NHL waiver wire rankings (4/4)

Welcome to the Week 12 fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings, where we have 18 teams scheduled to play four games and two set for five. Five games in a week, especially this late in the season, is huge. You always want to get the most out of your moves, but if you’re fighting for a playoff spot, I’d consider streaming from the Boston Bruins or Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins and the Flyers also have four games next week. There are several teams with back-to-backs, so there are plenty of streaming options if you need help in goal. Be sure to check back mid-week for the fantasy hockey playoff schedule.

The biggest news of the week comes out of Vancouver, as they reportedly have as many as 18 players and three coaches who have tested positive. As of now, they are scheduled to play two games this week, but there’s a good chance Vancouver doesn’t play at all, which makes it hard to hold onto their players in head-to-head leagues. If you’re playing in a roto league, it’s quite possible those players make up their games at some point in the season, but even that isn’t a lock. J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes are players I’d wait on as we should hear more information in the next couple of days. If you need players now, you may need to move on from all Vancouver players.

We’re just two weeks away from the fantasy hockey playoffs in head-to-head formats, so we have to treat every week from here on out as if it were playoff time. Almost everyone in your fantasy hockey league will have plenty of players with four games for the week as we have 18 teams with heavy schedules in Week 12. The way to be different this week and weeks moving forward, is to target players who play on the lighter scheduled nights. I call this attacking the schedule. With that said, we have a pretty balanced schedule this week.

Monday: 7
Tuesday: 9
Wednesday: 5
Thursday: 10
Friday: 8
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 7

The key days to attack are Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. You need to take a look at Thursday and Saturday and ask yourself who will likely be taking a seat on your bench on those busy days. Again, if you’re in a playoff spot, you don’t need to worry. If you’ve been streaming or you have players who have been average at best and you need wins now, you should consider swapping those players out for players on teams with games on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Teams playing WED, FRI and SUN:

Arizona Coyotes
Colorado Avalanche
Vegas Golden Knights

You’ll also see a representative from each team playing four games as well as back-to-back options, fantasy hockey rankings and rest of the season rankings. I scanned the waiver wire across Yahoo, ESPN and Fantrax leagues and sought out the players owned in fewer than 60% of leagues. Keep reading to see the fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings and drop candidates as there are several teams scheduled to play twice this week. It’s easy enough to suggest a player to add, but the tough part is finding a player to drop.

Any questions you can hit me up @chrismeaney. Check out Mean Streets and Fantasy Hockey Picks and Bets for more NHL content.

Rest-of-season rankings

Five-game streams

Boston Bruins (MON vs. PHI, TUE vs. PHI, THU @ WSH, SAT @ PHI, SUN vs. WSH)

Matt Grzelcyk, D

Grzelcyk won’t provide owners with many blocks or hits, but he has tremendous offensive upside. The Bruins’ defenseman has two goals, six points and 33 shots in his past nine games. His shot prop has been at 1.5 for weeks and he’s cleared that in 10 straight games.

David Krejci, C

Krejci scored his second goal of the season Saturday and added an assist as he finished with one power-play point in Boston’s 7-5 win against Pittsburgh. Krejci doesn’t shoot the puck enough for my liking, but if you need some faceoff wins and you’re in a deeper league he can be an asset. The veteran center has 10 points (five PPP) in his past seven games.

Nick Ritchie, LW

Ritchie went through a very cold spell after a strong start to the season, but he’s starting to heat back up. The winger has two goals and five points over his past six games. He has at least four shots on goal in four of his past five games, and he had 11 hits over that span.

Craig Smith, RW

Smith has two goals, seven points and 19 shots on goal over his last seven games. He’s a volume shooter and the Bruins have three games against the Flyers this week so he’s worth a look.

Philadelphia Flyers (MON @ BOS, TUE vs. BOS, THU @ NYI, SAT vs. BOS, SUN vs. BUF)

Joel Farabee, LW/RW

Farabeen has gone three straight games without a point, and he’s been one of the most dropped players as a result. Let’s not forget he has 14 goals and 27 points in 35 games. He’s back on the top line with Sean Couturier and although three games against the Bruins seems like a pass, they've struggled to keep the puck out of their net of late.

Jakub Voracek, RW

Voracek is not an add if you need goals and shots, but he is if you’re lacking assists. He has 24 on the season and seven in his past seven games.

4-game streams

Arizona Coyotes — Phil Kessel; Alex Goligoski
Buffalo Sabres — Rasmus Ristolainen
Colorado Avalanche — Joonas Donskoi; Andre Burakovsky; Valeri Nichushkin; Ryan Graves
Dallas Stars — Jason Robertson; Denis Gurianov; Esa Lindell; Jamie Oleksiak; Radek Faksa
Los Angeles Kings — Dustin Brown; Alex Iafallo
Minnesota Wild — Kevin Fiala; Jared Spurgeon
Montreal Canadiens — Tomas Tatar; Josh Anderson; Nicholas Suzuki; Jonathan Drouin
Nashville Predators — Eeli Tolvanen; Luke Kunin
New Jersey Devils — Kyle Palmieri (expected to get traded)
New York Islanders — Jordan Eberle; Anthony Beauvillier; Nick Leddy; Scott Mayfield
New York Rangers — Jacob Trouba
Ottawa Senators — Drake Batherson; Mike Reilly
Pittsburgh Penguins — Jared McCann; Jason Zucker; Brandon Tanev
St. Louis Blues — Jaden Schwartz
Vegas Golden Knights — William Karlsson; Alex Tuch; Reilly Smith; Tomas Nosek
Washington Capitals — Dmitry Orlov; Justin Schultz

2 games

Vancouver Canucks — in the best case

Saturday and Sunday games

Boston Bruins
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
Philadelphia Flyers

Other back-to-backs

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
Washington Capitals

Teams with four games in Week 12 and 13

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Colorado Avalanche
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals

Fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings (under 60%)