NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Rankings (12/31)

Chris Meaney

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Happy New Year, and welcome to the Week 13 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 four teams scheduled to play four games in Week 13 (Jan. 1 – Jan. 7) and there are four teams only slated to play two games. The week starts slow with just one game on New Year’s Day, and it’s the Winter Classic at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights. It’s just one of two games this week for the Kraken. Someone like Jared McCann is hard to hold if he doesn’t show up Monday.

It’s starting to become 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

Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Mats Zuccarello, MIN
Timo Meier, NJ
Troy Terry, ANA
Kyle Connor, WPG
Boone Jenner, CLS
Bryan Rust, PIT
Patrik Laine, CLS
Zach Werenski, CLS
Justin Faulk, STL
Tyson Barrie, NSH
Dougie Hamilton, NJ
Shea Theodore, VGK
Seth Jones, CHI
Filip Gustavsson, MIN
Jake Oettinger, DAL
Adin Hill, VGK

Plenty of big names dealing with injuries at the moment. I’d drop Zuccarello and Barrie. Jones should be back soon and should be rostered. Terry is someone I’m holding in deeper leagues.

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.

Rickard Rakell, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins

Rakell has paid off in the NHL prop and NHL DFS game since he returned to the lineup. He had a slow start to the season, but he has two goals and five points in four games leading up to his game on Sunday. He finished with five shots in two of his last three games. He’s also skating on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. He’s a must-own and could stick on the top line even when Bryan Rust returns.

Jamie Drysdale, D, Anaheim Ducks

Drysdale only has one point in four games since returning to the lineup, but he’s been very impressive. His one point was a goal, and he’s racked up 10 shots and seven blocks over those four games. He’s logging heavy minutes and is on the first PP. The Ducks are starting to get healthier on offense, which should improve the PP. Drysdale is a great skater with some offensive upside to his game.

Last Chance

Robert Thomas, STL
Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG
Quinton Byfield, LA
Tomas Hertl, SJ
Matt Duchene, DAL
Owen Tippett, PHI
Gabriel Vilardi, WPG
Mikael Granlund, SJ
Luke Hughes, NJ
Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR
Joey Daccord, SEA

Deep-League Adds

Alexander Kerfoot, ARI
Sam Bennett, FLA
Chandler Stephenson, VGK
Josh Norris, OTT
Tyler Seguin, DAL
Mason Marchment, DAL
Eeli Tolvanen, SEA
Dawson Mercer, NJ
Evan Rodrigues, FLA
Trevor Zegars, ANA
Gustav Nyquist, NSH
Dakota Joshua, VAN
Charlie Coyle, BOS
Torey Krug, STL
Jared Spurgeon, MIN
Simon Nemec, NJ
Scott Wedgewood, DAL
Martin Jones, TOR

Alexander Kerfoot, C/LW, Arizona Coyotes

Kefoot is taking advantage of top minutes and is now worthy of not only a stream but a hold. He has two goals and seven points in his last six games. Three of those points have come on the power play. He’s played at least 19 minutes in eight straight games, which is something he never did in Toronto. He should continue to chip in playing alongside Clayton Keller at 5v5 and on the man advantage.

Banger Leagues

David Savard, MTL
Adam Larsson, SEA
Connor Murphy, CHI
Jake Walman, DET
Jamie Oleksiak, SEA
Brenden Dillon, WPG
Jonas Siegenthaler, NJ
Marcus Foligno, MIN
Yakov Trenin, NSH
Jeremy Lauzon, NSH
Alexander Romanov, NYI
Jake McCabe, TOR
Will Borgen, SEA

Hold

Nikita Kucherov, TB
Jack Hughes, NJ
J.T. Miller, VAN
Roope Hintz, DAL
Valeri Nichushkin, COL
Matt Boldy, MIN
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR
Robert Thomas, STL
Bo Horvat, NYI
Quinn Hughes, VAN
Evan Bouchard, EDM
Mike Matheson, MTL
MacKenzie Weegar, CGY

Consider Dropping

Jonathan Huberdeau, CGY
David Perron, DET
Andrei Kuzmenko, VAN
Pierre-Luc Dubois, LA
Vladimir Tarasenko, OTT
Pavel Zacha, BOS
Dylan Cozens, BUF
Jamie Benn, DAL
Erik Gustafsson, NYR
Hampus Lindholm, BOS
Mattias Ekholm, EDM
Tyson Barrie, NSH

Week 13 (Jan. 1- Jan. 7)

Four games

Calgary Flames

(TUE @ MIN, THU @ NSH, SAT @ PHI, SUN @ CHI)

Yegor Sharangovich, CLW

Sharangovich has seen his ownership drop despite points in 10 of his last 12 games. I’m not completely buying all the goals, but he’s playing a large role for the Flames, and they have some decent matchups this week.

Blake Coleman, C/LW

Value in leagues with hits, blocks and shots. He’s a sneaky good fantasy option in those formats and is picking up points.

Chicago Blackhawks

(TUE @ NSH, THU @ NYR, FRI @ NJ, SUN vs. CGY)

There’s really nothing here. Nick Foligno is valuable in leagues with hits and faceoff wins. He’s also put up a couple of points over the past couple of weeks. Connor Murphy can help in leagues with hits and blocks. Philipp Kurashev has racked up a few assists of late.

Washington Capitals

(TUE @ PIT, WED vs. NJ, THU vs. CAR, SUN vs. LA)

Anthony Mantha, RW

Mantha has 11 goals on the season and four in his last six games. He’s moved up the lineup and is someone who’s not afraid to shoot the puck. Tom Wilson is a better stream if he’s available.

Max Pacioretty, LW

Pacioretty is close to returning to the lineup. He’s worth an add now before he’s activated. I’d consider selling high because I’m not sure how healthy he’ll be able to stay. He’s recovering from his second Achilles injury. However, when he’s playing he’s usually productive.

Winnipeg Jets

(TUE vs. TB, THU @ SJ, FRI @ ANA, SUN @ ARI)

Gabriel Vilardi, C/RW

Vilardi will get dropped after a couple of quiet games. Grab him if you see him on the wire.

Nino Niederreiter, RW

Nino had a couple of two-goal games this past week. He’s up to 12 goals on the season. He’ll provide a few shots and hits.

Attack The Schedule

Monday – 1 Game
Tuesday – 13 Games
Wednesday – 2 Games
Thursday – 12 Games
Friday – 3 Games
Saturday – 12 Games
Sunday – 4 Games

ANA – WED, FRI, SUN
CHI – TUE, THU, FRI, SUN
NJ – WED, FRI, SAT
WAS – TUE, WED, FRI, SUN
WPG – TUE, THU, FRI, SUN

The Ducks have a great schedule this week. If there’s an average player who won’t get in your lineup on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, consider streaming from Anaheim. Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry (check if healthy) and Alex Killorn are all in play.

Back-to-Backs

2 games

Buy-Low Candidates

Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Matthew Tkachuk, FLA
Nico Hischier, NJ
Timo Meier, NJ
Tim Stutzle, OTT
Tage Thompson, BUF
Roope Hintz, DAL
Brandon Montour, FLA
Miro Heiskanen, DAL

Sell-High Candidates

Alexander Kerfoot, ARI
Leo Carlsson, ANA
Yegor Sharangovich, CGY
Blake Coleman, CGY
William Karlsson, VGK
Mathew Barzal, NYI
Mark Stone, VGK
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, FLA
Martin Jones, TOR