Welcome to my 2021/22 Week Three Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Report for those competing in head-to-head categories or rotisserie leagues. There are both standard and deep league acquisition targets. This report focuses on the best options among those who are 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. Some of these are only short-term targets, while others you may want to keep permanently.
Best Standard League
Adds (25% to 65% Yahoo ownership):
1) Viktor Arvidsson, LA, (54% Yahoo ownership): Arvidsson is proving to be a nice fit in Los Angeles, where he is playing on the top line with Kopitar and Brown. Through 5 games Arvidsson has scored 4 PTS with 19 shots on net. The Kings play 4 games this week, including a weekend set against Buffalo and Montreal that has high scoring potential. The winger only scored at a 40-point pace over the 2 previous seasons in Nashville, but has been rejuvenated on his new team playing with a future Hall of Fame center.
2) Kevin Shattenkirk, Ana, (54% Yahoo ownership): Shattenkirk was under 10% owned one week ago and has soared over 50% in just 7 days. The Ducks defenseman has scored 6 PTS in the first 6 games, and the team has another favorable schedule this week that includes games against Buffalo, Winnipeg, and Montreal. I’m skeptical of the long-term sustainability of his offensive output, but am happy to ride the wave while it lasts. He only paced for 22 PTS per 82 GP last season, so this success may be fleeting.
3) Alex Killorn, TB, (46% Yahoo ownership): The Lightning only play 3 games this week, but they are Mon, Tue, Thu and include both Buffalo and Arizona. Killorn has scored 3 PTS in 5 GP and still plays on the top power play unit in Tampa. Their forward depth is so depleted that Killorn played 21 minutes in their Saturday night game versus Colorado. I may try to stream in Tampa players for Monday to Thursday, then on Friday stream them out in exchange for Kings players on the weekend.
4) Jordan Staal, Car, (34% Yahoo ownership): Jordan Staal is not much more than a streamer in standard sized leagues, or deeper leagues that don’t count hits. But when Carolina has a favorable schedule (which they do this week) he hits a lot and can also chip in offense on the power play. Staal has played 4 games, scoring 4 PTS with 9 shots and 12 hits. The Hurricanes have a nice Fri-Sun set against the Coyotes and Blackhawks, both teams who have been very easy to score on this season. They also face the Leafs dumpster fire on Monday.
5) Braden Holtby,
Dal, (53% Yahoo ownership): If anyone had been drafting Braden Holtby in
preseason, he might have appeared on my bust list. He was bad in Vancouver last
season and signed with a Stars team that already had 3 NHL goaltenders. Yet
here we are 2 weeks into the schedule and he has started 4 of 5 Dallas games with
a .950 SV%. I’ll be the first to admit that I never saw this coming, though
there had been reports he was playing great in preseason (then again, same with
Carter Hutton). Dallas plays 3 games this week and all of them are winnable.
Honorable Mentions: Jordan Kyrou, Mike Hoffman, Josh Anderson, Jaccob Slavin, John Gibson
Last Week: Timo Meier, Mattias
Ekholm, Jeremy Swayman, Brandon Tanev, Tyler Bertuzzi
Best Deep League Adds
(under 25% ownership):
1) Anton Lundell, Fla, (9% Yahoo ownership): The Panthers are among the NHL’s best teams this season, and the outstanding play of rookie Anton Lundell has been a contributing factor. The young center has scored 5 PTS in his first 5 GP and is already attracting Calder trophy buzz. His shot and hit totals have been low, but he’s been a strong +/- player if your league counts that category. We don’t yet know where his ceiling will be, but it has become abundantly clear he has a bring future. Fantastic asset in dynasty leagues.
2) Antti Raanta, Car, (4% Yahoo ownership): It’s either brave or foolish to recommend a back-up goalie who still hasn’t played a game, but rest assured that Raanta will see action in the Hurricanes upcoming 4-game week that includes a match against the Coyotes, his former team. Carolina is undefeated through 4 games, and Raanta vs Arizona is a fantastic spot start. Raanta does have a .919 career SV%. Speaking of goalies who haven’t played any games, Brian Elliot should get a start for Tampa against Buffalo, perhaps Arizona too.
3) Gustav Forsling, Fla, (12% Yahoo ownership): Forsling is not playing on either the top defensive pair or on the power play in Florida, but that line-up has so much scoring depth that it hasn’t negatively affected his output. The defenseman has scored 4 PTS through 5 GP, and their Monday game against Arizona has big blowout potential. Gustav paced for 32 PTS last season, and should finish in the 30-point range again this year. Not spectacular, but a solid deep league streamer when the Panthers have a strong schedule.
4) Dustin Brown, LA, (17% Yahoo ownership): Through 5 games Dustin Brown has scored 5 PTS with 17 shots and 11 hits. The Kopitar line got an upgrade with Arvidsson, and Brown is along for the ride. Most veteran fantasy managers in standard sized leagues surely have a long history streaming Brown, because he’s often available on waivers and is a quality source of hits and shots. He peaked at 68% owned last season and bottomed out at 24%. He was 11% owned on Oct 1st, so his stock value has been slowly rebounding.
5) Lawson Crouse,
Ari, (3% Yahoo ownership): The exodus of talent from Arizona has led to an
increase in ice time and importance for Lawson Crouse, who was formerly mostly
a hits specialist. His average ice time has jumped over 3 minutes per game, but
strangely his hits per game have decreased. Perhaps now that he’s been slotted
on the top line, he’s trying harder to generate offense with less emphasis on hitting.
Crouse is also playing top power play and is available in 97% of fantasy leagues.
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Mangiapane, Rickard Rakell, Shayne Gostisbehere, Clayton Keller, Brian Elliot
Last Week: Noah Dobson, Thomas
Greiss, Jordan Kyrou, Eli Tolvanen, Rickard Rakell
No comments:
Post a Comment