NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Forwards Pickups Dec. 28 - Garland Leads Shorthanded Canucks; Ducks' Gauthier Faces Flyers

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.

Bryan Rust, RW, PIT at NYI (48% rostered)

Rust scored two points against the Flyers just before the break and will be looking to continue where he left off. The Isles should be much better following a 7-1 loss to the Sabres on Dec. 23, but they've truly struggled even with Ilya Sorokin in net. Rust is up to 27 points in 29 games this season, including 14 in his past eight games.

Sean Monahan, C, CLB at BOS (47% rostered)
Kent Johnson, C/LW/RW, CLB at BOS (24% rostered)
Dmitri Voronkov, LW, CLB at BOS (14% rostered)

The Jackets will face a much stiffer toughest in Boston and with Jeremy Swayman in net following Friday's 6-2 win. However, it's worth pointing out (again and again) that the Jackets offense is quite good, and leading the way is top center Monahan. Johnson is on a three-game points streak but the top waiver wire target is Voronkov, who's their top left winger right now and currently on a six-game points streak with five goals and 10 points.

Conor Garland, RW, VAN vs. SEA (42% rostered)
Nils Hoglander, LW, VAN vs. SEA (1% rostered)

With Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson expected to miss Saturday's game, Garland steps in as the Canucks' top scorer and he will play on L2 with Hoglander on the other wing with Pius Suter at center. The very shorthanded Canucks will be leaning on their depth players a lot on offense, and Garland's your best bet with PP1 deployment. It'd be surprising to see him skate less than 20 minutes.

Hoglander will skate PP2 and he's the far riskier fantasy asset, having been healthy scratched a few times this season. The Kraken are expected to start Philipp Grubauer, which at least makes scoring a bit easier for the Canucks.

Alex Laferriere, RW, LA vs. EDM (36% rostered)

Laferriere continues to see excellent deployment with PP1. He's averaging over 18 minutes in his past two games and registered 15 shots on net over his past four games. On home ice, the Kings should have the advantage and there's plenty of motivation since this is their first meeting since last season's playoff matchup.

Shane Wright, C, SEA at VAN (9% rostered)

Wright was one of the Kraken's top scorers prior to the holiday break with five assists in six games, and his ice time has crept up. With the Canucks missing Pettersson, Wright's matchups should get easier since J.T. Miller will likely draw Matty Beniers' line. Wright is expected to have top goal scorer Jared McCann on his left wing.

Scott Laughton, C/LW, PHI at ANA (4% rostered)

Laughton went into the break with four goals - all scored in one game - and four assists in his past six games to lead the Flyers. He's getting great deployment on L1 with top scorer Travis Konecny, though it's a bummer he doesn't get any PP. Laughton's great for shots, faceoff wins and hits if he doesn't score.

Cutter Gauthier, LW, ANA vs. PHI (1% rostered)
Robby Fabbri, C/LW, ANA vs. PHI (0% rostered)

Gauthier had some choice words for the Flyers, saying he had the game circled on his calendar after he refused to sign with them and ended up getting traded to the Ducks. We shall see if Gauthier will live up to expectations, but it certainly sounds like he's going to have extra juice in this game.

Linemate Fabbri was one of the Ducks' hottest players prior to the break, scoring five points in five games. I generally think the Ducks are a low-upside offensive team, but maybe some added motivation and a potential matchup against the struggling Samuel Ersson will net some fantasy value.