NHL waiver wire rankings (3/21)

Welcome to the Week 10 fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings, where we have 20 teams scheduled to play four games. There are three teams scheduled to play two games in Week 10 of the fantasy hockey season, and there are several back-to-backs to target if you’re struggling to find consistency in net.

We’re just three weeks away until 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 20 teams with heavy schedules in Week 10. 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: 6
Wednesday: 6
Thursday: 11
Friday: 5
Saturday: 11
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. I’ve highlighted those teams with great schedules this week. You need to have more games than your opponent so I would take a look at what their week looks like as well. Find out how you matchup with them. Do you need hits or blocks? I have some suggestions below.

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

Four-game streams

(2x means they play 4x in Week 11 & 3x means they play four games for the next three weeks)

Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes — Conor Garland
Buffalo Sabres (3x)— Please.
Calgary Flames (2x)
Chicago Blackhawks — Kirby Dach should be stashed. We could see him this week.
Colorado Avalanche (3x) — Joonas Donskoi, Ryan Graves and Andre Burakovsky. The Avs are hot. Shooting often.
Columbus Blue Jackets (2x) — Oliver Bjorkstrand shouldn’t be on the wire.
Dallas Stars (2x)— Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov
Detroit Red Wings (2x)— Filip Hronek, Anthony Mantha and Robby Fabbri
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers (2x) — Carter Verhaeghe, MacKenzie Weegar and Anthony Duclair
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators — Mattias Ekholm
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers — Pavel Buchnevich and Jacob Trouba
Ottawa Senators — Drake Batherson
Philadelphia Flyers — Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek
San Jose Sharks (3x)
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets (3x)

Attacking the schedule (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday)

Anaheim Ducks (MON @ MIN, WED @ MIN, FRI @ STL, SUN @ STL)

Rickard Rakell, LW/RW

There’s a chance Rakell was cut in your league, as his ownership has dropped 14% in Yahoo leagues over the last 24 hours. He has the most upside on the Ducks, so I’d start there if you’re looking for a streamer.

Jamie Drysdale, D

Drysdale scored a goal and added an assist in his NHL debut Thursday. He played 18:26 and finished with three shots. He played 20:36 in his second game Saturday and had three more shots. The rookie defenseman logged 4:24 on the power play in his two games. He can skate and he has tremendous offensive upside. I wouldn’t expect many hits or blocks, and he could potentially hurt you in plus/minus leagues. He’s an automatic add in keeper and dynasty formats. Check my rest of the season fantasy hockey rankings to see where he fits in.

Adam Henrique, C

Henrique is a decent add heading into the weekend if you’re lacking faceoff wins. He has goals in three straight games and 10 points in his past nine games.

Jani Hakanpaa, D

Hakanpaa continues to hit everything in sight. His 139 hits are four back of Brady Tkachuk for the league high.

Trevor Zegras, C

The rookie forward also scored his first NHL goal Thursday and enters Week 10 with points in three straight games. I would leave him on the wire in standard 12-team redraft leagues, but he’s someone to stream on the weekend in deeper formats.

Montreal Canadiens (MON vs. EDM, WED vs. EDM, FRI vs. EDM, SUN vs. OTT)

Tomas Tatar, LW/RW

As stated in these articles over the weeks, Tatar has looked much better since the coaching change in Montreal. He’s back on a line with Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault, and they’ve been the Canadiens’ best line of late. Tatar has a goal and four points over a three-game point streak. Danault is only worthy of a stream if you’re playing with FOW.

Jonathan Drouin, C/LW

Drouin played a season-high 21:13 in Montreal's 4-3 win on Saturday and he hit the score sheet for the fifth time in his last seven games. It was his third straight game with at least 18 minutes of ice time and the fifth time he's topped 18 minutes in 13 games with Dominique Ducharme. Drouin averaged 15:01 minutes per game with Claude Julien behind the bench this season and he only had 18 minutes in one of his 18 games prior to the coaching change. The winger only has two goals but he has points in nine of his last 14 contests and he leads the Canadiens with 19 assists. It’s clear his confidence is at an all-time high and his former junior coach is rewarding him with more minutes. Overall, Drouin's averaging three more minutes per game (18:02) and one more shot per game (2.1) with Ducharme. He's put at least four pucks on the net in three of his past four games and eight in his last three games.

18 games with Julien: 1.3 SOG/PG, 15:01 TIO
13 games with Ducharme: 2.1 SOG/PG, 18:02 TIO

Corey Perry, RW

Perry’s six goals this season are more than Jack Eichel, Taylor Hall and Jeff Skinner combined. Perry has six goals on the season and two points in his past three games. He’s a deep league add only as most of his production has come on the PP. If Tyler Toffoli misses more time, Perry could become a bit more valuable.

Calgary Flames (MON @ OTT, WED @ OTT, FRI vs. WPG, SAT vs. WPG)

Noah Hanifin, D

Hanifin’s game and minutes have taken a spike since Darryl Sutter took over behind the bench in Calgary. Hanifin has three points, seven shots, five hits and six blocks in four games under Suter. Hanifin’s averaging 0:27 on the power-play this season, but he’s racked up 9:29 on the PP over his last four games. He had 3:50 total minutes in 24 games under Geoff Ward.

Mikael Backlund, C/RW

Backlund is a great source for faceoff wins and shots if in need. He has two goals and five points in his past five games as well. He’s doing a lot more than Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. This would be the last week I hang onto those two star forwards as they’re doing more harm than good.

Edmonton Oilers (MON @ MON, WED @ MON, FRI @ MON, SAT @ TOR)

Jesse Puljujarvi, RW

Puljujarvi is back with Connor McDavid for now, as Kailer Yamamoto has missed the past couple of games. He may not stick with McDavid but he’s worth consideration for now. He has a goal and three points with seven shots over his past three games. His game is very inconsistent.

Adam Larsson, D

If you need hits and blocks.

San Jose Sharks (MON vs. LA, WED vs. LA, FRI @ ARI, SAT @ ARI)

Tomas Hertl, C/LW

Hertl has three goals and seven points in six games since returning to the lineup. You’re running out of time.

Mario Ferraro, D

There’s very little offense in his game but he’s racking up hits and blocks.

Winnipeg Jets (MON @ VAN, WED @ VAN, FRI @ CGY, SAT @ CGY)

Josh Morrissey, D

Morrissey is a favorite of mine and he’s only now starting to get some attention in season-long leagues and DFS. Morrissey has six points, including three on the power play in his last seven games. He has 23 shots, nine hits and 10 blocks over that span. He’s averaging a career-high 24:00 minutes per game over 31 contests this season.

Paul Stastny, C/LW

Stastny picked up LW eligibility but he’s still winning a handful of faceoffs despite playing the wing on the Jets’ first line. He’s a great stream and you may find yourself hanging on given his linemates. He’s locked into a top-six role and the Jets are loaded up front.

Derek Forbort, D

Forbort racks up blocks.

St. Louis Blues (MON @ VGK, THU @ MIN, FRI vs. ANH, SUN vs. ANH)

Jordan Kyrou, C/RW

Kyrou has been added and dropped more than most this season. He’ll be grabbed everywhere Monday morning after he picked up two goals and three points in his last game. He was back in the top-six on Saturday as he played with Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron. St. Louis has moved him around quite a bit over the past few weeks, but he looked comfortable with ROR and Perron over the weekend. He finished with seven shots on goal and led the team in scoring chances on Friday. Keep in mind St. Louis only has two games next week, so Kyrou will be dropped again in Week 11.

Washington Capitals (THU vs. NJ, FRI vs. NJ, SUN vs. NYR)

Tom Wilson, RW

Wilson returned to the lineup Saturday. Love him or hate him, he’ll provide owners with a lot, especially in leagues with hits.

Nic Dowd, C/RW

Dowd has been a faceoff beast of late. His 20:14 Monday led all Washington forwards.

Justin Schultz, D

Schultz cooled off after a strong run a couple of weeks ago, but he may be back on a run as he has four points over his last three games.

New Jersey Devils (TUE @ PHI, THU @ WSH, FRI @ WSH, SUN @ BOS)

Kyle Palmieri, RW

Palmieri is probably the only player from the Devils I’d stream at the moment. I don’t think I’d have a Devil on my roster after this weekend and I don’t love their matchups this week.

2 games

Los Angeles Kings
Toronto Maple Leafs – Jack Campbell is a strong pick up, especially if you own Frederik Andersen.
Vancouver Canucks

Saturday and Sunday games

Boston Bruins — Jaroslav Halak should be rostered.
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets — Elvis Merzlikins likely gets two starts and one vs. DET.
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers — Chris Driedger picked up a shutout on Saturday. He may get two starts in Week 10.
Washington Capitals
New York Rangers

Fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings (under 60%)

NHL waiver wire rankings (3/21)

Rest-of-season rankings

Four-game streams

Attacking the schedule (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday)

2 games

Saturday and Sunday games

Fantasy hockey waiver wire rankings (under 60%)

Underowned defensemen

Deep adds

Drop candidates

Buy low

Sell high

Hold

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