This is my 2021 Week Eight Fantasy Hockey Report for those competing in head-to-head categories or rotisserie leagues. There are both standard and deep league acquisition targets. This is more of a “waiver wire” report, looking for your best options among those who are more likely to be available in your league as opposed to the universally owned players. There are 10 recommendations in total, 2 goalies, 2 defensemen, and 6 forwards.
Best Standard League
Adds (25% to 65% Yahoo ownership):
1) Nazem Kadri, Col, (60% Yahoo ownership): Kadri was 79% owned at the beginning of the season, and has been dropped in many leagues despite scoring at a similar rate to 2019/20. Some of those drops likely had to do with the Avs Covid vacation, but Naz has been a more productive scorer since that absence, scoring 9 PTS in his last 8 GP, with 22 shots. MacKinnon is in concussion protocol, so Kadri has been moved up to the top line. Colorado has a solid schedule ahead, with 4 games against Arizona and Los Angeles.
2) Max Comtois, Ana, (33% Yahoo ownership): If the Ducks were a better team, there would be more of them among my waiver recommendations this week, as they have a very appealing schedule ahead, with the Kings and Sharks twice each (the Kings are decent at goal prevention, the Sharks are painfully porous). This is turning into a breakout season for the 22-year-old Comtois, who has amassed 13 PTS, in his last 14 GP, with 28 shots and 29 hits. He’s also +7 on a bad roster over the last 30 days.
3) Jean-Gabriel Pageau, NYI, (54% Yahoo ownership): This is my 2nd consecutive week recommending Pageau as a streamer, due largely to their 3 upcoming games against a struggling Devils team. The center has scored 10 PTS in his last 14 GP while pilling up 40 shots on goal. I’m skeptical how long he can continue scoring goals at this rate, but I’m eager to let it ride for at least one more week given the schedule ahead. For that reason, JG is not the only Islander worth taking a look at this week. They’re a good team.
4) Kaapo Kahkonen, Min, (53% Yahoo ownership): Cam Talbot is back from Covid, pushing Kahkonen into a time-share for starts. The good news for Kaapo owners is that he is already emerging as the Wild best goaltender (Talbot has surrendered 13 goals in his last 3 starts) and they are a much better team than most prognosticators predicted. Minnesota will be starting the week with back-to-back Vegas games, which makes me a little bit nervous, but I’m certainly circling the two Arizona games at week’s end.
5) Matt Dumba,
Min, (53% Yahoo ownership): If you’re just going off strength of schedule, Nick
Leddy might be a better play this week. I’ve been invested in Dumba since day 1
of this season, and he’s been a solid producer when healthy (who should provide more shots
and hits than Leddy). Lest we forget, Dumba peaked at 96% owned last season, so
he’s well off his ceiling and is still just 26 years old. Over his last 8 GP,
Dumba has produced 4 PTS with 20 shots, 8 hits, and a +7. He’d be must-own with
more power play time.
Honorable Mentions: Alex Tuch, Drake Batherson, Tomas Tatar, James Reimer, Nick Leddy
Last Week: Mats Zuccarello, Chris
Driedger, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ondrej Palat, Rasmus Andersson
Best Deep League Adds
(under 25% ownership):
1) Alex Killorn, TB, (25% Yahoo ownership): The Tampa Bay Lightning have the Detroit Red Wings coming up on Tuesday and Thursday, which always brings a high blowout probability. Killorn has scored 7 PTS in 7 GP with 16 shots, 7 hits, and is certainly worth adding as a streamer wherever you can find him. He’s playing on the 2nd line with Stamkos, while also being deployed on the top Tampa power play unit. I would even try adding him in a standard league if you can squeeze him into your line-up.
2) Rickard Rakell, Ana, (24% Yahoo ownership): The Ducks are among the worst offensive teams in the league, but they have been getting production from at least one of their forward lines, and that’s the combo of Rakell and Comtois. Ricky has scored 9 PTS in his last 5 GP, with 20 shots and 8 hits (that span includes multi-point games against the 3 best teams in their division). The winger had an average ownership of 75% just one year ago, and he’s still just 27 years old. Let’s not write this guy off as washed-up just yet.
3) Cam Fowler, Ana, (7% Yahoo ownership): After a slow start to the season with just 2 PTS in his first 11 GP, Fowler has started to pick up the pace over the past few weeks, scoring 8 PTS in his last 7 GP. Cam was 2% owned at the end of January after peaking at 23% in 2019/20. The peripheral stats are not particularly impressive, but he scored at a 40-point pace last season and has a long history of scoring production. There’s upside here, and you can acquire it for a low cost in 93% of fantasy leagues.
4) Calvin Petersen,
LA, (24% Yahoo ownership): I’ve been a vocal member of the Calvin Petersen
Booster Club for the last few weeks, as he’s been providing solid returns at a
cheap acquisition price. I’m slightly nervous about the two Colorado games at
the end of the week (Colorado hasn’t been great), but I’m salivating over the
two Mighty Ducks games Monday-Wednesday. The downside is that Jonathan
Quick has been playing well and siphoning starts, but Petersen is worth
rostering when he’s starting.
5) Marcus Foligno,
Min, (20% Yahoo ownership): Foligno hit rock-bottom (for his pay-grade) in 2019
when he scored 19 PTS in 82 GP, then started to bounce back last season with 25
PTS in 59 GP. He’s on pace to top that mark in fewer games in 2021 and is a
more coveted commodity in leagues that count hits. He never rose much above 3%
owned in 2019/20, and has pushed his ceiling higher than I’ve seen it in quite
some time. Not sure how long this will last, but you may as well ride the hot
streak and bank those hits.
Honorable Mentions: Jordan Greenway, Oliver Wahlstrom, Anthony Beauvillier, Brett Pesce, Alexandar Georgiev
Last Week: Nick Leddy, Drake
Batherson, Victor Rask, Pavel Zacha, Dave Rittich
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