NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Goalie Pickups Dec. 21 - Backups In Action For Back-to-back

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.

11 games for Saturday, Dec. 21

* = confirmed

Darcy Kuemper, LA* at Justus Annunen, NSH* (1:30 p.m. ET)

Petr Mrazek, CHI* at Dustin Wolf, CGY* (4 p.m. ET)

Yaroslav Askarov, SJ* at Calvin Pickard, EDM* (4 p.m. ET)

James Reimer, BUF* at Joonas Korpisalo, BOS* (7 p.m. ET)

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

Alex Lyon, DET at Samuel Montembeault, MON* (7 p.m. ET)

Tristan Jarry, PIT* at Jacob Markstrom, NJ* (7 p.m. ET)

Elvis Merzlikins, CLB* at Samuel Ersson, PHI* (7 p.m. ET)

Jesper Wallstedt, MIN* at Connor Hellebuyck, WPG* (7 p.m. ET)

Leevi Merilainen, OTT* at Kevin Lankinen, VAN* (10 p.m. ET)

Philipp Grubauer, SEA* at Ilya Samsonov, VEG* (10 p.m. ET)

Goalies

Calvin Pickard, EDM vs. SJ (7% rostered)

Stuart Skinner started and won in overtime on Thursday, and I suspect Pickard will get Saturday's start while Skinner starts Sunday against the Sens before the break. Pickard has been one of the league's most reliable backups this season and the Oilers have plenty of offense to provide goal support. Pickard is going for his fourth straight win, and although I'm not sure if he'll put up elite peripheral stats against a far weaker team, a victory is very, very probable. The Oilers have won 10 of their past 11 meetings.

David Rittich, LA at NSH (16% rostered)

The Kings have a b2b Saturday and Sunday before the holiday break, and I'm guessing Rittich takes this start to give Darcy Kuemper an extra day's rest before starting Sunday in D.C. Rittich was excellent during Kuemper's absence and while the Preds have looked much better than did a month ago, the Kings most certainly have the upper hand here. Rittich should be a top option in this matchup compared to Sunday's against the Caps, which is far less appetizing.

Alex Lyon, DET at MON (10% rostered)

With Cam Talbot starting Friday, Lyon will finish the home-and-home series in Montreal. Lyon has been very good on the road this season (3-3-0, .916 SP, 2.70 GAA) and throughout his career has dominated the Habs (4-1-0 all-time).

The two teams are quite evenly matched. While the Habs are generally better at home, given the level of parity in the league and how close Friday's game was, I think the Wings can split the series. I'm not convinced Lyon will post a strong save percentage, but I think he has a good chance of earning the win.

Samuel Ersson, PHI vs. CLB (15% rostered)

Both Ersson and John Tortorella were critical of his play recently, allowing eight goals on 45 shots (.822 SP), so I'm not sure if they're ready to go back to Ersson just yet. Even if Ersson starts, I'm wary of a potentially dangerous Jackets offense, and the Flyers have had a propensity to play some high-scoring games lately. Until Ersson gets back on track, he's not a strong streaming or ROS option.

Philipp Grubauer, SEA at VEG (5% rostered)

Grubauer will either start this game or Sunday in Colorado, and neither are appetizing. The Kraken are limiting their opponents' offense but their problem is they can't score (again). Without the goal support against the Golden Knights and Avs, both of whom are very good on offense, the Kraken would be hard-pressed to win. Grubauer has just three wins in 12 starts this season, and even though he's posted strong numbers against the Knights in his career - .918 SP, 2.41 GAA - there are better options.

Jesper Wallstedt, MIN at WPG (4% rostered)

The Wild started Marc-Andre Fleury on Friday, but with Filip Gustavsson spotted at practice that morning, there's a chance Wallstedt doesn't get this start. That might be a good thing since it takes a temptation off the table.

As I wrote yesterday in the expectation that Wallstedt would start: "We get a little enamored by highly-touted rookie goalies too often, and the reality is they're usually too inexperienced to be reliable streaming options." Considering the Wild are facing arguably the best team in the league, this statement still holds true and I'm far less hesitant to stream Wallstedt, even if it's an option.

Cayden Primeau, MON vs. DET (1% rostered)

The Canadiens have so little confidence in Primeau right now that Martin St-Louis wouldn't confirm Primeau as the starter on Friday despite the back-to-back. He's hinting that the Habs could go back to Montembeault again, putting forth their best goalie before they drop too far from the playoff race. Primeau is not an advisable streaming option in any league, but it's worth noting how much the Habs may end up relying on Montembeault.

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