Welcome to my 2022/23 Week Fourteen 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.
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1) Max Pacioretty, Car, (60% Yahoo ownership): Max Pacioretty has made his Carolina debut after recovering from a serious injury, and is available in 40% of Yahoo leagues. He scored no points but took 6 shots in his first game back. It’s plausible (if not likely) that he won’t be the same player he was before, or that it will take him some time to find his groove, but this is a good week to take a swing. Carolina plays 4 games, 3 of them against non-playoff teams. His 5v5 deployment is boring, but he’s on their top unit power play.
2) Teuvo Teravainen, Car, (57% Yahoo ownership): Teravainen was 91% owned in Yahoo on October 1st, but that number steadily declined after a slow start that led to him getting booted off the Aho line. But the pair is back together and the dual-eligible winger has scored 7 PTS in his last 10 GP with 24 shots. I’ve been pumping Dylan Cozens all season, starting with my preseason sleepers list back when he was under 10% owned. He’s scored 11 PTS in his last 11 GP if you have room for centers, with Philly-Seattle Mon-Tue.
3) Adam Larsson, Sea, (56% Yahoo ownership): Adam Larsson is on pace to score a career best 35 PTS, scoring 9 PTS in his last 12 GP, 30 shots and 41 hits. I’ve been tracking Yahoo ownership monthly dating back to 2019, and my highest recorded for Larsson is 31%, so his stock has smashed through its previous ceiling. I don’t know how much longer the offense can continue, but the peripheral stats are great in category leagues. Seattle has a good schedule with some weak opponents. Teammate Vince Dunn is also worth a stream.
4) Andrei Kuzmenko, Van, (43% Yahoo ownership): The Canucks play 4 games in the upcoming week, though often on busy nights with a few tougher opponents on the slate. In his last 12 GP, Kuzmenko has scored 11 PTS, but with an underwhelming 15 shots and 5 hits. If you need help with shots, there are better options, but Kuzmenko is putting points on the board playing with Pettersson-Miller and is eligible at both wings. Also not a bad week to try Brock Boeser if he happens to be available in your league.
5) Pheonix Copley,
LA, (39% Yahoo ownership): Pheonix Copley has won 7 of his last 8 games, but is
only sporting a .901 SV% with 37 career starts. The Kings play 3 games this
week (including McDavid), but be warned have a 7-day period coming soon where they’ll
play 1 game and it’s against New Jersey. I’m also interested in whatever
Carolina Hurricanes goalie happens to be starting thrioughout their 4-game week. Andersen
should be back this week, and Kochetkov is waiver exempt. If Kochetkov is
demoted, Raanta is a great pick-up. If they go with a 3-headed monster, all
bets are off.
Honorable Mentions: Dylan Cozens, Brock Boeser, Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn, Antti Raanta
Last Week: Erik Gustafsson, Michael Bunting, Karel Vejmelka, Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas
Best Deep League Adds (under 25% ownership):
1) Kailer Yamamoto, Edm, (3% Yahoo ownership): Yamamoto’s stat line doesn’t jump off the screen, scoring 7 PTS in his last 14 GP with 20 shots and 20 hits. But he’s currently playing with Connor McDavid and the Oilers are making a trip to California. What’s better, they play Mon-Wed-Fri when few teams are playing. I might even roll the dice with Yamamoto in a 12-team standard league. Klim Kostin is also listed on that top line, and has 8 PTS with 51 hits in his last 14 GP (only averaging 10:18 minutes).
2) Mattias Ekholm, Nsh, (11% Yahoo ownership): I believe this is Ekholm’s first appearance here this season, but he’s been a regular streaming target for me in past seasons whenever the Predators have a good schedule. Nashville has a 4-game week, with Mon-Wed when not many teams are playing, then Montreal and Buffalo Thu-Sat. In his last 14 GP, Ekholm has 6 PTS with 27 shots and 23 hits. Or you could go with 4-game Brett Pesce who produces similar PTS and better +/-, but worse hit and shot numbers.
3) Nino Niederreiter, Nsh, (16% Yahoo ownership): In the last 14 games, Nino Niederreiter has scored 10 PTS with 40 shots and 26 hits. He’s only playing 3rd line and 2nd power play, which doesn’t help with sustainability, but there’s a lot of leagues where those shot and hit totals can help you. As mentioned above, Preds have an advantageous schedule, even if it’s just Mon-Wed to pad your hit and shot totals. The “bash brothers” Crouse-Ritchie-Bjugstad in Arizona continue putting up good numbers, especially those hits.
4) Craig Anderson, Buf, (19% Yahoo ownership): Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is starting a majority of games for the Buffalo Sabres, posting a decent .913 SV% in the last 30 days. The Sabres have 4 winnable games coming up this week, including a back-to-back against Philly and Seattle. I’d prefer UPL if not for the fact that Eric Comrie is back from injury on a conditioning stint, and UPL is waiver exempt. Might be safer to go with Craig Anderson, who gets less game action but has posted a .941 SV% in his last 4 matches.
5) Nick Schmaltz,
Ari, (25% Yahoo ownership): If you are looking for a top line, top power play
option that’s eligible at multiple forward positions and plays 4 games this
week, Schmaltz is your guy. He was one of my recommendations here last week,
and if you streamed him in, he’s worth hanging on to, with 5 PTS in his last 5
GP. Seth Jarvis was also a finalist for this list, playing on a line with Teravainen
and Aho, but he has only scored 2 PTS in his last 6 GP while also getting solid
deployment. At least Jarvis shoots a lot.
Honorable Mentions: Seth Jarvis, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Brett Pesce, Bash Brothers, Klim Kostin
Last Week: David Krejci, Marcus
Bjork, Nick Schmaltz, Joonas Korpisalo, Dylan Strome
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