This week’s target: Waiver wire options

The waiver wire is an essential part of any championship fantasy hockey season. You can control the outcome by finding players that can be added to your roster every week. In this article every week, I’ll be going over players at every position and at different levels of rostership so that you can fill out your fantasy squad with the best players available in your league. Let’s dig in:

Forward

Rostered in 41-50% Leagues: Andrei Kuzmenko LW/RW VAN (46% rostered).

Kuzmenko is still available in more than half of Yahoo leagues, which is amazing considering the Russian import is currently at a 74 point pace following yet another multi-point performance on Sunday. Kuzmenko’s shots have dried up after a hot stretch earlier in the season, but he’s maintained a strong top-six role almost the entire season and has rewarded the team with just a tremendous level of production in his first NHL season.

Vancouver has a three-game, two off-night schedule this week, meaning you’re certainly going to be able to fit Kuzmenko into your starting lineup for at least two games this week. If he’s still available in your league, it’s time to rectify that problem.

Honourable Mentions: Logan Couture, C, SJS (47%) & Andre Burakovsky, LW/RW, SEA (45%)

Rostered in 31-40% Leagues: Boone Jenner C, CBJ (34% rostered).

Jenner, who was skating in 19:17 on Saturday, immediately returned to NHL action and assumed his top-center position in Columbus. He also collected his usual assortment shots, hits, and blocks. Jenner is a category-stuffing stud if that’s your format, while offering a strong amount of value to the points and points-only crowds as well. While Jenner didn’t open on a 5-on-5 line alongside Columbus stars Patrik Laine or Johnny Gaudreau, it’s a strong bet to assume he’ll resume that deployment shortly and he immediately got back on the top power-play unit. Jenner is, in short, the strongest all-around option for fantasy (and especially for your leagues).

Honourable Mentions: Phillip Danault, C, LAK (34%) & Seth Jarvis, LW/RW, CAR (32%)

Rostered in 21-30% Leagues: Jason Zucker LW and PIT (22% rostered).

This week’s schedule is the most fantasy-friendly of any team, featuring four games and three off nights. This spot is earned by Zucker, who is the only Pittsburgh top six member not to be rostered in over 50 percent of leagues. I’m not overly in love with Zucker’s recent stretch of play as he’s only fired seven shots in his last five games, but I do love Zucker’s propensity to throw the body as he’s registered 19 hits in that same stretch. In a week like this where the heavy nights are extremely heavy and the off-nights are pretty light, adding someone like Zucker can ensure that you’re at least getting games played on those off nights and not simply benching a good player on those super heavy Thursday and Saturday nights. Let Zucker fill in for you as the hit player and let him earn you some points over the course.

Honourable Mentions: Kevin Hayes, C/LW, PHI (28%) & Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, LAK (29%)

Rostered in 0-20% Leagues: Evan Rodrigues C/LW/RW, C/COL (18% rostered).

It’s hard not to be excited about Rodrigues currently, as he’s playing on the top power play and top line alongside Avalanche superstar Nathan Mackinnon. Rodrigues only has one game below 20 minutes of ice time in his last 10, and he’s netted 10 points in that span as well.

While Rodrigues is a net zero in the bangers categories on most nights, he’s a strong shot-producer with a history of point scoring to boot. There are four games in the Avs’ week, plus two off-nights. This makes it an ideal time to add a top-line player to a team who is good at scoring goals. In fact, I’d straight up prefer Rodrigues to Zucker or Jenner this week in most formats.

Honourable Mentions: Nick Schmaltz, C/RW, ARI (20%) & Nino Niederreiter, LW, NSH (16%)

Guardsmen

Rostered in 26-50% Leagues: Owen Power, BUF (47% Rostered).

It’s safe to say that Owen Power has been a bit of a disappointment this season, with zero goals and just 15 assists in 38 games to start the season. And it’s not like Power is stuffing the box score in other ways, averaging just 1.6 shots per game, 0.5 hits per game, and 1.3 blocks per game. Power, however, has impressed me by scoring at least four points in each of his three previous games. Given Power’s pedigree as a No. 1 overall pick, his strong usage (25-plus minutes in five of his last eight games), and the Sabres’ explosive offense this season, I’m bullish on taking a shot on Power now with the thought that he very well could turn into a second half hold for my roster.

Honourable Mentions: Sean Durzi, LAK (38%) & Brady Skjei (39%)

Rostered in 0-25% Leagues: Damon Severson NJD (17% rostered).

This is when it can be very difficult to find fantasy defensemen who are viable in deeper leagues. That’s why it’s such a welcome find when a guy like Severson puts together a streak like he’s on currently.

Severson has seven points in his last six games, ensconced as the Devils’ second power-play quarterback and general minute muncher, averaging over 23 minutes a night in that span. He’s not likely to be someone you can hang onto forever, but he’s a legitimately talented offensive defenseman on a hot streak playing for a very talented New Jersey team. He’s worth streaming for at least a week in deeper leagues after the halfway point of the season.

Honourable Mentions: Colton Parayko, STL (14%) & Cam Fowler, ANA (10%)

Goalies

Rostered in 26-50% leagues: Filip Gustavsson and MIN (45% rostered).

Gustavsson is a minor surprise this year. He has 10 wins from 16 starts, a 2.17 goals against average and a.925 save percentage. Gustavsson has been playing in alternate starts with Marc-Andre Fleury lately and outperforming him. As long as Gustavsson is returning these kinds of results, he’ll be worth rostering even if he never exceeds that 50 percent share of the Minnesota net.

From the Wild’s perspective I can’t see a reason for them to overwork the 38-year-old Fleury even if they do view him as their true No. 1 goaltender. Gustavsson is the best goalie for this range, providing the best starts.

Honourable Mentions: John Gibson, ANA (35%) & Karel Vejmelka, ARI (50%)

Rostered in 0-25% Leagues: Adin Hill – VGK (14% rostered).

Logan Thompson has gotten the majority of the starts in the Vegas net this year, but of late he hasn’t quite performed up to the standard he had set in the early going. Hill on the other hand, who allowed just two goals each on 40- and 39 shots in his two previous starts to beat the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Florida Panthers, respectively, is quite a contrast.

Goalies are fickle creatures, and I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if Hill outperformed Thompson the rest of the season and earned a greater share of the Vegas crease moving forward. Watch for who gets the Dallas start on Monday night — if Hill gets the call it will be a clear alternating pattern over the last six starts. If he gets that start and performs well in it, he could easily get a run of games soon, so if you’re desperate for goalie help in a deeper league I’d be tempted to pick up Hill before that game.

Honourable Mentions: Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ (14%) & Eric Comrie, BUF (10%)

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Nate Groot Nibbelink is creator of Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey He is the original creator of the #ZeroG draft strategy. He can be found ranting about obscure topics in fantasy hockey strategy in the Apples & Ginos Discord Server Twitter @applesginos.

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