Week 5 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Report
Welcome to my week five fantasy hockey waiver wire report, as we wrap a balanced schedule with no light nights, returning to busy Tue-Thu-Sat with quiet Mon-Wed-Fri nights. The award for best schedule this week goes to the New Jersey Devils, followed by the Minnesota Wild, who each play 4 games (2 light nights) against porous opposition. Nashville and Los Angeles are the other 4Gs, so it wasn’t exactly a bumper crop of hot options among those four. Check if you have room Tue-Thu-Sat if you’re adding streamers who are playing those nights.
Even if you don’t play fantasy and just follow me for betting advice, my stat graphics at the bottom of this page can be very useful for player prop betting. Every week these reports feature players who are hot (or just hit lots), play often in the week ahead and show their stats from the last 30 days. Players on my fantasy radar tend to be strong targets for prop bets too, the obligatory disclaimer being I don’t track or care about player prop markets.
If you have any specific questions about adds or drops, please reply on social media posts linking this report. I have always answered 99% of fantasy related questions from followers. Engaging with the Tweet containing the link helps me overcome algorithmic disadvantages. Likes help too. Though I understand some of you may not want league-mates who follow you to see specific questions, or even find this blog. There may be tactical advantages to letting the algorithm screw me…
Best Standard League Adds (20% to 65% Yahoo ownership):
1) Brandt Clarke, LA, (53% Yahoo ownership): When Drew Doughty was slayed by injury in preseason, Brandt Clarke’s fantasy stock recieved a big boost. He was included in my draft bargains back when he was under 10% owned. He went pointless in 5 of his first 7 games, but suddenly has 7 PTS in his last 4 games, bringing him to 11 PTS in 11 GP. He’s not available in either of my 12-team leagues and is likely unavailable in competitive leagues that size or larger. The Kings play 4 this week, but the toughest schedule of the 4-gamers with only 1 light night. Another more widely available option with a better schedule is Jake Middleton in Minnesota. He’s available in 70% of Yahoo leagues and has scored 7 PTS in his last 6 GP, with 10 shots, 5 hits, and a +9. He’s not on the power play but producing even strength (which is less sustainable long-term, but we ride short-term heaters here).
2) Ryan O’Reilly, Nsh, (53% Yahoo ownership): There are limited scorching hot forwards in the 20% to 65% Yahoo ownership range, so you’ll have to settle for lukewarm Ryan O’Reilly, who has collected 8 PTS in 10 GP this season playing top line and top power play. Nashville has the 3rd best schedule by cumulative opponent goals against, with 4 games and 2 on light nights, Monday-Wednesday, so you can drop Friday if your roster is full Saturday. They’ll be playing good teams, but teams prone to giving up goals. The downside with O’Reilly is weak shot-hit totals if those stats are important to you. If you want hits, Tom Wilson is a viable option, recently added to one of my teams. They play Sun-Wed-Fri, so if you add Caps tonight, you can get 3 light nights out of them then drop for weekend streamers. A cross-week recommendation.
3) Mikael Granlund, SJ, (58% Yahoo ownership): The San Jose Sharks have won 3 games in a row and only play 3 times in the week ahead, but Granlund recently joined one of my teams and earned a longer look (though pointless in his last two). In his last 7 GP, the dual-position-eligible forward has 8 PTS (5 on the PP) with 25 shots and 5 hits. Granlund was my top recommendation last week then scored 3 PTS in the first game, pointless in the next 2, but it was a worthwhile addition even he gets skunked today (though if the draught extends beyond Columbus Tuesday I might be dropping). Another option is his linemate Tyler Toffoli (who also joins him on power play one), but slightly cooler with 4 PTS (2 on the PP) in his last 7 GP, but the 30 shots are a key stat. They play Monday in week 6, so you can add Sharks Tuesday for 4 games in 7 days.
4) Alex Laferriere, LA, (21% Yahoo ownership): Alex Laferriere might only be playing on the Kings 3rd line with Byfield and Foegele, but he’s also slotted on the top power play unit. In his last 6 GP, the right winger has collected 5 PTS (though zero on the power play) with 13 shots, 12 hits, and a +6, currently available in 80% of Yahoo leagues. You need to be sure you can even start him on the busy nights and he does have more value if you score hits and shots, but they do have a front-loaded schedule if you want to bank games early then swap out for a weekend streamer. If you’d rather have a line 1, power play 1 option who plays fewer games, Gabe Vilardi’s fantasy stock is climbing. In his last 7 GP, Gabriel has 6 PTS (1 on the PP) with 14 shots and 2 hits. Downside being they play Tue-Thu-Sat, but he’s a possible longer-term hold.
5) Kevin Lankinen, Van, (59% Yahoo ownership): Thatcher Demko sightings have been reported and Canucks practice, but that’s by no means a guarantee he’ll be back in the next 7 days. I’m not a doctor, but feels like Demko should at least get a few conditioning starts in the AHL before jumping right back into the NHL given how few games he has played since his injury last season. In 6 GP this season, Lankinen has 4 wins with a .920 SV%. Yes, the starting gig might be temporary, but there’s no guarantee Demko can stay healthy or will ever take on a heavy workload, so Lankinen’s fantasy value could persist. Maybe try selling him to the Demko owner, or acquire Lankinen if that’s you. Another option with a heavy workload (which will decrease when Gibson gets healthy) is Lukas Dostal in Anaheim, posting a remarkable .945 SV% in his first 8 GP.
Honorable Mentions: Gabe Vilardi, Tom Wilson, Tyler Toffoli, Lukas Dostal, Jake Middleton
Last Week: Mikael Granlund, Tom Wilson, Cole Perfetti, Neal Pionk, Justus Annunen
Best Deep League Adds (under 20% ownership):
1) Marco Rossi, Min, (11% Yahoo ownership): As previously mentioned, this is a fantastic week to add Minnesota players, and top line center Marco Rossi is available in 90% of leagues. He’s centering line one with Kaprizov and Zuccarello, but only the second power play unit. Rossi has not recorded a single power play point this season, but has 9 PTS even strength in 10 GP, with 16 shots, 4 hits, and a +5. That line is productive enough 5v5 that you can still get a good week out of Marco without any production on the power play (in theory there should be positive regression coming there, but you never know when). If you’d rather get more hits out of this streaming slot, you need not look any further than teammate Marcus Foligno, who has 40 hits and 4 shots in his last 10 GP, adding 3 PTS. He’s available in 97% of leagues, eligible at both wings.
2) Marc-Andre Fleury, Min, (19% Yahoo ownership): Filip Gustavsson was on a wicked heater before getting torched for 6 against Philly, bringing his SV% in the last 2 weeks down to .891 while back-up Marc-Andre Fleury is at .909 winning his last 2 starts. The Wild have a busy week, so even if Gustavsson re-heats, Fleury will still see some action and Minnesota is a good team playing weaker teams (including San Jose, Anaheim, and Chicago), so there’s high win probability for any action Flower sees. They play Toronto tomorrow, so if Gustavsson gets that one and plays poorly, Fleury may get an extra start this week. Another option on a worse team is Dan Vladar, who seems to play his best hockey when I bet Calgary opponents. In the last 2 weeks, Vladar has a .920 SV% while Wolf is down at .880. If they continue alternating starts, Vladar gets Montreal and Buffalo, both winnable games.
3) Dawson Mercer, NJ, (17% Yahoo ownership): New Jersey won the best schedule of the week award but no Devils have been recommended to this point (Noesen came close). Mercer is playing on line 1 with Meier and Hirscher, scoring 5 PTS in his last 7 GP with 14 shots and a +7. Like Rossi, Mercer is only on the 2nd power play unit and hasn’t scored with the man-advantage in 14 GP. He started the season ice cold, but has begun rolling lately on a dominant even strength line. The downside to Mercer is not many hits, but you don’t need to look any further than teammate Erik Haula to find them (I’d rather add Stefan Noesen, but he’s over 20% owned and didn’t qualify for this section). In 14 GP, Haula has 8 PTS (2 on the PP) with 28 shots and 25 hits, playing on line 3 and power play 2.
4) Mikey Anderson, LA, (3% Yahoo ownership): Mikey Anderson is a defensive specialist who doesn’t get many plugs here because of a limited offensive ceiling. Yet he does have 6 PTS in 11 GP this season (a 44-point pace, though I’d be shocked if he finished close to that number), adding 15 shots and 18 hits. He’s playing on the top pair with Gavrikov, but not on the power play. This is a very boring recommendation on my part, but losing Doughty may have forced him to play a more active role in the transition game. Another primarily defensive defenseman on a 40-point pace is Jonas Brodin in Minnesota, who has a better schedule coming up than Anderson with a few blowout candidates. Brodin has 5 PTS in 10 GP with 21 shots and 6 hits. Like Anderson, Brodin does not play on the PP, drawing the sustainability of his scoring rate into question.
5) Aleksi Protas, Wsh, (3% Yahoo ownership): As mentioned earlier, Caps play tomorrow then Wed-Fri, so you can steam them in for 3 of the upcoming 4 light nights then swap out for the weekend, Aleksi Protas is 97% available, eligible at multiple positions, scoring 9 PTS with 17 shots and a +6 in 9 games. They have him playing top line with Ovechkin, but not on the power play. The big Russian has only thrown 2 hits this season, which is a bummer if you’re hungry for bangers, but multiple options can be found in the honorable mentions (Tanner Jeannot is on the watchlist too). If you’d rather add a 4-gamer, Warren Foegele is 98% available, playing line 3 with Byfield and Laferriere in LA. He went pointless in their first 6 games, but has 5 in their last 5 GP with 14 shots.
Honorable Mentions: Dan Vladar, Marcus Foligno, Erik Haula, Warren Foegele, Jonas Brodin
Last Week: Jordan Eberle, Anthony Cirelli, Petr Mrazek, Cole Koepke, Ryker Evans
