Think like a hockey manager
From your first lineup to a considered game plan
In WFM, you select real hockey players. Your result comes from their official performances, not their reputation or a transfer price. This guide explains decisions before a game and how to understand the points afterwards.
1. Your first lineup and saving it
Start by selecting the correct league and round in My Team. The Slovak and North American fantasy leagues have separate schedules. A club playing today does not necessarily mean its game belongs to the round you have open. Check the round and its lock status before choosing players.
A complete starting lineup contains one goalie, two defensemen and three forwards. You can add one substitute for each position: G, D and F. There is no individual player purchasing budget. Positions, availability, required rest and deadlines constrain your choices. It often makes sense to resolve your goalie and positions with fewer alternatives before filling the remaining slots.
- Select your league and an open round.
- Choose available starters whose clubs play in that round.
- Choose a captain and optional positional substitutes.
- Check the successful automatic-save message.
- Review availability and the saved selection before the applicable deadline.
Every change saves automatically. A saved partial lineup can also be scored: empty starting slots earn zero and without a captain no points are doubled. A complete lineup is a useful goal, not a saving requirement. If a connection error appears, seeing a player on the rink does not prove that the server saved the selection. Use the offered retry and check its result.
2. Scoring with worked examples
Fantasy points differ from ordinary goals-and-assists totals. Defensemen receive more for goals and assists than forwards; both also score for shots and selected special situations. These values summarize scoring v2026.2 for both leagues.
| Performance | Forward | Defenseman |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | 5 | 6 |
| Assist | 3 | 4 |
| Shot on goal | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Power-play point | +1 | +1 |
| Short-handed point | +2 | +2 |
| Game-winning goal | +1 | +1 |
A power-play or short-handed point means a goal or assist in that situation. Its bonus is added to the base value. Missed or blocked attempts do not count as shots on goal. Plus/minus and penalty minutes neither add nor subtract WFM points.
A forward without a goal
Two assists, one on the power play, and six shots on goal earn 2 × 3 + 1 + 6 × 0.5 = 10 points. The player did not need a goal to help your lineup. A defenseman with the same record earns 12. These are illustrative performances, not predictions for a real player.
Goalies: workload and save percentage
A goalie earns 3 points for an attributed win, 0.15 per save, 1 for an attributed overtime or shootout loss, 8 per goal and 3 per assist. One save-percentage bonus is added: 90 to below 92% gives +1; 92 to below 94% gives +2; 94 to below 96% gives +3; 96 to below 100% gives +4. Below 90% gives no bonus. At 100%, the bonus is +5 with an officially attributed shutout, otherwise +4.
A goalie making 36 saves
A win and 36 saves from 40 shots mean a 90% save percentage: 3 + 36 × 0.15 + 1 = 9.4 points. Goals allowed carry no separate deduction, but they reduce save percentage. A busy game can therefore produce useful fantasy points without a shutout.
The +5 shutout bonus replaces +4 rather than stacking with it. A team shutout does not by itself prove an individual goalie's shutout. With no shots faced, there is no save-percentage bonus. Officially attributed statistics determine the outcome; a rounded percentage on a card is not separate evidence. See the full rules for rounding and complete details.
3. Captain and bench
Your starting captain earns double their entire point total, including bonuses. You can choose a defenseman or goalie as well as a forward. Consider both the potential for a strong game and the likelihood of participation. A famous name without a confirmed start is not automatically the best captain.
The bench protects against non-participation, not poor performance. A substitute can replace a selected starter who did not participate according to official statistics. A player who participated and scored zero is not replaced. Each positional substitute replaces at most one starter; one forward substitute cannot cover two absent forwards. The bench does not automatically fill an empty starting slot.
Substitutes do not inherit captaincy
If your captain does not play and the corresponding substitute earns 7 points, the lineup receives 7, not 14. If the captain plays and earns 7, their starting slot contributes 14. The difference follows the captain rule, not a summation error.
Removing your captain from the lineup clears that choice. After a major reshuffle, check your captain and bench as well as the starting six. These checks can matter more than a last-minute exchange between two similarly rated players.
4. Schedule, rest and advance games
Plan around a club's real games. After two consecutive confirmed appearances in your fantasy lineup, a player must rest for their club's next game. This is not simply two calendar days or two arbitrary league rounds. The selection interface shows current availability; a name in an old lineup does not establish availability now.
Look ahead at least three club games. Using a player now and again next game may make them unavailable for the third. Do not automatically sacrifice today's opportunity for an uncertain future matchup: compare alternatives at the same position and the conditions of each game.
A three-game plan
A club plays Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Your selected player has confirmed appearances on Tuesday and Friday. Prepare a different option at that position for Sunday. A game in which official statistics confirm no participation is not counted as a use; check the actual availability rather than just your original plan.
The WFM Joker is a paid exception for a player currently resting: 20 credits, at most once per five rounds. It does not guarantee participation, points or a win and does not change the scoring formula. Consider whether a suitable available alternative already exists before confirming it.
Why part of a round can lock earlier
The applicable selection deadline is generally one hour before play. In an advance game, its teams lock before the rest of the group. A completed advance game does not close all other games in that round. Follow the time and status displayed in the application. An entire grouped round is evaluated after all its games finish and the required official statistics have been verified.
5. Understanding results and forecasts
Check points from the player upwards: first performance and position, then substitutions, then captain multiplication. A player-performance table can show points without a captain multiplier while your lineup result includes it. Those numbers need not match.
A simulation is a forecast before a game. An official result evaluates what actually happened. A higher forecast does not guarantee more actual points, and one round is too small a sample to judge the long-term quality of decisions. Separate good pre-game information from a fortunate outcome. Do not assume you knew about an injury or lineup change announced only after the deadline.
If a result seems wrong, prepare the league, round, player and specific point discrepancy for support. Do not send passwords or sign-in codes. Missing official statistics are not proof of a zero performance; evaluation may need to wait for complete data.
6. Questions and support
Do I need a complete lineup to start?
No. Partial selections save automatically, although empty starting positions score zero. Save your available starters first and complete the lineup before the applicable lock.
Why do a player's card and my team show different points?
Check that the league and round match, then check captain and substitution treatment. A season card and a single-round result also cover different periods.
Can I read this guide without an account?
Yes. This guide and the rules are public before registration. An account is required to save your own lineup and use game features. WFM is operated by INCOFOR SK, s.r.o.; contact info@fantasyhockey.eu.
Ready for a round? Open My Team. If anything differs, follow the current WFM rules and the applicable round status. This guide explains the service and makes no promise about future results.