Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Tomas Hertl leads pickups to target this week

Working the waiver wire is a crucial part of any championship fantasy hockey season. Finding players to work into your lineup every single week that can add points to your total is the number one way you can control the outcome of your matchup.

In this article every week, I’ll be going over players at every position and at different levels of rostership so that you can fill out your fantasy squad with the best players available in your league. Let’s dig in:

Forwards

Rostered in 41-50% of Leagues: Tomas Hertl, C - SJS (44% rostered)

Hertl’s San Jose Sharks are one of six NHL teams to play four games this week, and Hertl enters the week on a nice little three-game point streak, averaging over 20 minutes a night for the mostly hapless Sharks. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Hertl providing value above replacement this week as most fantasy managers will look past the veteran center due to the team he plays for.

The fact is that you’ve got to be on the ice to score points for fantasy and Hertl currently ranks 15th in the league in average time on ice. I’ll take the raw volume here and bet on at least a couple of points coming my way as a result.

Honorable Mentions: Tom Wilson, RW - WSH (43%) & Dawson Mercer, C/RW - NJD (46%)

Rostered in 31-40% of Leagues: Artturi Lehkonen, LW - COL (40% rostered)

Lehkonen exploded for four points on Saturday night, leaving him with six points in five games to open the season. The forward is averaging almost four and a half shots per game on the young season while skating a very healthy 18:49 per game — including top power play exposure to all of Colorado’s superstars. Lehkonen should be rostered widely as a player likely to contribute in almost every category imaginable. I projected him for 68 points prior to the season but if he continues to shoot this much he’s got a ceiling beyond that number.

Honorable Mentions: Nikolaj Ehlers, LW - WPG (35%) & Nick Schmaltz, C/RW - ARI (35%)

Rostered in 21-30% of Leagues: Dylan Strome, C - WSH (22% rostered)

Strome may not be a well-kept secret anymore after his two-goal performance on Saturday, providing all of Washington’s offense in a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. The Capitals have looked awful to start the season under new coach Spencer Carbery, but Strome is getting all of his even strength deployment alongside ageless wonder Alex Ovechkin, rendering him one of the Capitals’ highest upside players this week.

It’s a particularly good week to roster Capitals’ players if you’ve got the stomach for it, as they are one of three teams to play four games, with three of those four coming on off-nights when your pickups will assuredly fit into your starting lineup. If you need to catch up to your opponent’s projected games played total this week, Strome can make that happen for you with great point scoring potential.

Honorable Mentions: Ryan Hartman, C/RW - MIN (27%) & Evgeny Kuznetsov, C - WSH (24%)

Rostered in 0-20% of Leagues: Casey Mittelstadt, C - BUF (14% rostered)

Mittelstadt is not your typical stat-line stuffer, typically shooting less than twice per game and not contributing much to the other peripheral categories. But the Sabres re-shuffled their lines for Saturday’s tilt with the New York Islanders and found a win with Mittelstadt centering top wingers Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch. Mittelstadt picked up a pair of assists in the process and it’s hard to imagine the Sabres changing the lineup that worked so well in the last game. The Sabres are another one of the three teams with four games including three off-nights this week, so Mittelstadt will definitely find his way into your starting lineup at least three times this week.

Honorable Mentions: Sean Couturier, C - PHI (19%) & T.J. Oshie, RW - WSH (10%)

Defensemen

Rostered in 26-50% of Leagues: Michael Matheson - MTL (33% rostered)

It’s a little hard for me to fathom why a top pair, PP1 defenseman skating 25:48 a night and averaging 3.5 shots per game is languishing on the waiver wire in 67% of Yahoo leagues right now. Matheson is a strong contributor to the bangers categories as well, and while the plus/minus might not be strong, the good very clearly outweighs the bad here.

I’d take Matheson over Cam Fowler, Jaccob Slavin, and K’Andre Miller in almost any league setup, three players all more than 50% rostered right now. Matheson has a four-game slate this week as well; if his rostership doesn’t spike soon I might have to make him a recurring theme in this article.

Honorable Mentions: Filip Hronek - VAN (45%) & Owen Power - BUF (46%)

Rostered in 0-25% of Leagues: Calen Addison - MIN (7% rostered)

I’m going down the list to bring you Calen Addison, the PP1 quarterback of the Minnesota Wild. Addison spent much of last season getting very few even strength minutes and was even scratched for a stretch toward the end of the season. This year, Addison seems to have a little more leash as he’s seen 19:31 time on ice or better in each of the last three games. The Wild have a four-game, two-off-night schedule this week which heightens Addison’s appeal even more. Beware though, Addison will not provide much of anything in the way of hits or blocks: he’s only registered two blocks and a single hit through five games so far this season.

Honorable Mentions: Oliver Ekman-Larsson - FLA (19%) & Pavel Mintyukov - ANA (5%)

Goalies

Rostered in 26-50% of Leagues: Jack Campbell - EDM (40% rostered)

Edmonton’s goalie situation is murky at the moment, to say the least, as neither Campbell nor running mate Stuart Skinner have taken the reins in the early going. Campbell got a pair of starts last week with one great game (one goal against on 43 shots) and one tough one (four goals against on 32 shots). Skinner started Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets but it seems like a strong bet that Campbell will work back in for Tuesday’s trip to Minnesota. From there, it’ll likely be a complete meritocracy as to who gets the most starts moving forward, but the prospect of rostering the starting goalie for a Cup favorite like the Oilers is enticing enough to take the swing on Campbell for this week.

Honorable Mentions: John Gibson - ANA (42%) & Philipp Grubauer (43%)

Rostered in 0-25% of Leagues: Petr Mrazek - CHI (17% rostered)

As usual, it’s slim pickings down here, but Petr Mrazek continues to put together strong efforts in the Chicago goal, as he’s yet to dip below a .900 save percentage in his three starts this season. I anticipate Mrazek will continue to maintain the 1A role for the youthful Blackhawks, and if you’re in a league where saves are strongly rewarded, you can bet that Mrazek will continue to see plenty of rubber.

I wouldn’t say that I’m confident in Mrazek moving forward, but he’s certainly had a strong enough start to the season to build some trust with the Blackhawks coaching staff. Chicago only plays twice this week, but if you need to lock down some volume in a deep league, you can do worse than Petr Mrazek.

Honorable Mentions: Jake Allen - MTL (9%) & Anton Forsberg - OTT (18%)

- - -

Nate Groot Nibbelink is the creator of Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey and the originator of the #ZeroG draft strategy. You can find him pontificating about obscure fantasy hockey strategy topics in the Apples & Ginos Discord Server or on Twitter @applesginos.