NHL waiver wire rankings (3/14)

Welcome to the Week 9 fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings. We have two teams scheduled to play five games for the week and 18 others scheduled for four. We have three teams scheduled to play two games in Week 9 of the fantasy hockey season.

We’re just four weeks away from 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. Win or go home. I’m mixing things up this week when it comes to the waiver wire article. Yes, if you can get your hands on the Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning, do it. Both of those teams play five games this week, while the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets only play twice. If you’re in need of a win this week, you’ll have to cut players you may have streamed recently due to the lack of games for the week.

Almost everyone in your fantasy hockey league will have plenty of players with four games for the week as we have 20 teams with heavy schedules in Week 9. 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.

For example, here’s the scheduled number of games for the week:

Monday: 10
Tuesday: 7
Wednesday: 6
Thursday: 10
Friday: 5
Saturday: 14
Sunday: 4

The key days to attack are Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. You need to take a look at Monday, 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. I’ve highlighted those teams with great schedules this week. I also took a quick peek at the playoff schedule and the weeks leading up and I found that the Philadelphia Flyers play five times in the final week of the regular season and four times in the first week of playoffs. If you're in a good spot in the standings, you may want to consider stocking up on PHI.

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

5-game streams

Pittsburgh Penguins (MON vs. BOS, TUE vs. BOS, THU @ NJ, SAT @ NJ, SUN @ NJ)

Kasperi Kapanen, LW/RW

Kapanen enters Week 9 with seven goals and 18 points in 24 games with the Pens. He has two goals and five points in his past four games. He has a plus schedule with the Devils on it three times.

Brandon Tanev, LW/RW

Tanev has points in five straight games, which is icing on top of what he really provides owners and that’s hits.

Teddy Blueger, C/LW

Blueger has a four-game point streak. That likely comes to an end this week, but he’ll hook owners up with faceoff wins for those playing in deep leagues.

Casey DeSmith, G

DeSmith is fresh off a shutout against the Sabres, and he’s only allowed three goals in his past two games. He has a solid .912 SV% and 2.23 GAA on the season. I wouldn’t feel comfortable streaming him against the Bruins, but he could get two starts against the Devils.

Tampa Bay Lightning (MON vs. NSH, TUE @ DAL, THU vs. CHI, SAT vs. CHI, SUN vs. FLA)

Nikita Kucherov, RW

He may not return until the end of the season, but if you have an IR spot you should stash him just in case.

Anthony Cirelli, C

Cirelli should be owned in every standard 12-team format. Double-check your wire to make sure he’s not available.

Alex Killorn, LW/RW

Killorn has turned the corner as he’s picked up four goals, seven points and 22 shots in his past six games. Four of his seven points have been on special teams.

Yanni Gourde, C/LW/RW

Gourde continues to center Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn. He’ll fall into points with those two players, and he’s been a decent contributor in the faceoff category.

Ryan McDonagh/Erik Cernak, D

You’ll get shots, hits and blocks from both McDonagh and Cernak.

Four-game streams

Boston Bruins — Matt Grzelcyk; David Krejci
Buffalo Sabres — Taylor Hall (could have been dropped)
Calgary Flames
Dallas Stars — Denis Gurianov; Roope Hintz
Edmonton Oilers — Adam Larsson
Florida Panthers — Carter Verhaeghe; Frank Vatrano; MacKenzie Weegar
Los Angeles Kings
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators — Mattias Ekholm; Dante Fabbro
New Jersey Devils — Kyle Palmieri; Jack Hughes; P.K. Subban
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers — Shayne Gostisbehere; Scott Laughton; Kevin Hayes — Philly plays 9 times from Week 12-13.
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals — Nic Dowd
Winnipeg Jets — Paul Stastny; Josh Morrissey

Attacking the schedule (Wednesday/Friday/Sunday)

Vegas Golden Knights (MON vs. SJ, WED vs. SJ, FRI @ LA, SUN @ LA)

Alex Tuch, LW/RW

There’s only so much to say about Tuch at this point. He’s up to 13 goals on the season and has four awesome matchups this week.

Chandler Stephenson, C/LW

Stephenson was all over the draft guide and he’s been a big favorite of ours in the DFS community. He has nine points in his past eight games.

William Karlsson, C

Karlsson’s wingers are starting to score and he’s a beast in the faceoff circle. His ownership is too low.

Reilly Smith, RW

Three goals and four points in his past six games. He scored two goals in two games against the Sharks last week.

Alec Martinez, D

Martinez has three points in his past two games and figures to benefit the most from Alex Pietrangelo’s absence.

Brayden McNabb, D

McNabb picked up three shots, five hits and five blocks in three games since returning to the lineup. He played 22:33 in his last game and Pietrangelo will reportedly miss some time. McNabb won’t get PP time but he’ll be great in the hit and block categories.

Los Angeles Kings (MON vs. STL, WED vs. STL, FRI vs. VGK, SUN vs. VGK)

Adrian Kempe, C/LW/RW

Kempe had six goals over a three-game stretch last week, so he has a ceiling, but I don’t love the matchups. The minutes have been there and he’s shooting the puck. He makes for a decent stream if you’re desperate for starts.

Andreas Athanasiou, LW/RW

Dustin Brown missed Sunday’s game, so AA could get a few more minutes this week. I’d take a look in deeper formats given the Kings play Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Montreal Canadiens (MON @ WPG, WED @ WPG, FRI vs. VAN, SAT vs. VAN)

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C

This is a deep-league stream only and a decent one if you need faceoff wins. Kotkaniemi has benefited from the coaching change in Montreal as his ice time has gone up. He has five points in his past seven games, and he’s getting a shot inside the top six with some of Montreal’s best scorers.

Corey Perry, RW

Perry has played himself into an everyday role with the Habs, for now. He has three goals and five points over his past seven games. He’ll never get more than 14 minutes a game but he’s getting time on the PP.

St. Louis Blues (MON @ LA, WED @ LA, FRI @ SJ, SAT @ SJ)

Zach Sanford, LW

Promoted to the first line with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron. The Blues have five games coming up too.

Calgary Flames (MON vs. EDM, WED vs. EDM, FRI @ TOR, SAT @ TOR)

Mikael Backlund, C/RW

If you need FOW.

Milan Lucic, LW

If you need hits.

New York Rangers (MON vs. PHI, WED vs. PHI, FRI @ WSH, SAT @ WSH)

Pavel Buchnevich, RW

The Rangers’ first line with Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Buchnevich has looked strong of late. Make sure all three are rostered.

Jacob Trouba, D

Heavy minutes means plenty of hits and blocks.

San Jose Sharks (MON @ VGK, WED @ VGK, FRI vs. STL, SAT vs. STL)

Tomas Hertl, C/LW

Was likely dropped when he landed on the COVID-19 list. He’s had a goal and an assist in two games since returning.

Vancouver Canucks (MON @ OTT, WED @ OTT, FRI @ MON, SAT @ MON)

Alexander Edler, D

Eight hits and 14 blocks in his past games. Blocks and hits are a given when it comes to Edler.

Travis Hamonic, D

Another blue liner on the Canucks who will give you blocks. Vancouver allows so much rubber so Edler, Tyler Myers and Hamonic all have value if you play with blocks.

2 games

Columbus Blue Jackets – Joonas Korpisalo likely only gets one start this week. Would probably only keep Seth Jones, Zach Werenski and Patrik Laine.
Ottawa Senators – I'd hold Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson (if in playoff spot).
Toronto Maple Leafs – Zach Hyman is worth holding onto.

Back-to-back

Dallas Stars – Anton Khudobin @ DET or vs. NSH. At this point, Jake Oettinger is the starter.
Montreal Canadiens – Jake Allen vs. VAN
Pittsburgh Penguins – Casey DeSmith vs. NJ

A look ahead

Week 10:

2 games: Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks & Los Angeles Kings

Week 11:

2 games: St. Louis

Week 12:

5 games: Philadelphia Flyers

Week 13 (Quarterfinals):

2 games: Ottawa Senators

Philadelphia another four games

Week 14 (Semifinals):

1 game: Anaheim Ducks

2 games: Edmonton Oilers & Vegas Golden Knights

NHL waiver wire rankings (3/14)

Rest-of-season rankings

5-game streams

Four-game streams

Attacking the schedule (Wednesday/Friday/Sunday)

2 games

Fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings (under 60%)

Underowned defensemen

Deep adds

Drop candidates

Buy low

Sell high

Hold

Back-to-back

A look ahead

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