NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Goalie Pickups Jan. 2 - A Quick Dawn

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

12 games on Thursday, Jan. 2

* = confirmed

Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR at Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA* (7 p.m. ET)

Jeremy Swayman, BOS* at Jonathan Quick, NYR* (7 p.m. ET)

Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN* at Charlie Lindgren, WSH* (7 p.m. ET)

Cam Talbot, DET* at Elvis Merzlikins, CLB* (7 p.m. ET)

Joseph Woll, TOR* at Ilya Sorokin, NYI* (7:30 p.m. ET)

Leevi Merilainen, OTT* at Jake Oettinger, DAL* (8 p.m. ET)

John Gibson, ANA* at Connor Hellebuyck, WPG* (8 p.m. ET)

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, BUF* at Scott Wedgewood, COL* (9 p.m. ET)

Karel Vejmelka, UTA* at Dan Vladar, CGY* (9 p.m. ET)

Aleksei Kolosov, PHI* at Ilya Samsonov, VEG* (10 p.m. ET)

Thatcher Demko, VAN* at Philipp Grubauer, SEA (10 p.m. ET)

Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB* at Yaroslav Askarov, SJ* (10:30 p.m. ET)

Goalies

Cam Talbot, DET at CLB (39% rostered)

Todd McLellan has not committed to either Talbot or Alex Lyon but mentioned they will split the starts during their two-game road trip. With their second game in Winnipeg, this is the easier matchup, but both the Jets and Blue Jackets have top-10 offenses and, in both cases, the Red Wings will need to provide ample goal support to win.

They've posted consecutive 4-2 wins, so their play has been encouraging, but ideally we'd like to see the Wings do this more often before we can really commit. Lyon is the better option if he gets the start since Talbot has struggled, but it's a risky play nonetheless.

Karel Vejmelka, UTA at CGY (47% rostered)

The odds are working against Utah. They're mired in a five-game losing streak and the Flames are building momentum as a dark horse playoff team, but I still don't mind streaming Vejmelka in this matchup considering his performances so far this season. Utah's streaky and inconsistent but also capable of snapping their slump at any point. Utah were victors in their first meeting, 5-1, and I imagine the rematch will be quite close. Still, I'm quite confident Vejmelka can rack up the saves and post a decent save percentage.

Charlie Lindgren, WSH vs. MIN (39% rostered)

With two straight losses, I do wonder if Lindgren will start losing playing time to Logan Thompson again. This is a tough start even though the Wild will be without Jared Spurgeon and Kirill Kaprizov, and they've won three of their past four while the Caps have split wins and losses over their past eight games. I think the Caps can definitely win this game, but I'd be cautious because I'm not convinced Lindgren will provide many saves - the Caps are excellent at limiting shots - or a good save percentage.

Yaroslav Askarov, SJ vs. TB (13% rostered)

I think Askarov and Alexandar Georgiev will split the starts until the Sharks snap their eight-game losing streak. It's very likely their slump extends to nine games (or more, considering their difficult schedule) but Askarov has shown the ability to provide an excellent save percentage. The Lightning have the league's best offense - nearly four goals per game - and the Sharks defense will definitely be getting shelled, but that just also gives Askarov an opportunity to perhaps put in another 35-plus save performance. In leagues that don't emphasize wins, Askarov could be worth the gamble.

Jonathan Quick, NYR vs. BOS (20% rostered)

If the Rangers weren't in a death spiral, Quick would actually have some fantasy value. both as a streaming option and while Igor Shesterkin recovers from injury. As it stands, the Rangers are looking to avoid their fifth straight loss and Quick has not won a game since Nov. 24. While he's a capable backup - and temporary starter - Quick is not getting any help from his team at all, and I'd avoid this start.

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