NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Rankings (2/25)

Chris Meaney

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Welcome to the Week 21 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire article here at FTN Fantasy. 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, and what it means for you and the Fantasy Hockey landscape.

There are 11 teams scheduled to play four games in Week 21 (Feb. 26 – Mar 3), and three teams scheduled to play two games. You’ll see streams from each team with four games below.

It’s that time of the season when 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

Matthew Tkachuk, FLA
Jack Eichel, VGK
Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN
Travis Konecny, PHI
Mark Stone, VGK
Jake Guentzel, PIT
Valeri Nichushkin, COL
Tyler Seguin, DAL
Patrik Laine, CLS
Viktor Arvidsson, LA
Tomas Hertl, SJ
Logan Couture, SJ
Trevor Zegras, ANH
Adam Fantilli, CLS
Dougie Hamilton, NJ
Mikhail Sergachev, TB
Justin Faulk, STL
Owen Power, BUF

Quick Thoughts

Tkachuk has a chance to play Tuesday.
No work on the extent of the injuries to Eriksson Ek, Konecny, or Seguin. Eriksson Ek and Konecny are worth hanging onto.
I’d still buy Eichel from a team that needed wins desperately to get into the playoffs. If Seguin misses time, Logan Stankoven may get a serious look. He picked up three shots on goal in his debut over the weekend and received nearly four minutes of power-play time.

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

Bryan Rust, PIT
Owen Tippett, PHI
Juraj Slafkovsky, MTL
Mason Marchment, DAL
Dylan Strome, WAS
Boone Jenner, CLS
Gustav Nyquist, NSH
Quinton Byfield, LA
Artturi Lehkonen, COL
Josh Norris, OTT
Zach Werenski, CLS
Thomas Chabot, OTT

Deep-League Adds

Wyatt Johnston, DAL
Sam Bennett, FLA
Tyler Bertuzzi, TOR
Chandler Stephenson, VGK
Juraj Slafkovsky, MTL
Johnny Gaudreau, CLS
Pierre-Luc Dubois, LA
Kirill Marchenko, CLS
Dmitry Voronkov, CLS
Shane Pinto, OTT
Scott Laughton, PHI
Bobby McMann, TOR
Torey Krug, STL

Banger Leagues

Radko Gudas, ANH
Jeremy Lauzon, NSH
David Savard, MTL
Kaiden Guhle, MTL
Nick Seeler, PHI
Alec Martinez, VGK
Adam Larsson, SEA
Jake McCabe, TOR
Mario Ferraro, SJ
Connor Murphy, CHI
Yakov Trenin, NSH
Alexander Romanov, NYI

Don’t Sell

William Nylander, TOR
J.T. Miller, VAN
Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN
Matt Boldy, MIN
Matthew Tkachuk, FLA
Alex Ovechkin, WAS
Matt Duchene, DAL
Nico Hischier, NJ
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Evan Bouchard, EDM
Mike Matheson, MTL

Consider Dropping

Vladimir Tarasenko, OTT
Trevor Moore, LA
Kyle Palmieri, NYI
Oliver Bjorkstrand, CLS
Eeli Tolvanen, CLS
Evan Rodrigues, FLA
Jamie Benn, DA
Tyson Barrie, NSH
Hampus Lindholm, BOS
Jake Sanderson, OTT

Week 21 (Feb. 26 – Mar. 3)

Four Games

Arizona Coyotes

(TUE @ MTL, THU @ TOR, FRI @ OTT, SUN @ WAS)

Dylan Guenther, LW

The Coyotes enter Sunday on an 11-game losing streak, so they have shuffled a lot of their lines. Guenther is currently skating on the first line and power play with Clayton Keller, so he’s intriguing in deeper formats. He has two goals and 10 shots in his last four games, and he’s averaging 18 minutes per game over that span.

Barrett Hayton, C

I’m a sucker for Hayton and think it’s only a matter of time before he gets his spot back on the first line, or next to Keller. He’s hard to stream in a 12-team league, but keep an eye on him. He scored in his last game, and he has eight shots along with 20 faceoff wins over his past three games. The trio of Hayton, Nick Schmaltz, and Alex Kerfoot may be worth monitoring.

Buffalo Sabres

(TUE @ FLA, THU @ TB, SAT vs. VGK, SUN vs. WPG)

Henri Jokiharju, D

Jokiharju is logging heavy minutes and the counting stats are piling up. I streamed him this past week for some blocks and he ended up picking up four points.

Dallas Stars

(MON vs. NYI, TUE @ COL, THU vs. WPG, SAT vs. SJ)

Wyatt Johnston, C/RW & Mason Marchment, LW

The Stars are one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL. These two shouldn’t be hanging around the waiver wire in 12-team leagues. There’s some inconsistency in both of their games, but the Stars are loaded on offense, and they are both solid streaming options. Johnston has moved up and down the lineup. I’d love for him to stick on the first line, but that seems doubtful.

Logan Stankoven, C

Stankoven picked up three shots in 15:20 of ice time in his NHL debut Saturday in Carolina. He also picked up 3:32 minutes of power-play time. The rookie has 24 goals and 57 points in 47 games in the AHL this season. There’s no word on Seguin’s injury, but if he misses time, Stankoven will be worth a look in deeper formats.

Edmonton Oilers

(MON @ ARI, WED vs. BOS, FRI vs. MIN, SAT vs. CGY)

There’s not much here. Corey Perry was a bust last week, but he played a bit on the second line with Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton’s latest game. Warren Foegele has been playing with Connor McDavid here and there. You have to be in a massive league to consider either.

Los Angeles Kings

(MON @ EDM, TUE @ CGY, THU @ VAN, SUN vs. NJ)

Quinton Byfield, C/LW

Byfield should be owned in every 12-team format. He could get his spot back on the top line. He’s been scoring regardless.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW

There have been signs of life in PLD’s game, and I think that has a lot to do with Byfield. The past couple of weeks have probably been his best stretch in Los Angeles. He’s hitting the score sheet, shooting pucks on the net, throwing body checks, and winning faceoffs.

Minnesota Wild

(TUE vs. CAR, THU @ NSH, SAT @ STL, SUN vs. SJ)

Jonas Brodin, D

Brodin can rack up a few blocked shots for you.

Ottawa Senators

(MON @ WAS, TUE @ NSH, FRI vs. ARI, SAT @ PHI)

Josh Norris, C

Norris was in here last week and scored three goals and picked up four points. The Sens have played great in their last four games. The schedule this week is decent, and they have a lot of games to make up on the rest of the league, so you’ll get a couple four game weeks out of them. Drake Batherson and Thomas Chabot should be owned as well. Consider Shane Pinto in deep formats and Mathiew Joseph in even deeper formats.

Pittsburgh Penguins

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

Bryan Rust, RW & Rickard Rakell, RW

Rust should be rostered, and Rakell is only worth considering in 14-team leagues. Rust has points in seven of his last 11 games, and he has five goals over that span. I’m surprised his ownership is as low as it is.

San Jose Sharks

(TUE vs. NJ, THU vs. ANH, SAT @ DAL, SUN @ MIN)

Mikael Granlund, C/RW

Granlund is a decent source for faceoff wins. He’s shooting and has points in three of his last four games. Having said that, I’d only stream him to wrap up the week if I needed some FOW.

Mario Ferraro, D

Hits and blocks.

Washington Capitals

(MON vs. OTT, TUE @ DET, FRI vs. PHI, SUN vs. ARI)

Dylan Strome, C

Speaking of players who should be owned in more leagues, Strome finished the week on a four-game point streak in which he had one goal, seven points and three power-play points. He’s getting all the ice time he can handle and is winning faceoffs.

Connor McMichael, C

Our guy EY had a great call on Dangle Bet Celly this week when he suggested Connor McMichael for an anytime goal at +500. He scored twice! He has five goals in his last five games. I wouldn’t expect him to be productive in that department, but he’s getting a bit more ice time and certainly has some offensive upside to his game. When he’s not scoring he’s at least winning faceoffs and racking up hits.

Winnipeg Jets

(TUE vs. STL, THU @ DAL, SAT @ CAR, SUN @ BUF)

Gabriel Vilardi, C/RW

You’re running out of time to grab Vilardi. He has three multi-point games in his last four and has six power-play points over that span.

Sean Monahan, C

Monahan finally broke through as a Jet, as he scored five goals over a three-game span. I’d grab Nikolaj Ehlers first unless you’re lacking FOW.

Two games

Attack the Schedule

Monday – 4 games
Tuesday – 12 games
Wednesday – 2 games
Thursday – 12 games
Friday – 3 games
Saturday – 13 games
Sunday – 6 games

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

EDM – MON, WED, SAT, SUN
OTT – MON, TUE, FRI, SAT
LA – MON, TUE, THU, SUN
WAS – MON, TUE, FRI, SUN
ARI – TUE, THU, FRI, SUN
NJ – TUE, FRI, SUN
ANH – THU, FRI, SUN

Back to Backs

Mon & Tue Games

Sat & Sun Games

Buy-Low Candidates

Tim Stutzle, OTT
Brady Tkachuk, OTT
Adrian Kempe, LA
Jack Eichel, VGK
Alex DeBrincat, DET
Tage Thompson, BUF
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR
Josh Morrissey, WPG
Cale Makar, COL
Brandon Montour, FLA

Sell-High Candidates

Jonathan Drouin, COL
Adam Henrique, ANH
Yegor Sharangovich, CGY
Jonathan Huberdeau, CGY
Blake Coleman, CGY
Johnny Gaudreau, CLS
Mats Zuccarello, MIN
Evgeni Malkin, PIT
Clayton Keller, ARI
Timothy Liljegren, TOR
Noah Hanifin, CGY