NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Rankings (11/19)

Welcome to the Week 7 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire article here at FTN Fantasy. Each weekend I’ll preview the week to come in Fantasy Hockey. I’ll highlight some of the best waiver wire pickups, players to stash, players to buy low and sell high, which players to drop and who to stream. I’ll also highlight some of the injuries, what it means for you and the Fantasy Hockey landscape.

There are eight teams scheduled to play four games for the week, and four teams with only two games in Week 7 (Nov. 20 – Nov. 26). There’s also one team with just one game this week. It’s an odd week, as there are no games on Tuesday or Thursday.

The strategy I like to call “attacking the schedule” can be the difference in winning a championship. Each week, find out which borderline players or streamers wouldn’t crack your lineup on the busy days on the schedule. 

Drop those players for players scheduled to play on the lighter scheduled nights. Those days are usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. If you’re in a shallow league or a roto league, this strategy may not mean that much to you. But if you’re not going to play an average player on a busy night like Thursday or Saturday, you’re better off dropping him for someone playing on those lighter days. This strategy is similar to “two-start” pitchers in Fantasy Baseball.

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Injuries 

• Tage Thompson, BUF
• Aleksander Barkov, FLA
• Timo Meier, NJ
• Joonas Koprisalo, OTT
• Ville Husso, DET

Hold every skater listed above if you can. You can move on from Husso. Barkov is already ruled out of Monday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. Anton Lundell will center the top line in the meantime. He’ll be a value in NHL DFS as long as Barkov sits. 

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire 

The waiver wire consists of players owned in fewer than 60% of Yahoo leagues. They are ranked in order of how I value them for the rest of the season. I dug deep for those playing in NFHC High Stakes leagues.

Last Chance 

• Matt Duchene, DAL
• Owen Tippett, PHI
• Cam Atkinson, PHI
• Bryan Rust, PIT
• Valeri Nichushkin, COL
• Pavel Zacha, BOS
• Robert Thomas, STL
• Pavel Buchnevich, STL
• Sean Couturier, PHI
• Tyler Seguin, DAL
• Oliver Bjorkstrand, SEA
• Eeli Tolvanen, SEA
• Tom Wilson, WSH
• Tyler Bertuzzi, TOR
• Quinton Byfield, LA
• Michael Matheson, MTL
• Travis Sanheim, PHI
• MacKenzie Weegar, CGY
• Antti Raanta, CAR
• Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR

Duchene, Tippett, Zacha, Tolavanen, and Bjorkstrand are still hanging around despite very strong starts. I’m buying what I’m seeing so far. The points may dry up, but they’re touch plenty of categories for when they don’t hit the score sheet. I love Matheson and Sanheim’s game. I wouldn’t sell either. Weegar looks how he did in Florida. He’s clearly been given the green light to move up the ice, which he didn’t have with Darryl Sutter. Byfield and Bertuzzi are benefiting from great linemates. That may be unfair to Byfield who is starting to show why he was a top pick. He’s been great at 5v5 and Kempe is one of the most underrated snipers in the league. I was just about ready to drop Nichushkin, but his promotion to the top has gotten him going. 

Deep-League Adds

• Ryan O’Reilly, NSH
• Josh Norris, OTT
• San Bennett, FLA
• Lawson Crouse, ARI
• Wyatt Johnston, DAL
• Matty Beniers, SEA
• Tomas Hertl, SJ
• Adam Fantilli, CLS
• Alex Iafallo, WPG
• Alexis Lafreniere, NYR
• Cole Perfetti, WPG
• Blake Coleman, CGY
• Martin Pospisil, CGY
• JJ Peterka, BUF
• Connor Zary, CGY
• James van Riemsdyk, BOS
• Ross Colton, COL
• Torey Krug, STL
• Kaiden Guhle, MTL
• Neal Pionk, WPG
• Cam Fowler, ANA
• Connor Ingram, ARI
• Charlie Lindgren, WAS

Josh Norris was dropped in a ton of leagues this week with the Sens’ weak schedule. Norris is part of a strong top six which is why he has nine points in 12 games. Lawson Course touches a lot of categories when he’s not scoring. Beniers is someone to monitor as the puck luck is starting to turn around for him. I think Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand are better adds in leagues with shots and hits. Lafreniere’s extremely high shooting percentage makes him a sell-high candidate in redraft leagues. Having said that, there’s a ceiling with Lafreniere we’re just starting to see. The same can be said for Perfetti and Peterka. These players are just scratching the surface. More on Pospisil and Zary below. It’s only a matter of time before Sam Bennett gets going. His ownership is way too low. 

Banger Leagues 

• Radko Gudas, ANA
• Adam Larsson, SEA
• MacKenzie Weegar, CGY
• Pavel Mintyukov, ANA
• Jamie Oleksiak, SEA
• Tyler Meyers, VAN
• Neal Pionk, WPG
• Brenden Dillon, WPG
• Jonas Siegenthaler, NJ
• Marcus Foligno, MIN
• Yakov Trenin, NSH
• Nikita Okhotiuk, SJ

Hold

• William Nylander, TOR
• J.T. Miller, VAN
• Kyler Connor, WPG
• Artemi Panarin, NYR
• Sidney Crosby, PIT
• Mason McTavish, ANA
• Jared McCann, SEA
• Martin Necas, CAR
• Quinn Hughes, VAN
• Mike Matheson, MTL

Consider Dropping 

• Jesperi Kotkaniemi, CAR
• David Perron, DET
• Michael Bunting, CAR
• Sean Monahan, MTL
• Patrik Laine, CLS
• Gustav Forsling, FLA
• Bowen Byram, COL
• Tyson Barrie, NSH
• Tony DeAngelo, CAR

Week 7 (Nov. 20 – Nov. 26)

Four games

Boston Bruins

(MON @ TB, WED @ FLA, THU vs. DET, SAT @ NYR)

Pavel Zacha, C

Zacha is most likely owned, but his ownership is just above 60% in Yahoo! Sports leagues. He has points in four straight games and 13 in 16 games this season. He should be rostered everywhere considering he’ll be playing with David Pastrnak all season. Consider JVR and Charlie Coyle in deep formats.

Calgary Flames 

(MON @ SEA, WED @ NSH, FIR @ DAL, SAT @ COL)

Martin Pospisil & Connor Zary, C

Pospisil and Zary have sparked Calgary’s offense. They won’t be able to keep this pace up, but they are one and two in points per game on the Flames. Pospisil has three goals and five points in seven games. He has 10 shots on goal in his last three games and his ice time continues to rise.  Zary also has three goals, and he’s picked up eight points in as many games. Both players have C eligibility, but they’re playing on the wing with Nazem Kadri. Zary is getting PP1 time, so I lean him over Pospisil from an offensive standpoint, but it’s really close. Pospisil is a shooter and he throws his body around. Zary is a 2020 first-round pick by the Flames who has a higher ceiling. He scored 21 goals and had 58 points in 72 games with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL last season, and he had 10 points in six games this year before getting the call to the NHL.

The Flames have plenty of deep league options such as Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane. It’s possible Jonathan Huberdeau, Elias Lindholm or MacKenzie Weegar are available. I’m not crazy about Huberdeau, but I’d stream him in deeper leagues. I’d also consider selling high if I owned him. He’s shown signs of life but I’m not buying it. 

Colorado Avalanche 

(MON @ NSH, WED vs. VAN, FRI @ MIN, SAT vs. CGY)

Check to see if anyone dropped Valeri Nichushkin or Devon Toews. Ryan Johanson isn’t consistent enough to own in 12-team leagues. He’s a deep-league stream as you head into the weekend. Ross Colton has shown us more than Johanson. 

Edmonton Oilers 

(MON @ FLA, WED @ CAR, FRI @ WAS, SUN vs ANA)

Nothing here. Maybe Connor Brown if he’s healthy, but in deep leagues only. Mattias Ekholm is shooting and he’s on the top pair. 

Nashville Predators 

(MON vs. COL, WED @ CGY, FRI @ STL, SUN vs. WPG)

Ryan O’Reilly, C

ROR has an impressive 15 points in 16 games (eight goals) and enters the week on a three-game point streak. O’Reilly is a beast in the circle.

Gustav Nyquist, LW

Nyquist has points in four straight games and five of his last six. He’s nothing more than a streaming option, but it’s worth noting that he’s playing with ROR and Filip Forsberg. 

New York Rangers 

(MON @ DAL, WED @ PIT, FRI @ PHI, SAT vs. BOS)

Alexis Lafreniere, W

Lafreniere has already scored seven goals this season and has been rewarded with more ice time. The former first-overall pick has had a slow start to his career, but he’s proving last year’s career-high 23 goals weren’t a fluke. The winger is shooting an alarming 26% so far, but he’s also shooting more and has received a career-high 16:37 through 15 games. His winger Artemi Panarin has at least one point in every game, which is a reason to consider Lafreniere. 

San Jose Sharks

(MON @ VAN, WED @ SEA, FRI vs. MTL, SAT vs. VAN)

Tomas Hertl, C

Hertl is pretty much a must-own in leagues with face off wins, but I know most don’t play with that stat. Hertl has three goals, 11 points, and 41 shots in 17 games. Six of those points have come over his last seven games.  The ceiling is limited due to his supporting cast.

Fabian Zetterlund, LW

William Eklund, C/LW 

I wouldn’t be looking to stream too many players from San Jose. Consider Zetterlund and Eklund in deeper formats. Eklund has points in four of his last six games. Both players are getting plenty of ice time.

Nikita Okhotiuk, D 

Blocks and hits. 

Vancouver Canucks

(MON vs. SJ, WED @ COL, FRI @ SEA, SAT @ SJ)

Tyler Myers, D

Myers can rack up a few hits and blocks if you need them. 

Deep league streams

• Ilya Mikheyev, W
• Phillip Di Giuseppe, W

Mikheyev could fall into a couple of points with the Sharks on the schedule twice. 

Two games 

• Minnesota Wild
• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Vegas Golden Knights
• Washington Capitals

One game

• Ottawa Senators

I still really like Josh Norris if he’s hanging around and you’re not off to a bad start.

Attack The Schedule 

• Monday – 7 Games
• Tuesday – 0 Games
• Wednesday – 14 Games
• Thursday – 0 Games
• Friday – 15 Games
• Saturday – 8 Games
• Sunday – 5 Games

No games on Tuesday or Thursday during Thanksgiving, so this is a very different schedule. No teams play Saturday and Sunday, but I’d hold your moves for players who skate Friday and Saturday. Try to save some moves left for Sunday.

Back-to-Backs

• Boston Bruins
• Buffalo Sabres
• Calgary Flames
• Colorado Avalanche
• Montreal Canadiens
• New Jersey Devils
• New York Islanders
• New York Rangers
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Pittsburgh Penguins 
• San Jose Sharks
• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Vancouver Canucks

Buy-Low Candidates 

• Jason Robertson, DAL
• Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
• Roope Hintz, DAL
• Timo Meier, NJ
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM
• Mika Zibanejad, NYR
• Andrei Svechnikov, CAR
• Alex Tuch, BUF
• Miro Heiskanen, DAL
• John Carlson, WAS
• Devon Toews, COL
• Ilya Samsonov, TOR

Sell-High Candidates

• Leo Carlsson, ANA
• William Karlsson, VGK
• Mark Stone, VGK
• Alexis Lafreniere, NYR
• Robert Thomas, STL
• Frank Vatrano, ANA
• Brock Boeser, VAN
• Erik Gustafsson, NYR
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson, FLA
• Filip Hronek, VAN
• Jordan Binnington, STL