Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire
Not a single team is schedule to play four times during Week 11 (Dec. 22 – Dec. 28) of the Fantasy Hockey season. There are five teams that play three times and Santa decided the Canadiens deserved the biggest break, or weren’t worth of a full schedule because they only place once. The rest of the 29 teams play at least twice during Week 11.
Week 10 was just another week in which we lost a few to mumps. Sidney Crosby returned after missing three games with the virus and we recently lost Derick Brassard. He and Crosby are two of 16 payers (as of Friday) with confirmed cases. Brassard has since returned as well. Corey Perry – one of the 16 – practice for the first time since suffering a knee injury and we could see him return to action by the end of the week.
Boone Jenner was starting to get Fantasy Hockey attention with five goals over his last eight games, but he’s scheduled to miss the next one-two months due to a stress fracture in his lower back. Steve Mason missed the Flyers’ last two games with a back issue as well. Jimmy Howard was sidelined during Sunday’s game due to a groin injury and is considered day-to-day. The Wings are not ruling him out for Tuesday’s game. Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire wonder Damon Severson slowed down of late and can offically be dropped now that he’ll miss the next 4-5 weeks with a non-displaced hairline fracture in his left ankle.
Flyers wont have a medical update on Steve Mason until TUE, they have advised us.
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) December 22, 2014
No need to worry Philly, Rob Zepp is here!
Flyers’ 33-year-old rookie goalie Rob Zepp won his NHL debut Sunday. Per @EliasSports, Zepp is oldest goalie to win NHL debut since 1926!
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 22, 2014
Not Fantasy Hockey relevant, but a cool story.
Chris Meaney sat down with Dave Pitman to discuss a few players who are owned in fewer than 50 percent of Y! and ESPN leagues and are scheduled to play three games during Week 11 of the Fantasy Hockey season. Below are the teams that play three games and a player worth owning on each team.
Teams with three games this week.
Anaheim Ducks
vs SJ, @ ARI, vs VAN
Matt Beleskey – LW – Y! 26% / ESPN 41%
Yes, were all surprised that Beleskey has 15 goals on the season. Were also not foolish to think he will finish with the 36 goals he is on pace to score. Even still, he should be owned despite only 18 points on the season.
Beleskey is playing in a top-six role on a very good Ducks team. He’s +5 over his last nine games and has a +11 rating on the year. The left winger has two points and four shots on goal over his last three games. He also has 10 hits over his last four games and 20 over his last eight. Two months in and Beleskey is inside the Top 10 in scoring. Those kind of players shouldn’t don’t belong on the waiver wire.
Arizona Coyotes
@ VAN, @ EDM, vs ANH
Pick a forward, any forward! Not one player on the Arizona squad is owned in more than 50 percent of Y! or ESPN leagues. I wouldn’t suggest owning any forward either, but if you are in a tough spot and would like to maximize your waiver wire moves for the week then Martin Hanzal is the one you want.
Hanzal picked up a goal in his last game and depending on your league settings he could be quite valuable. He has at least two hits (38 total) in each of his 10 games since returning from injury and also has 16 PIMs over that span. Hanzal only has the one goal and three points in those 10 games, but he has 10 shots on net over his last three games.
Nashville Predators
@ CBJ, @ BOS, vs PHI
Mike Fisher – C – Y! 5% / ESPN 6% (Assuming Mike Ribeiro is owned…he should be owned)
Slow moving on the waiver wire for Mike Fisher. He made his season debut against the Oilers on November 27th. Went scoreless in his first three games, but picked up two goals and four assists over his next seven games with two of them coming on the power play.
When Fisher is not taking penalties (10 PIMs in 10 games) he’s killing them off for his team. He touched the 20 minute mark in four of his 10 games. He also has a hit in every game but one for a total 21 and has fired 12 shots on goal over his last six games. If your league counts faceoffs then you get a piece of the strongest part of his game. Fisher’s 59 faceoffs won over the last two weeks rank 14th in the NHL.
Pittsburgh Penguins
@ FLA, @ TB, vs WSH
Blake Comeau – LW Y! 20% / ESPN 28%
Comeau has 11 goals and 19 points on the season! Yes, you read that right. The Penguins LW has three goals, 19 shots, 13 hits and 6 penalty minutes over his last five games. He is +2 and has a game winner to his name over his last five as well. As long as Comeau continues to play with Evgeni Malkin (and I think he will), he is a must-add and play every single night in Daily Leagues.
Nick Spaling – C/LW Y! 1% / ESPN 0%
Spaling may not be worth a roster spot in shallow leagues, but he is a great add in deep leagues and a fantastic daily play. He has two goals and six points over his last six games. He also has at least a shot on goal in each of his last six games. and is +4 over that span.
Washington Capitals
vs OTT, @ NYR, @ PIT
Troy Brouwer – C/LW Y! 44% / ESPN 54%
Four of Brouwer’s 10 goals on the season have come over his last six games and one was a power play marker. He has eight shots on goal over his last four games and has shown great chemistry with Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Tom Wilson is skating on the Caps’ top line, but is really only known for his hitting. He has 15 hits over his last three games. Upside is of course there if he continues to play with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
Other players to consider
Alex Galchenyuk – C/LW – 48% / ESPN 44%
Galchenyuk is really starting to come into his own during his third year in the NHL. He moved to the middle of the ice and is playing his natural position (center) for the first time in his big league career. And playing alongside Max Pacioretty (Montreal’s best forward) at that. The 20-year-old has four goals and six points over his last three games. 10 of his 24 points have come over his last 10 and five of those 10 points have been goals. Two of them have been power play points.
Mika Zibanejad – C/RW – Y! 20% / ESPN 19%
Not sure how much I believe in Mika just yet, but he has certainly caught my eye. If you’re looking for upside and have a few scrubs then Zibanejad is worth your attention. He has six goals and 11 points over his last 10 games and 25 shots over his last nine games. A streak that will eventually come to an end, but his minutes are starting to increase with each good game.
Calvin Pickard – C – Y! 25% / ESPN 17%
Pickard has now started three straight games for the Avs and picked up wins in his last two. He made 47 saves against the Pens only to lose 1-0 in overtime. Pickard then turned aside 28 of 29 shots for the win in Buffalo and got the nod from Patrick Roy the very next night winning 2-1 in Detroit. He made 34 saves for his six win of the season.
The Avs return home to face the Blues and Blackhawks followed by a trip into St. Louis. All three are tough matchups for Colorado, but the 22-yr-old has a 2.06 GAA and .939 SV% in 13 starts. Numbers that are far and away better than the injured – coming back soon, do we care? – Semyon Varlamov.
Buy Low, Sell High
Marian Gaborik – LW/RW – Y! 80% / ESPN 65%
As you can see from the percentages, Gaborik is most likely owned. There was a chance you drafted and hung on, and good for you if you did. I’m sure it took some patients. There’s also a chance you or someone couldn’t take questionable tonight any more, making him look like one of the better/luckiest waiver wire pickups of the year.
With that said, now is the time to trade Gaborik. The Kings winger has goals (six) in four straight games. He also has two assists over his last four games. We all saw what he and Anze Kopitar pulled off during last year’s Stanley Cup run and they are feeling it of late as well, but the chances are Gaborik will miss a few more games down the stretch. Potentially during Fantasy Hockey playoff time, when you need him the most.
I’m not denying his skill, the numbers don’t lie. He has 23 shots on goal in seven games since returning from his second injury stint. He played half the season last year and has touched 80 games in a season twice in his 13 years. Three full seasons if you count his 47 in 48 games during the lockout.
Point is, get rid of him. Fix a need elsewhere. You could go without the headache that will be when he’s sidelined again.
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