Pick 'Em Up: Scoop up lesser-known first liners

As part of our three-part weekly journey into the depths of the merciless world of fantasy hockey, Yahoo Sports will sift through the grease and deliver you the goods on how to tweak your roster each week.

Monday, in case you haven’t heard, is Adds Day. Now over a week into of the NHL season, it’s time for some rational overreaction!

Here are the value players you should target on your league’s waiver wire right now.

Forwards

Conor Sheary, RW/LW, Sabres (17% owned)

A player who has benefited from playing with elite linemates in Pittsburgh again finds himself with a world-class centre as he’s developed some visible chemistry with Jack Eichel. He’ll slot in, at least, in the Sabres’ top six all year, and will see tons of minutes on the upstart PP1.

Elias Lindholm, C/RW Flames (48% owned)

Players are starting to gobble up Lindholm, who has performed admirably (who wouldn’t, though) alongside Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau on Calgary No. 1 unit — posting four goals and six points (including a couple on the power play) and has been worth an average of just under nine fantasy points per game so far.

Paul Byron, LW/RW, Canadiens (20% owned)

The Canadiens forward has potted a couple goals and four points in his first four games with the Habs, while holding a solid plus-2 rating, adding 11 shots and six blocks. His rating has vaulted up from 350th before the season started to No. 95.

Carl Soderberg, C, Avalanche (5% owned)

Colorado’s third-line centre has been beastin’ early, which is extremely unsustainable, but with only 5 percent of owners wise enough to currently have Soderberg rostered, it’s more than worth a waiver-pick gamble to see how long the dude can keep up the absurdity. Three of his five points this season have been on the power play, and he has a chance to stick there for a good chunk of the season.

Blueliners

Jaccob Slavin, D, Hurricanes (5% owned)

Aside from rocking a pretty sick name (which, unfortunately, is not a stat category in most standard leagues), the Hurricanes blueliner has posted the 24th-best fantasy point total of any D so far and has seen his ranking climb from 530th to No. 104. Owned in less than five percent of leagues, Slavin has value in offensive categories, puts a solid amount of pucks on net — and takes a lot of biscuits off the shins, too.

Robert Hagg, D, Flyers (10% owned)

For your Grit and Grind needs, the Philadelphia defenceman is here to serve — but he’s also shown he can put up those sweet, sweet points. Hagg has been playing on the team’s shutdown pairing, meaning he’s spend lots of time in the defensive zone and his already solid hits (19) and blocks (9) numbers will only get better and better the longer he stays in that role.

Samuel Girard, D, Avalanche (5% owned)

Girard looks to be slotted in Colorado’s 1D spot for the foreseeable future. He’ll get solid minutes on the power play, too, and posted a very sturdy Week 1. The 20-year-old has an extremely high ceiling and is a very low-risk, high-reward pick up at this point.

Maxime Lajoie, D, Senators (32% owned)

Certain guys have benefited greatly from the exodus of Erik Karlsson in Ottawa, but no one more so than former fifth-round pick Max Lajoie, who most fantasy players never even heard of until like eight days ago. With three goals, three assists, 15 shots, 12 blocks and a couple of PP tallies, the rookie could see himself climbing up Ottawa’s top six in a real hurry, and will likely continue to anchor one of the PP units all season long. Scoop him cheap right now.

‘Tenders

Jack Campbell, G, Kings (53% owned)

Lots will be looking to fill the holes left by injured starters Matt Murray and Jonathan Quick, so look no further than the Kings’ No. 2 guy to cure your crease deficiency. Campbell is the No. 4 goalie in fantasy so far and will likely see lots of spot starts even when Quick is back in the fold.

James Reimer, G, Panthers (43% owned)

If your scouring the wire for a No. 2 or 3 tendy, Reimer is an easy choice as he’s still widely available and will see a ton of action for at least the next 4-6 weeks with Roberto Luongo sidelined with a knee injury — which could easily linger for the better part of a season. Reimer has proven to be valuable in the past when stepping in for short periods of time and is definitely worth a look.