NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Goalie Pickups Dec. 28 - Dobes' Debut

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. 28

* = confirmed

Jakub Dobes, MON* at Spencer Knight, FLA* (1 p.m. ET)

Philipp Grubauer, SEA* at Thatcher Demko, VAN* (4 p.m. ET)

Samuel Ersson, PHI* at Lukas Dostal, ANA (4 p.m. ET)

Stuart Skinner, EDM* at Darcy Kuemper, LA (4 p.m. ET)

Daniil Tarasov, CLB at Jeremy Swayman, BOS (7 p.m. ET)

Logan Thompson, WSH* at Matt Murray, TOR* (7 p.m. ET)

Igor Shesterkin, NYR* at Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB* (7 p.m. ET)

Jake Allen, NJ at Dustin Tokarski, CAR (7 p.m. ET)

Mads Sogaard, OTT* at Connor Hellebuyck, WPG* (7 p.m. ET)

Tristan Jarry, PIT* at Ilya Sorokin, NYI* (7:30 p.m. ET)

Dustin Wolf, CGY at Yaroslav Askarov, SJ (10 p.m. ET)

Goalies

Jakub Dobes, MON at FLA (-)
Spencer Knight, FLA vs. MON (8% rostered)

Cayden Primeau has been so unreliable this season (2-3-1, .836 SP, 4.70 GAA) the Habs announced their intention to waive him on Friday ahead of Saturday's game, and also confirmed Dobes (9-3-1, .910 SP, 2.44 GAA in the AHL) will make his NHL debut. A fifth-round pick from 2020, Dobes is the rare foreign import - he's from Czechia - who came up through the junior system in North America with the NAHL and USHL before playing two seasons with Ohio State.

Dobes has earned this start; he was AHL Laval's starter last season (24-18-6, .906 SP, 2.93 GAA) and split the starts with 28-year-old veteran Connor Hughes this season, and Dobes has a chance to supplant Primeau as the full-time backup. Dobes was called up Friday morning but he has yet to be added to Yahoo's fantasy hockey database and, considering he's facing the defending Cup champions, Dobes is highly unlikely to be a waiver wire target unless your really live and die with the Habs.

That leaves Knight, who is a top streaming option on a night with many options. I don't think Knight has been particularly good this season, but this is a good matchup against a mediocre team on the road throwing a rookie goalie to the wolves and likely without top power-play weapon Patrik Laine. Knight has been excellent at home this season with a .932 SP and 1.64 GAA.

Philipp Grubauer, SEA at VAN (5% rostered)

Grubauer's overall record with the Kraken has been barely passable and, generally, I wouldn't advise streaming a goalie on a road team that has trouble scoring, but I do like this matchup. The Canucks are expected to be without top center Elias Pettersson and top defenseman - and Hart Trophy candidate, mind you - Quinn Hughes, taking a huge chunk out of their offense and power play.

This is a game where the Kraken can score three goals and still beat the Canucks, barring an unlikely stellar performance from the Canucks' defense. Grubauer's overall record against the Canucks (4-2-1) is actually quite good, if you excuse the - again - barely passable .892 SP and 3.08 GAA.

Tristan Jarry, PIT at NYI (26% rostered)

Pens-Isles games tend to be a ruckus, and the momentum is clearly on the Pens' side. Jarry has been historically excellent against the Isles with a 11-3-1 record and a .923 SP and 2.28 GAA. This is a home-and-home, back-to-back series, so if Jarry doesn't get this game, then he will get Sunday's matchup. Mike Sullivan has made it clear the Pens view Jarry as their No. 1, and both the team and Jarry's recent turnaround has been very promising. I like Jarry in this matchup against an Isles offense that still has trouble scoring despite being close to full strength.

Yaroslav Askarov, SJ vs. CGY (12% rostered)

Askarov has generally been excellent this season. Not only does he have streaming value in this matchup, he has some ROS value with Vitek Vanecek injured and will likely be the Sharks' No. 1 next season, if not by the end of this season. The Sharks have definitely slowed down with eight losses in their past nine games, and this is the second game of their back-to-back. But, there's no question Askarov can pile up the saves and potentially steal a win. Among the riskier starts, I don't mind rolling the dice with Askarov.

Matt Murray, TOR vs. WSH (9% rostered)

It is certainly tempting; the Leafs are an excellent team even without Auston Matthews, and Murray is already one-for-one this season with a win against the then-struggling Sabres in his season debut. This is a much, much harder matchup; Murray's career starts against the Caps (8-6-1, .885 SP, 3.63 GAA) aren't nearly as strong as his stats against the Sabres, and the Caps are expected to have Alex Ovechkin back in the lineup. Murray's not the worst option, but streaming him does present considerable risk not only to the outcome but also your fantasy team's save percentage and GAA.

Samuel Ersson, PHI at ANA (13% rostered)

Hopefully, a holiday break helps Ersson reset. He's coming off a 7-3 loss to the Pens where he allowed five goals on 14 shots (.643 SP!!!) and he's looked very, very shaky since returning from injury. I like the matchup but I don't like the way Ersson's play has been trending. Ersson is a high-risk streaming option and only appealing if all other options have been exhausted.

Daniil Tarasov, CLB at BOS (1% rostered)

If Tarasov gets the start - Jet Greaves has yet to be re-called from the AHL after getting re-assigned before the holiday break - it'll be his first time seeing action since Dec. 5. With a shaky record this season (.857 SP, 4.26 GAA) against a Bruins team that will be eager for revenge and starting their No. 1 goalie, Tarasov is an inadvisable streaming option. The Jackets can keep teams close and their offense remains supremely underrated, but they're not a team that can be relied upon just yet.

Jake Allen, NJ at CAR (10% rostered)
Dustin Tokarski, CAR vs. NJ (4% rostered)

Tokarski was excellent in his season debut (.964 SP) against the Jackets but faltered in his second start (.833 SP), while Allen remains one of the more reliable veteran backups in the league. For that reason alone, I would rather stream Allen, not to mention I think the Devils are the stronger club. It's rare for teams to sweep a home-and-home series, especially between two excellent clubs, but unless the Canes keep the Devils' shot attempts to a minimum, I'm hardly convinced Tokarski will put up good peripherals. Flip a coin for the outcome but this has a chance to be a high-scoring game.

Leevi Merilainen, OTT at WPG (1% rostered)

With both Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg on the shelf, I expect Merilainen to get the start over Mads Sogaard, both of whom were called up Friday. I think the Sens have done a pretty good job in front of Merilainen to keep shots to a minimum, but he also hasn't shown he can excel at the NHL level. He allowed four goals (.840 SP) in a 5-4 overtime win against the shorthanded Canucks, and then allowed two goals (.857 SP) against the Oilers after coming in relief for the injured Ullmark.

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