NHL Hockey Fantasy Waiver Wire Goalie Pickups Nov. 18 - Drouin Aiming to Drive Colorado Attack

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.

Forwards

Georgi Merkulov, LW, BOS vs. CLM (0% rostered)

Merkulov was promoted from Providence of the AHL on Saturday after notching two goals and nine assists in 12 AHL games this season. He is far from a flash in the pan, as the winger delivered 30 goals and 35 assists in 67 minor-league outings during the 2023-24 regular season. Merkulov is skating on the third line initially as Boston looks for depth scoring. A hot start could move Merkulov up the depth charts.

Jonathan Drouin, LW, COL @ PHI (22% rostered)

Drouin returned Thursday after being sidelined since October 9 with an upper-body injury. He reveled in skating once again with Nathan MacKinnon last season, racking up personal bests in assists (37) and points (56) in 79 regular-season outings. That fine effort netted Drouin just a one-year contract to remain with the Avalanche. Now active, Drouin is once again skating initially on a line with MacKinnon.

Kirby Dach, C/RW, MTL vs, EDM (5% rostered)

Dach, the third overall pick in 2019 with Chicago, has had an uneven career. Just when it looked he was about to take off, an injury limited him to just two games last season. Dach is still looking to regain his 2022-23 form, as he has mixed productive outings with stretches where he fails to dent the scoresheet in several games in a row. Dach is getting a look on a line with Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, bolstering his chance for success.

Cutter Gauthier, LW, ANA vs. WSH (9% rostered)

The Ducks has been waiting for Gauthier to lit the lamp. He finally did so Friday in game 16 of the regular season. Gauthier now has a goal and an assist his last three games, and with Anaheim building towards the future, he should see a rise in ice time as the season continues. The hope is now that Gauthier has popped the cork on finally scoring, the floodgates will open.

Fabian Zetterlund, SJ vs. DET (28% rostered)

Zetterlund continues to be solid as a second line winger for the Sharks. The 25-year-old winger has a goal and four assists and a plus-6 rating over seven outings in November. For the season, Zetterlund, who came to San Jose from New Jersey in the Timo Meier trade, has seven markers and six helpers, a plus-seven rating, 41 hits and 22 blocked shots in 19 games. He is highly under rostered compared to where he should be, especially in deeper leagues.

Defensemen

Travis Sanheim, PHI vs, COL (45% rostered)

Sanheim set a career-high with 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists) last season for the Flyers. He is on early pace to exceed those numbers, notching five markers and six helpers in 18 games, aided by back-to-back multi-point efforts this week. Sanheim is seeing 25+ minutes of ice time per game, though that has come with a decline in power play time on ice. Keep the latter in mind when evaluating Sanheim game-by-game.

Michael Kesselring, UTAH vs. WSH (10% rostered)

Kesselring's production has been very uneven. He has mixed seven games where he has dented the scoresheet with 10 contests that he has been shut out. Despite that lack of consistency, with nine points in 17 games, Kesselring should easily top the 21 points he posted in 65 games as a rookie last season. In addition, he has already dished out 25 hits and blocked 13 shots while skating 19:33 a game, adding to his value.