivan Provorov, D, Columbus Blue Jackets: 31, 29, 25 (23.0% available)

          • Drew Doughty, D, Los Angeles Kings: 16, 25, 37 (23.7% available)

          • Colton Parayko, D, St. Louis Blues: 30, 36, 40 (28.3% available)

          • Travis Sanheim, D, Philadelphia Flyers: 17, 35, 21 (29.6% available)

          • Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa Senators: 20, 27, 29 (30.7% available)

          • Matt Roy, D, Los Angeles Kings: 26, 25, 39 (48.7% available)

          • Ben Chiarot, D, Detroit Red Wings: 24, 34, 30 (49.1% available)

          • Radko Gudas, D, Anaheim Ducks: 29, 29, 23 (50.9% available)

          • Kaiden Guhle, D, Montréal Canadiens: 27, 44, 45 (54.4% available)

          • Mario Ferraro, D, San Jose Sharks: 38, 47, 40 (59.1% available)

          • Thomas Harley, D, Dallas Stars: 23, 22, 24 (66.4% available)

          • Alexander Romanov, D, New York Islanders: 26, 35, 39 (67.2% available)

          • Jake Middleton, D, Minnesota Wild: 25, 40, 31 (69.2% available)

          • Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild: 24, 20, 39 (74.9% available)

          • Erik Gudbranson, D, Columbus Blue Jackets: 35, 31, 38 (78.6% available)

          • Connor Murphy, D, Chicago Blackhawks: 32, 39, 34 (87.5% available)

          • Nick Seeler, D, Philadelphia Flyers: 25, 48, 47 (88.7% available)

          • Chris Tanev, D, Calgary Flames: 28, 37, 56 (93.1% available)

          And there you have it: Chiarot, Gudas and Murphy have all been steady with both blocked shots and hits this season. All three of them make for perfect set-and-forget pickups for your fantasy roster. Note that Chiarot made the cut for overall fantasy points above, too.