Welcome to the new Daily Fantasy Hockey weekly waiver wire report. Each week I will be updating some of the players we should targeting on the waiver wire to help us build a championship fantasy hockey team. The recommendations will focus on, for the most part, standard Yahoo Hockey leagues with the following stat categories:
- Goals
- Assists
- Powerplay Points
- Short Handed Points
- +/- Rating
- Shots on Goal
- Hits
- Faceoffs Won
- Goalie Wins
- Saves
- Save %
- Goals Against Average
- Shutouts
Only players who are under 75% owned in Yahoo Fantasy Hockey will be considered for the waiver wire report. If you have specific questions about how a player fits your league settings please hit me up on Twitter(@Jager_Bombs9)
Let us now take a look at this week's low owned waiver wire options:
Fantasy Hockey Sleepers and Waiver Wire Pickups at Defense and Goaltender
Matt Niskanen (WSH, D) 60% Owned
His ownership is rising quickly so if he is still available in any of your leagues he is worth the pickup. He has points in four of his last six games(3 PP points) is averaging over 23 minutes of ice time per game with close to 2 minutes of that on the powerplay. The Caps have a Top 5 offense and also rank 7th on the Powerplay.
Shayne Gostisbehere (PHI, D) 3% Owned
His ownership will start to sky rocket as the casual fans and fantasy players learn how to pronounce his name correctly. He stepped in for the injured Mark Streit and has done a great job so far in five games. He put out with the #1 PP unit to be the quarterback on the blue line and already has two powerplay goals. He is averaging 16 shot attempts per 60 minutes of ice time and provides huge offensive upside as the Flyers start to click.
Alec Martinez (LAK, D) 8% Owned
He isn't going to provide a ton of offense even though he has three points in his last three games. He will, however, provide shots, blocks, hits, and also has a +5 rating on the year. He is averaging over 20 minutes of ice time with 2:05 of that on the powerplay.
Also Available - Dan Girardi (NYR, G) 24% Owned
Goaltenders
Michael Hutchinson (WPG, G) 35% Owned
It looks like the Jets starter Andrej Pavelic will be out until January or possibly February. This opens the door for Hutchinson to take over and try and carry the team above .500 in the coming weeks and months. He has .913 save % but a 2.73 GAA which is due to the Jets defense which is ranked 28th in goals allowed per game. Finding starters or even spot starters on the waivers is almost impossible. Pick him up before someone else does.
Linus Ullmark (BUF, G) 13% Owned
He has split time almost down the middle with Chad Johnson but has been the better option so far this year. His goals against average is .50 goal better and his save % of .925 tops Johnson's .901 to this point. Buffalo is a young and slowly improving team and is worth picking up if you need help in saves, save %, and GAA and also provides upside for a win.
Also Available - Michal Neuvirth (PHI, G) 31% Owned