NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Rankings (10/20)

Welcome to the Week 3 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire article here at FTN Fantasy.

Below are some of the best fantasy hockey waiver wire pickups, four-game streams, and players to cut and grab in deep formats.

Only five teams are scheduled to play four games in Week 3 (Oct. 21 – Oct. 27), and three teams have only two games. It’s too early to cut players who have had a slow start, as we’re only one week into the season. I’m all about streaming to get the most out of your moves but don’t give up on Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, or Martin Necas for a random four-game stream like Paul Cotter.

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.

Please be sure to check out our fantasy hockey Discord channel. Reach out to me anytime with questions!

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My fantasy hockey rankings – update Monday at 8 ET

Dangel Bet Celly

Aleksander Barkov, FLA
Macklin Celebrini, SJ
Boone Jenner, CLS
Anthony Duclair, NYI
Jonathan Drouin, COL
Devon Toews, COL
Sean Durzi, UTA
Linus Ullmark, OTT
Darcy Kuemper, LA
Joseph Woll, TOR

Anton Lundell is taking advantage of his playing time with Barkov sidelined. Barkov is skating and he’ll be back soon, so the fun will be over. Lundell is a great player, but he’ll move back to the third line.

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.

Last Chance

Dylan Guenther, UTA
JJ Peterka, BUF
Sam Bennett, FLA
Yegor Chinakhov, CLS
Josh Norris, OTT
Teuvo Teravainen, CHI
Mikael Granlund, SJ
Casey Mittelstadt, COL
Ross Colton, COL
Tyler Toffoli, SJ
Tom Wilson, WAS
Fabian Zetterlund, SJ
Lane Hutson, MTL
Anthony Stolarz, TOR
Joey Daccord, SEA
Dustin Wolf, CGY

Guenther and Peterka were featured in the breakout section of our fantasy hockey kit. Chinakhov is a heck of a player, and the breakout is happening in front of our eyes. He should always be among the leaders on his team in ice time. Colton is very appealing considering how thin Colorado is at the moment. Hutson played 30 minutes the other night. That’s crazy for a 20-year-old kid. His defensive game may need some work, but his offensive ceiling is high, and he’s already taken over the first PP. I’ve always been a Norris guy, he’s just had issues staying healthy. When he’s healthy he scores goals.

Deep-League Adds

Logan Stankoven, DAL
Anton Lundell, FLA
Andrei Kuznmenko, CGY
Jonathan Huberdeau, CGY
Chandler Stephenson, SEA
Nick Foligno, CHI
Pierre-Luc Dubois, WAS
Sean Monahan, CLS
Connor Zary, CGY
Maxin Tsyplakov, NYI
Paul Cotter, NJ
Justin Faulk, STL
Petr Mrazek, CHI
Kevin Lankinen, VAN
Lukas Dostal, ANA
Jake Allen, NJ

Banger Leagues

Jacob Trouba, NYR
Jake Walman, SJ
Jeremy Lauzon, NSH
Radko Gudas, ANH
Brenden Dillon, NJ
Nikita Zadorov, BOS
Jonas Siegenthaler, NJ

Consider Dropping

Michael Bunting, PIT
Pavel Zacha, BOS
Matty Beniers, SEA
Dylan Cozens, BUF
Gustav Nyquist, NSH
Jamie Benn, NSH
Gabriel Vilardi, WPG
Brent Burns, CAR
Joonas Korpisalo, BOS
Tristan Jarry, PIT

Buy/Hold

Cole Caufield, MTL
Vincent Trocheck, NYR
Dylan Guenther, UTA
Jake Sanderson, OTT
Elias Lindholm, BOS
Owen Tippett, PHI
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Robert Thomas, STL
Martin Necas, CAR
Jake Oettinger, DAL
Juuse Saros, NSH

Sell

Anton Lundell, FLA
Ross Colton, COL
Mark Stone, VGK
Anze Kopitar, LA
Evgeni Malkin, PIT
Kevin Lankinen, VAN
Alexander Georgiev, COL

Week 3 (Oct. 21 – Oct. 27)

Four Games

Detroit Red Wings

(TUE @ NYI, THU vs. NJ, FRI @ BUF, SUN vs. EDM)

J.T. Compher, F
Vladimir Tarasenko, W

For whatever reason, Alex DeBrincat has been dropped in leagues. Let’s not overreact, as we’re just two weeks into the season. I’d buy DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and Mortiz Seider. I’d hold Patrick Kane if you drafted him. There will be better days, although I have no shares and I’m not interested in buying any. Compher has triple eligibility, and the top six will start scoring soon. That includes Vladimir Tarasenko, who is on the top line for now.

New Jersey Devils

(TUE vs. TB, THU @ DET, THU vs. NYI, SUN vs. ANA)

Dawson Mercer, C/RW
Paul Cotter, C

Paul Cotter is another example of understanding your scoring settings. Cotter has five goals in eight games after scoring just seven in 76 games last season. He’s currently shooting 33.3%, which is unsustainable. However, he’s playing more with the Devils than he did with the Golden Knights. Not only that, he skated on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt this week. He’ll fall into points playing with those two. Temper expectations, but we’re talking streamers here, and he has value in leagues with hits (23). Mercer only has two goals and three points, but he’s skating with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. He has a better chance of sticking inside the top six due to his skill. He won’t hit though.

Philadelphia Flyers

(TUE vs. WAS, WED @ WAS, SAT vs. MIN, SUN vs. MTL)

Scott Laughton, C/LW
Morgan Frost, C
Joel Farabee, W

If you play with faceoff wins, hits and shorthanded points, Laughton is pretty valuable, as he was a top-150 player in those formats last season. It’s hard to hold him if you only play with goals, assists and points, despite the fact he has four points in five games. He’s not a point-per-game player, but he touches a lot of categories (18 hits). Laughton is currently skating on the second line with Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee. Frost has a higher ceiling and is playing between Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov. These lines will change multiple times throughout the season, but the Flyers’ top six is appealing for streaming purposes. Know your scoring settings.

Tampa Bay Lightning

(MON @ TOR, TUE @ NJ, THU vs. MIN, SAT vs. WAS)

Nicholas Paul, C/LW
Anthony Cirelli, C

Toronto Maple Leafs

(MON vs. TB, TUE @ CLS, THU vs. STL, SUN @ BOS)

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D
Bobby McMann, LW
Max Domi, C/LW
Matthew Knies, LW
Jake McCabe, D

OEL has created a bit of buzz in our Discord channel with the move to the first power play. He has four assists, 17 shots and a hit in all five of his games. McCann likes to shoot the puck, and he gets a boost alongside William Nylander. Max Domi is centering the second line for Toronto, so he’s in play in deeper leagues. McCabe could provide 15 combined hits and blocks.

Two Games

Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Vancouver Canucks

Attack the Schedule

Monday – 1 games
Tuesday – 16 games
Wednesday – 1 games
Thursday – 9 games
Friday – 4 games
Saturday – 14 games
Sunday – 4 games

Having players on Wednesday and Friday will give you an edge this week.

Monday – TB @ TOR
Wednesday – PHI @ WAS
Friday – NSH @ CHI, PIT @ EDM, NYI @ NJ, OTT @ VGK
Sunday – ANA @ NJ, OTT @ COL, DET @ EDM, MTL @ PHI

I listed the matchups on the off days because there are only 10. Philly, New Jersey, Edmonton and Ottawa are the teams to attack. It’s possible Viktor Arvidsson was dropped. I’d say one of Drake Batherson or Josh Norris are available. As mentioned, Dawson Mercer is worth your attention.

Back-to-Backs

ANA
DET
MTL
NSH
NJ
NYI
PHI x2
PIT
TB
TOR
VGK
WAS

Jake Allen, G, New Jersey

Jake Allen has always been one of the better backups in the NHL. He’s been fantastic in both of his starts. New Jersey will likely let Jacob Markstrom figure it out, but Allen could be in line for more starts given his play.

Ivan Fedotov, G, Philadelphia Flyers

It’s likely Fedotov gets two starts this week with the Flyers scheduled to play back-to-back twice. He allowed five goals in each of his first two starts, so I’d proceed with caution.