NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Rankings (1/14)

Welcome to the Week 15 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire article here at FTN Fantasy. Before we get going, I’ve updated my Fantasy Hockey rankings for the rest of the season. Check out the link below!

Below you’ll see 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 13 teams scheduled to play four games in Week 15 (Jan.15 – Jan. 21) and there are three teams only slated to play two games. It’s that time of the season where you need to start piling up wins. It may mean you have to cut a struggling player for a four-game stream or someone trending up. Sometimes you have to make uncomfortable moves, but the way to get the best of your opponents moving forward is to have more games played, while taking advantage of the matchups each week.

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

Jack Hughes, NJ
Kyle Connor, WPG
Alex Ovechkin, WAS
Mark Scheifele, WPG
Connor Bedard, CHI
Logan Couture, SJ
Jeff Skinner, BUF
Timo Meier, NJ
Artturi Lehkonen, COL
Boone Jenner, CLS
Patrik Laine, CLS
Martin Necas, CAR
William Karlsson, VGK
Zach Werenski, CLS
Justin Faulk, STL
Tyson Barrie, NSH
Dougie Hamilton, NJ
Shea Theodore, VGK
Miro Heiskanen, DAL
Mikhail Sergachev, TB
Filip Gustavsson, MIN
Adin Hill, VGK
Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR

Quick thoughts

Buy Jack Hughes and Kyle Connor if you’re in a good spot in the standings. Sell Hughes if you need help now.
Add Couture and Lehkonen before they return.
Casey Mittlestadt should be rostered. He was great when Jeff Skinner was playing, but now he’s sidelined.
Hold Kochetkov and have Antti Raanta.

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

Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG
Matt Duchene, DAL
Gustav Nyquist, NSH
Tyler Seguin, DAL
Jonathan Drouin, COL
Rickard Rakell, PIT
Bryan Rust, PIT
Gabriel Vilardi, WPG
Blake Coleman, CGY
Tomas Hertl, SJ
Alexander Kerfoot, ARI
Eeli Tolvanen, SEA
Yegor Sharangovich, CGY
Brent Burns, CAR
Luke Hughes, NJ
Jamie Drysdale, PHI
Joey Daccord, SEA
Martin Jones, TOR

Deep-League Adds

Mason Marchment, DAL
Dawson Mercer, NJ
Mikael Granlund, SJ
J.T. Compher, DET
Marco Rossi, MIN
Alex Killorn, ANA
Charlie Coyle, BOS
T.J. Oshie, WAS
Kaiden Guhle, MTL
Brock Faber, MIN
Simon Nemec, NJ

Banger Leagues

David Savard, MTL
Adam Larsson, SEA
Connor Murphy, CHI
Jamie Oleksiak, SEA
Brenden Dillon, WPG
Yakov Trenin, NSH
Jeremy Lauzon, NSH
Alexander Romanov, NYI

Don’t Sell

Nikita Kucherov, TB
William Nylander, TOR
J.T. Miller, VAN
Matthew Tkachuk, FLA
Roope Hintz, DAL
Valeri Nichushkin, COL
Matt Boldy, MIN
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR
Tage Thompson, BUF
Bo Horvat, NYI
Quinn Hughes, VAN
Evan Bouchard, EDM
Mike Matheson, MTL

Consider Dropping

Andrei Kuzmenko, VAN
Jared McCann, SEA
Matty Beniers, SEA
Quinton Byfield, LA
Evander Kane, EDM
Erik Gustafsson, NYR
Hampus Lindholm, BOS
Owen Power, BUF
Tyson Barrie, NSH

Week 15 (Jan. 15- Jan. 21)

Four games

Anaheim Ducks

(MON vs. FLA, TUE @ WAS, SAT @ SJ, SUN vs. NYR)

Mason McTavish, C/LW

McTavish’s ownership has dropped over the past week, but he touches a lot of categories, including shots, hits, blocks, penalty minutes and faceoff wins. He also has a respectable 27 points in 35 games. McTavish is currently centering Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn, which is the line you want to attack. Vatrano is heating up again.

Troy Terry, RW

Terry’s picked up four points in his four games since returning to the lineup. I liked his upside a bit more when Trevor Zegras was healthy.

Colorado Avalanche

(MON @ MON, TUE @ OTT, THU @ BOS, SAT @ PHI)

Jonathan Drouin, LW

Drouin checked in last week, and this will likely be the last time you can grab him. He has seven goals and 16 points over his last 15 games. He’s hit the score sheet in 12 of those games. I really don’t know why his ownership is as low as it is. Nathan MacKinnon has the most multi-point games in the NHL, which makes Drouin a must-own player. They’re playing together at 5v5 and on the power play. On top of that, Drouin has played 21+ minutes in seven straight games. Drouin and MacKinnon are lighting it up just like they did with the Halifax Mooseheads.

Artturi Lehkonen, LW

Lehkonen is close to returning to the lineup, so scoop him up now.

Dallas Stars

(TUE vs. LA, THU @ PHI, SAT @ NJ, SUN @ NYI)

Tyler Seguin, C/RW & Mason Marchment LW

These two are still available and still lead Dallas in points over the last two weeks.

Thomas Harley, D

Harley had a quiet four games in Week 14, but the usage is still high and he’s touching other categories.

Los Angeles Kings

(MON @ CAR, TUE @ DAL, THU vs. NSH, SAT vs. NYR)

Quinton Byfield, C/LW

I had to cut Byfield loose in a 10-team league, but he’s worth holding onto in deeper formats if you can. I didn’t love that Adrian Kempe was removed from the top line with him and Anze Kopitar. They’re all back together again, and Byfield scored twice in his last game.

Matt Roy, D

Roy is a solid option if you’re looking for hits and blocks.

Minnesota Wild

(MON vs. NYI, THU @ TB, FRI @ FLA, SUN @ CAR)

Brock Faber, D

Faber continues to log heavy minutes.

Marco Rossi, C

Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello are back in the lineup and are playing alongside Rossi.

Montreal Canadiens

(MON vs. COL, WED @ NJ, THU @ OTT, SAT @ BOS)

David Savard, D

Savard has points in three of his last four games. That’s not something you should expect, but he’ll rack up a few blocks if you need them. Colorado and Boston should put plenty of shot attempts toward the Habs’ goal this week. Montreal also ranks near the top in penalty minutes, which is how Savard blocks most of his shots.

New Jersey Devils

(MON @ BOS, WED vs. MTL, FRI @ CLS, SAT vs. DAL)

Dawson Mercer, C/RW

Mercer is taking advantage of extra ice time with all the injuries in New Jersey.

Michael McLeod, C

McLeod has seen a big boost in minutes over the past three games. He’s won double-digit faceoffs in eight of his last nine games and has at least two hits in six of his last seven matchups. He quietly has 10 goals on the season, and he has points in four of his past five games. He’ll enter the week centering Tyler Toffoli and Jesper Bratt. McLeod is a very solid streaming option and a top option if you play with FOW.

Colin Miller, D

I’ve been playing Miller in NHL DFS at min-price. He was eased back into action in his first two games since returning to the lineup, but he’s played 17+ in two of his last three games. He has two goals, four points, 11 shots, 10 hits and five blocks in his five games since his return. The Devils are also shorthanded on the blue line.

New York Islanders

(MON @ MIN, TUE @ WPG, SAT @ CHI, SUN vs. DAL)

Kyle Palmieri, RW

Palmieri and Mathew Barzal are playing together on the third line and first power play. Barzal’s move away from Bo Horvat is a bummer for Horvat’s upside, but it’s’ good for Palmieri. It’s enough to consider him this week in deeper formats.

New York Rangers

(TUE vs. SEA, THU @ VGK, SAT @ LA, SUN @ ANA)

Alexis Lafreniere, W

Lafreniere should probably be owned because Artemi Panarin hits the score sheet just about every night.

Ottawa Senators

(TUE vs. COL, THU vs. MTL, SAT vs. WPG, SUN @ PHI)

Vladimir Tarasenko, W

It’s possible Tarasenko is on the wire. He has goals in back-to-back games and points in three straight.

Ridly Greig, C

Greig is getting a shot on the top line with Brady Tkachuk and Claud Giroux. Giroux has been the only consistent player in Ottawa this season, but Greig is probably only worth considering in 14-team leagues or NHL DFS.

Philadelphia Flyers

(MON @ STL, THU vs. DAL, SAT vs. COL, SUN vs. OTT)

Joel Farabee, W

Farabee turned out to be a great four-game stream last week, as he scored twice and added two assists. Two of his four points came on the power play.

Jamie Drysdale, D

Drysdale was a must-own player when he was in Anaheim, and I feel the same about him in Philadelphia. The power play isn’t great, but I think he can help. He has two points in two games with the Flyers and one came on the PP.

Seattle Kraken

(MON @ PIT, TUE @ NYR, THU @ EDM, SUN vs. TOR)

Olver Bjorkstrand RW & Eeli Tolvanen, W

These two were dropped after a bit of a cold stretch, but they should be rostered. These two along with Yanni Gourde have been Seattle’s best line all season. Seattle enters the week on a nine-game winning streak and has scored 20 goals in the last four games.

Toronto Maple Leafs

(TUE @ EDM, THU @ CGY, SAT @ VAN, SUN @ SEA)

Tyler Bertuzzi, LW

Bertuzzi’s disappointing season continued on Saturday after he was benched late in the game. He and Matthew Knies don’t produce a ton of offense when you consider their placement in the lineup. They’re the only streaming options on the Maple Leafs. I prefer Bertuzzi.

Attack the Schedule

Monday – 10 Game
Tuesday – 8 Games
Wednesday – 3 Games
Thursday – 10 Games
Friday – 4 Games
Saturday – 12 Games
Sunday – 6 Games

DET – WED, FRI, SUN
MIN – MON, THU, FRI, SUN
NYI – MON, TUE, FRI, SUN
CAR – MON, FRI, SUN

Back-to-Backs

ANA x2
CHI
COL
DAL
LA
MIN
MTL
NJ
NYI
NYR
OTT
PHI
SJ
SEA
TB
TOR

2 games

Buy-Low Candidates

Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Roope Hintz, DAL
Jason Robertson, DAL
Tim Stutzle, OTT
Dylan Larkin, DET
Clayton Keller, ARI
Erik Karlsson, PIT
Igor Shesterkin, NYR

Sell-High Candidates

Jack Hughes, NJ
Alex Ovechkin, WAS
Alexander Kerfoot, ARI
Jake DeBrusk, BOS
Jonathan Drouin, COL
Mathew Barzal, NYI
Mark Stone, VGK
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, FLA
Martin Jones, TOR