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NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Goalie Pickups Jan. 18 - Fleury On The Road Deserves His Flowers

jason chen
·4 min read

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.

15 games on Saturday, Jan. 18

* = confirmed

Samuel Ersson, PHI* at Jake Allen, NJ* (12:30 p.m. ET)

Jeremy Swayman, BOS at Leevi Merilainen, OTT* (3 p.m. ET)

Jake Oettinger, DAL at Mackenzie Blackwood, COL (4 p.m. ET)

John Gisbon, ANA at Spencer Knight, FLA* (6 p.m. ET)

Joseph Woll, TOR* at Sam Montembeault, MTL* (7 p.m. ET)

Cam Talbot, DET* at Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB* (7 p.m. ET)

Daniil Tarasov, CBJ* at Igor Shesterkin, NYR* (7 p.m. ET)

Joel Blomqvist, PIT at Logan Thompson, WSH* (7 p.m. ET)

Dustin Wolf, CGY at Eric Comrie, WPG* (7 p.m. ET)

Alexandar Georgiev, SJ* at Marcus Hogberg, NYI* (7:30 p.m. ET)

Ilya Samsonov, VGK at Petr Mrazek, CHI (8 p.m. ET)

Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN* at Juuse Saros, NSH* (8 p.m. ET)

Jordan Binnington, STL at Connor Ingram, UTA* (9 p.m. ET)

Stuart Skinner, EDM at Kevin Lankinen, VAN (10 p.m. ET)

Darcy Kuemper, LA at Joey Daccord, SEA (10 p.m. ET)

Goalies

Leevi Merilainen, OTT vs. BOS (29% rostered)

The Senators play back-to-back so either Merilainen gets this game - his fifth straight start - or he gets a little breather and faces the Devils on Sunday. Either way, I'm willing to roll with the red-hot goalie; Merilainen has allowed just three goals in his past four games. The danger is, of course, that Merilainen's hot streak ends without warning, and the Bruins offense is clicking right now with 10 goals in their past two games. I think Merilainen can definitely win this game - the Sens are favored according to FanDuel's odds on NHL.com as of Friday evening - and also deliver a solid save percentage.

Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN at NSH (18% rostered)

The good news is Brock Faber is expected to be back in the lineup, and that alone could really turn the Wild's fortunes after losing three of their past four. The Predators have won four of their past six but their offense is still generally anemic, averaging 2.45 goals per game, second-lowest in the league. Fleury sports strong career numbers against the Preds (.915 SP, 2.33 GAA) and he's 6-1-0 with a .925 SP and 2.27 GAA on the road this season. I think Fleury and the Wild will get the win with a good save percentage and a low goals against.

Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ at NYR (31% rostered)

Merzlikins is coming off two excellent starts with three goals allowed (.940 SP) and the Jackets are going for their seventh straight win. The Rangers look like they're turning it around and they are the favored team according to FanDuel's odds on NHL.com. I fight against that notion with the Jackets coming in hot, and I think it will at least be very close given how good Merzlikins' goal support has been. I don't mind taking a gamble with Merzlikins in this matchup, although I'm looking for a win and not necessarily a strong save percentage.

Cam Talbot, DET at TB (44% rostered)

Scary matchup even though Talbot has won five straight games. I thought starting Ville Husso would disrupt his rhythm but Talbot was excellent in his previous start with 41 saves (.953 SP). This is a tough challenge against the league's best offensive team, but again I don't mind rolling with the hot goalie, especially if he's the second goalie on my roster. I think Talbot will get a chance to make a lot of saves and earn a high save percentage, but I'm not sure if he will. It should be a high-scoring game, though I also think it's very possible the red-hot Red Wings win.

Marcus Hogberg, NYI vs. SJ (2% rostered)
Yaroslav Askarov, SJ at NYI (18% rostered)

The Sharks have been leaning on Alexandar Georgiev but don't be surprised if Askarov gets this start. The Isles are a low-ceiling offensive team, which bodes well for Askarov's save percentage. However, I'm leaning more towards Hogberg, who gets his third start in four games and he's been excellent with two goals allowed in his past two games with a .958 SP. I think the two teams are quite evenly matched and it might turn into a goalie duel, but I think Hogberg will be the better play for a win and a good save percentage.

Samuel Ersson, PHI at NJ (18% rostered)
Jake Allen, NJ vs. PHI (7% rostered)

From a fantasy standpoint, I absolutely despite these matinee games because they're generally really hard to predict. Both teams are thrown off rhythm with the early start, and even if the results are good, there will be other chances in the later games. Ersson has won three straight games so he's back on track after a tough stretch when he first returned from injury, and while the Devils offense has fallen asleep lately, it's still got massive potential.

Allen would be my preferred option in this matchup, but he just hasn't been very good this season, especially at home where he's 2-4-1 with a .877 SP and 3.36 GAA. If I had to pick a goalie to win, it'd be Allen, but I don't trust either goalie to put forth strong performances in regards to save percentage or a low goals against.

John Gibson, ANA at FLA (15% rostered)

The only reason I think Gibson might be worth streaming is because the Panthers are in a funk with a 4-6-1 record since their four-game winning streak in late December. Otherwise, this is an inadvisable start; the Ducks have lost five of their past six with two shutout losses. Gibson has to be outstanding - he can, it's just unlikely - and the Ducks need to provide goal support. Gibson's upside is probably limited to a high number of saves and a good save percentage in this matchup.

Joel Blomqvist, PIT at WSH (2% rostered)

Blomqvist is slated to get his first start since Nov. 11, and it was not a good; he was pulled less than 11 minutes into the game and allowed three goals on eight shots in a 7-1 loss to the Stars. The Penguins were bailed out by an excellent performance from Alex Nedeljkovic last night - he even scored a goal! - and the Capitals are really good, so understandably this matchup is a little scary. Trusting a rookie goalie who hasn't fared well this season is always a high-risk move. Without seeing more from Blomqvist, he's hard to trust in fantasy right now.

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