Yahoo Sports NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Forwards Pickups Jan. 25 - Capitalizing With McMichael and Protas
On every game day this season, THN Fantasy will highlight players and goalies for fantasy managers to stream or roster for the rest of the season. The recommended players and goalies can be used in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.
Connor McMichael, C/LW, WSH at VAN (43% rostered)
Aliaksei Protas, C/LW, WSH at VAN (33% rostered)
You hate to beat a dead horse but... fantasy can be ruthless. The Canucks are in shambles and the Capitals have dominated this matchup in recent seasons, losing just twice in regulation in 17 games since 2015. The Canucks defense is in tatters and their goaltending has been subpar, which opens the door for McMichael to take advantage. He's gone quiet with zero goals in nine games, but what better opportunity to snap his drought?
Protas, on the other hand, has scored a point in three straight games and continues to excel even when he's not playing with Alex Ovechkin. Protas is up to 40 points in 48 games and should be rostered in at least 12-team leagues.
Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW, CGY at MIN (36% rostered)
Huberdeau's coming off a three-point game and he tends to score in bunches, so his strong performance really caught my eye. The Wild are nearly at full strength, which will make them a tough matchup, but they've also really struggled lately with five losses in their past seven games and struggling at both ends of the ice. Huberdeau remains on L1 and PP1.
Anton Lundell, C/RW, FLA at SJ (36% rostered)
Given how porous the Sharks have been, Lundell should be a good streaming option for points. He's scored three points in his past four games and contributes in multiple categories. The only drawback is his lack of ice time with Sam Bennett still ahead of him on the depth chart, but all of the Panthers' lines should be able to generate offense against arguably the league's worst defensive team and goaltending.
JJ Peterka, LW/RW, BUF at EDM (28% rostered)
Peterka's scored three points in his past two games with over 21 minutes, getting a little more ice time with Jason Zucker out of the lineup. The Sabres' top line with Peterka, Jiri Kulich and Tage Thompson has been excellent, and I don't mind rolling with them during their hot streak. Peterka is slightly more desirable than Kulich since Peterka and Thompson play together on PP1.
Jonathan Drouin, LW/RW, COL at BOS (28% rostered)
No word yet on when Martin Necas will be able to join the Avs as of Friday evening, but with an early matinee, it's doubtful Necas gets there in time. Regardless, Drouin should see plenty of action with Nathan MacKinnon, and it's likely they'll play a ton of minutes without Mikko Rantanen in the lineup.
Troy Terry, C/RW, ANA vs. NSH (25% rostered)
This could be a good matchup because the Predators aren't very strong defensively and Terry's scored four points in five games since returning to the lineup following the birth of his second child. His scoring can be sporadic, but even the Ducks' anemic offense should be able to score against the Preds.
Adam Fantilli, C, CBJ vs. LA (23% rostered)
Kent Johnson, C/LW/RW, CBJ vs. LA (15% rostered)
Fantilli followed up a hat-trick performance with two assists, and now on home ice has a good chance to keep his points streak going. The Jackets offense is rarely kept off the board, though note the Kings are particularly stingy and allow the seventh-fewest goals per game on the road. Still, given Fantilli's increased role as their 1C at both even strength and on the power play, he remains a strong streaming option with plenty of ROS value as long as Sean Monahan is sidelined.
Johnson has scored six points in his past five games and remains a solid option for points in deeper leagues. He doesn't do a whole lot else, but with last change on home ice, perhaps he'll get some better matchups to exploit.
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