2023/24 Week 7 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Report

 Week 7 of the NHL season is here and I’m looking ahead at potential streaming targets. The award for best schedule goes to the Vancouver Canucks, but they don’t have a single forward or defenseman in the 25% to 65% ownership range. There are only going to be 2 “light nights” this week, and all the 4-game teams play on both light nights. It’s a weird schedule because of American Thanksgiving, so we can blame the United States for this headache. But don’t worry, I have plenty of suggestions to help you through. Scroll down to the bottom to see the full watchlist with stats and schedule for everyone who was considered for this report.
 
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Best Standard League Adds (25% to 65% Yahoo ownership):
 
1) Valeri Nichushkin, Col, (56% Yahoo ownership): If you are in one of the 44% of Yahoo leagues where Valeri Nichushkin is available, stop what you’re doing and add him right now (please return here afterwards). With the injury to Artturi Lehkonen, Nichushkin now finds himself on both the top line and top power play in Colorado with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Nichushkin is eligible at both wings and has scored 5 PTS with 18 shots in his last 5 GP. Colorado has the 2nd best schedule this week, and the winger has a prime opportunity. I just made a claim myself. You could go with another line 1, PP1 option in Boston Pavel Zacha, scoring 12 PTS in his last 13 GP (2 on the PP) with 25 shots and 17 hits.
 
2) Jacob Markstrom, Cgy, (65% Yahoo ownership): The Calgary Flames will embark on a 4-game road trip next week with stops in Seattle, Nashville, Dallas, and Colorado. I would avoid the Colorado game because the Flames will be on a back-to-back at high altitude, otherwise Markstrom is a strong streaming option if he happens to be available in your league, posting a .909 SV% in his last 8 games (winning both his last 2). Flames are on a downward trajectory as an organization, but 4-2 in their last 6 games. Pyotr Kochetkov is more widely available, has a reasonable shot at 2 starts and recently briefly joined one of my teams for a shutout (before I streamed him out for John Gibson because Anaheim played more). This is someone I really want if he can reclaim the #1 job in Carolina, but rough start to the season.
 
3) MacKenzie Weegar, Cgy, (60% Yahoo ownership): As previously mentioned, the Flames have a desirable schedule, just behind Vancouver and Colorado in terms of total expected opponent goals against. If MacKenzie Weegar is available in your league, this is a good time to stream, especially if your league counts hits and shots. In his last 13 games, the defenseman has notched 6 PTS (3 on the power play) with 36 shots and 15 hits. You might get more power play time out of Erik Gustavsson in New York with Adam Fox on the shelf, scoring 6 PTS in his last 4 GP. The Rangers have a tougher schedule and I’m not sure when Fox will be back, but in the meantime Gustavsson has higher PTS upside than Weegar.

4) Alexis Lafreniere, NYR, (38% Yahoo ownership): If you haven’t been paying attention, the former first overall pick has been playing on a line with the red-hot Artemi Panarin, and has been catching fire himself, scoring 7 PTS in his last 4 GP with 10 shots. Only 1 of those points came on the power play because he doesn’t join his linemate on the first unit, but does see mop up time on the 2nd unit. The Rangers have 4 games in the week ahead, but as mentioned prior, they do have a tough schedule for scoring goals. Hopefully that doesn’t slow down the dual-eligible winger. If you’d rather add a player on line 1 and PP1 option, you could stream Elias Lindholm in Calgary, who has a better schedule. The center has 7 PTS in his last 13 GP with 35 shots. It should noted though, he went pointless in 9 of his last 11 GP, scoring 5 PTS in the other two.
 
5) Vincent Trochek, NYR, (64% Yahoo ownership): Speaking of playing on the top line with Artemi Panarin, that’s an honor that also belongs to Vincent Trochek, the difference being Vinny also plays on the top unit power play. Yeah, I ranked Alexis one spot earlier because he’s the hotter player and has more positional flexibility than Trochek, who is center-only. In his last 11 GP, Trochek has notched 9 PTS (3 on the power play) with 17 shots and 17 hits, so he’ll help your hit totals much more than Lafreniere. If you’re looking for someone more widely available, Ryan O’Reilly in playing top line top power play in Nashville, scoring 11 PTS in his last 11 GP (6 on the power play) with 24 shots. Preds have a good upcoming schedule.
 

Honorable Mentions: Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm, Ryan O’Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov, Erik Gustavsson
 
Last Week: Troy Terry, Pavel Mintyukov, John Gibson, Mathew Barzal, Reilly Smith
 

Best Deep League Adds (under 26% ownership):
 
1) Casey DeSmith, Van, (22% Yahoo ownership): The Vancouver Canucks have the best schedule, in large part because of their 2 games against San Jose. Looking at their recent starting patterns, there’s a non-zero chance DeSmith could get both San Jose games, but at the very least will get one. In the last 30 days, DeSmith has played 5 games with 3 wins and a .906 SV% and might even be worth adding in a standard league. I’m considering it over Kochetkov. Or you could go with Jonathan Quick given the Rangers 4 game schedule. Shesterkin should be back soon, but they don’t need to throw him back into a heavy workload considering Quick has a .928 SV% in his last 6 games. It may even help if Shesterkin draws the tougher match-ups.
 
2) Ilya Mikheyev, Van, (15% Yahoo ownership): As mentioned above, the Canucks won the best schedule award this week, but their best player you’re likely to find on waivers is Ilya Mikheyev, who has been plugged here previously for his gig on the top line with Pettersson. The dual-eligible winger has scored 9 PTS in his last 13 GP with 31 shots. Linemate Andrei Kuzmenko took a puck to the face Wednesday and missed the game Thursday. It’s unclear when he’ll return, but Conor Garland has slotted into his job in the meantime. Garland only has 4 PTS in his last 14 GP, but he could notch that many points just this week if he’s still on the top line when they play San Jose, whom they torched for 10 goals in their last meeting.

3) Mattias Ekholm, Edm, (16% Yahoo ownership): The Edmonton Oilers have a 4-game week ahead and it appears they might be emerging from their funk. Maybe they actually wanted the coach to get fired and are ready to turn up the intensity in his absence. Ekholm has been reasonably productive with 5 PTS (2 on the power play) in his last 13 GP with 26 shots and 17 hits. They have a tougher road trip than Calgary, so you might rather go with Nikita Zadorov, who has similar production with more hits. It was close between the two for who was going to get the nod, with Ekholm winning because he sees a little more time with the man advantage, but that could end up being offset by the harder schedule.

4) Gustav Nyquist, Nsh, (2% Yahoo ownership): Do you want a player who is 98% available, has a decent 4-game schedule this week, and is also playing top line top power play, Gustav Nyquist might be your guy. The winger has 5 PTS in his last 5 GP with 10 shots. The Preds will be facing Colorado, Calgary, St. Louis, Winnipeg, and there aren’t any tight defenses on that list. Another option is James van Reimsdyk in Boston, who plays second line and top power play. In his last 13 GP, JVR has notched 9 PTS (3 on the power play) with 31 shots. The Bruins do have 4 games ahead, but they are in the lower third for opponent goal prevention. Not a great schedule, but playing with Pasta on the PP is a nice place to be.
 
5) Dakota Joshua, Van, (4% Yahoo ownership): You need to be playing in a league that counts hits (or maybe a 20-teamer) to even consider Dakota Joshua, who has accumulated an impressive 41 hits in his last 13 GP. He does have 4 PTS, which isn’t nothing but also isn’t good, however that could get a bump with their pair of games against San Jose. But you’re adding him for hits, and if he picks up a point or two against the Sharks, that’s just gravy. If you do want a little more offensive upside, Connor Zary in Calgary is playing 2nd line and top power play, notching 6 PTS in his first 7 NHL GP. His career is just beginning and it’s off to a nice start, which could be an indication of better things to come or just a flash in the pan.
 

Honorable Mentions: Jonathan Quick, Nikita Zadorov, James van Reimsdyk, Conor Garland, Connor Zary
 
Last Week: Robert Thomas, Ivan Provorov, Joel Hofer, Eli Tolvanen, Sammy Blais