2023/24 Week 3 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Report

The best schedule of week 3 belongs to New Jersey, playing 4 games, 3 of them on light nights when they’ll be easy to squeeze into your starting line-up (facing Montreal, Washington, Buffalo, Minnesota, all teams you can score on). Montreal, Minnesota, and San Jose also play 4 games, but more on busy nights. Buffalo and Washington play 4 each, 3 on light nights, but will be facing difficult opponents.
 
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My blog has been moved to Substack this season and I’ll be repeatedly encouraging everyone to sign-up for a free subscription to alleviate my dependence on Twitter for traffic. I’m concerned that Elon will follow through on his threat to charge everyone for Twitter and ostensibly destroy his own company. I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point, and I’ve got too many eggs in that basket. Subscribers receive an email notification each time a new post is published, and even if Twitter stays free, the algorithm likes to hide Tweets with links so you don’t leave.
 
Best Standard League Adds (25% to 65% Yahoo ownership):

1) Akira Schmid, NJ, (50% Yahoo ownership): Akira Schmid is available in half of Yahoo leagues and it looks like he might be alternating starts with Vitek Vanecek. If that pattern holds, then Schmid would face Washington and Minnesota in Jersey on Wednesday and Sunday, which the Devils should all be favored to win. He has only started 1 of their first 3 games (posting a .909 SV%), but is the designated starter tonight and posted a .922 SV% in 18 games last season. Also, Elvis Merzlikins played great in his first 2 starts but has been battling an illness. The Blue Jackets have a pretty easy 3-game schedule coming up, and Elvis will hopefully start two of them.
 
2) Mike Matheson, Mtl, (33% Yahoo ownership): Mike Matheson was among the deep league recommendations in my draft bargains post in September, that’s to his top pair and top power play deployment in Montreal. He’s averaging 25:37 ice in their first 3 games, scoring a point on the power play. The downside with Montreal is they play Tue-Thu-Sat, so he may be difficult to fit in your starting line-up. You might have better luck with Owen Power who plays Mon-Tue-Fri-Sun, but the last two will be against New Jersey and Colorado. He’s available in more than half of leagues, is averaging 24:32 of ice time, scoring 2 PTS in his first 4 GP. 

3) Dawson Mercer, NJ, (54% Yahoo ownership): On one hand, Dawson Mercer has no points in his first 5 games and is currently deployed on the Devils 3rd line with Holtz and McLeod, as well as the second power play unit. My confidence in Mercer is less than it was 3 weeks ago when I was hopeful he could get a top-six role, but New Jersey just has the best schedule by a wide margin, so if ever there was a week to target Devils as streamers, now is the time, even one that has been cold to start the schedule. The Avalanche might only play 3 games, but Valeri Nichushkin is worth adding if he’s available in your league, having been moved up to Colorado’s top line with MacKinnon and Rantanen.
 
5) Ryan Hartman, Min, (28% Yahoo ownership): The allure of Ryan Hartman this week is that Minnesota plays 4 games, Hartman centers the top line with Karpizov-Zuccarello (though only power play two), he has multi-position eligibility on Yahoo, and is widely available. They play Edmonton Tuesday and Washington Friday, two teams who have been very leaky defensively to start the season. If you’re line-up is full Tuesday, he does play Thu-Fri-Sun, the last two on light nights. Another option is Tomas Hertl, and while the Sharks only scored 6 goals in their first 4 games, Hertl pointed on 4 of them. He plays top line, top power play, and is in no jeopardy of losing either job. Hertl is available in more than half of leagues.

4) Tom Wilson, Wsh, (45% Yahoo ownership): It looks like Tom Wilson has been demoted to the Captials 3rd line and only plays on their 2nd power play unit, but I’m still considering in one of my leagues as a streamer to help me in the hits category. I’m not expecting too many points, but if you’re in a league that counts hits, Tom Wilson with a 4-game week is a, n enticing prospect. He could also get moved back to that top line at any moment, as the Caps were embarrassed 6-1 Wednesday with Wilson only playing 14:39 on line three. If you want points, you’ll likely get more in 3 games of Chandler Stephenson in Vegas, with 6 in his first 5 games playing 2nd line with Mark Stone and top power play.
 
Honorable Mentions: Tomas Hertl, Owen Power, Valeri Nichushkin, Elvis Merzlikins, Chandler Stephenson
 
Last Week: Nick Schmaltz, Jonas Johansson, Shayne Gostisbehere, Andrew Mangiapane, Lucas Raymond
 

Best Deep League Adds (under 25% ownership):


1) Ondrej Palat, NJ, (5% Yahoo ownership): Ondrej Palat is available in 95% of Yahoo leagues and was recently promoted to the 2nd line with Hischier and Bratt, in addition to playing on the Devils 2nd power play. There were big expectations from Palat season coming over from Tampa, but he missed most of the season due to injury and wasn’t productive when healthy. He only has 1 point in their first 4 games, but as previously discussed, they have a juicy upcoming schedule. It’s worth a shot. If you’re looking for someone with a hotter start to the schedule, Alex Newhook has 3 goals centering Montreal’s 2nd line and 2nd power play.
 
2) Calen Addison, Min, (7% Yahoo ownership): The Minnesota Wild play 4 games in the week ahead and their power play quarterback (playing 4:35 on the PP last game) and is available in 93% of Yahoo leagues. The downside for those of you in bangers leagues is that he doesn’t hit much, but most leagues that count hits also count points. At least he’s shooting more than last year.  His teammate Brock Faber gets significantly more ice time, but little to none on the power play. He does have 2 PTS, 5 shots, 4 hits, 6 blocks, and a +3 in his first 4 games this season and should provide better peripheral statistics.
 
3) Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Mtl, (2% Yahoo ownership): The injury to Kirby Dach has created some opportunity on the Habs top-six, and RHP finds himself on the top line with Suzuki and Caufield. In 3 games, the winger has notched 2 PTS with 3 shots and 7 hits, but unfortunately is not getting any power play time. Still, this is a player that’s available in 98% of leagues, plays 4 games, all hopefully on a top line that can score. Another player who plays 4 and was recently promoted to his team’s top line is Dylan Strome. Yeah, he hasn’t scored a point yet, but playing with Alex Ovechkin is a good place to break the goose egg.
 
4) MacKenzie Blackwood, SJ, (13% Yahoo ownership): The San Jose Sharks suck, and it is with some reluctance that MacKenzie Blackwood is my top deep league goaltending streaming option, as they’ll face Florida, Carolina, Tampa, Washington. 3 of those teams can score and should soundly defeat San Jose, while the Capitals game is winnable. Blackwood posted a miraculous 51 saves in 52 shots against Colorado, who needed a shootout to beat the lowly Sharks. Then next game Blackwood was shelled by Carolina. There just aren’t any better options. A goalie who has played well in both his starts is Anton Forsberg (.933 SV%). He could get 2 starts if they continue alternating in Ottawa (who are much better than San Jose).
 
5) Marcus Foligno, Min, (12% Yahoo ownership): Marcus Foligno only has 1 point in his first 4 GP, but the reason he’s being recommended is for his 21 hits. I’m always trying to provide options for bangers leagues (like Tom Wilson above) and Foligno is always an excellent streaming option when you’re looking to add some hits, because he is also capable of chipping in some points here and there. If you are more interested in scoring, you may want to consider Casey Mittelstadt in Buffalo, scoring 2 PTS in his first 4 GP. Yeah, maybe that production doesn’t jump off the screen, but that offensive powerhouse in Buffalo should start lighting the lamp eventually.
 
Honorable Mentions: Casey Mittelstadt, Dylan Strome, Anton Forsberg, Alex Newhook Brock Faber
 
Last Week: Barrett Hayton, Matt Coronato, James Reimer, Juuso Valimaki, Daniel Sprong