Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire; Mike Fisher
Week 16 of the Fantasy Hockey season is upon us which means in most formats, there are only seven weeks left until playoffs. Football is officially over and while most will turn to Fantasy Baseball, there are still a few weeks left in hockey and basketball. I usually suggest a player on each team schedule to play four times during the week, but there are 13 teams hitting the ice four times giving a lot of four-game streams options. There are three teams scheduled to play twice providing a red flag when it comes to streaming. Below are a few players owned in fewer than 50 percent of either Y! or ESPN leagues.
For some, Week 15 was a two week period and Evgeni Malkin (unknown) and/or Taylor Hall (leg) owners were without their top picks from draft day. The news is encouraging for Malkin owners as he was able to practice Saturday and could suit up Wednesday. It couldn’t get any worse for Hall owners as the former first overall pick has only managed three goals over his last 25 games. Sergei Bobrovsky (groin) joins Jimmy Howard (groin) and Pekka Rinne (knee) on the sidelines. Bobrovsky hits the IR for the second time this season and is expected to be out four to six weeks. Kevin Shattenkirk (upper-body) left Sunday’s game in Washington after colliding with Alex Ovechkin. Shattenkirk owners are praying he won’t miss much time as he’s been the best defensman in Fantasy Hockey this season.
Week 15 saw Tyler Toffoli, Mathieu Perreault (who I’ll talk about more below) and Kris Letang return from injures in big ways; Taffoli had a goal and an assists, Pearreault picked up two goals and Letang dished out five assists after missing two games with a head injury. For some reason, Toffoli and Perreault were dropped. Let’s hope you took advantage of somebody else’s mistake.
Four-Game Streams
Washington Capitals
St. Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
San Jose Sharks
New York Rangers
Dallas Stars
New York Islanders
Colorado Avalanche
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
Buffalo Sabres
Winnipeg Jets
Anaheim Ducks
Two-Games
Philadelphia Flyers
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire:
Mike Fisher – C/LW – Y! 20% / ESPN 42%
I’ve been a big Fisher supporter since day 1. He fills up ever single fake hockey category you could need; Hits, faceoffs, blocked shots, PIMs and power play points. Fisher has six goals and ten points over his last 10 games and he has seven penalty minutes over that span, five coming from a scrap.
Fisher has seven hits over his last three games and 12 shots over his last four. Production has been fantastic since returning from injury; nine goals, 18 points, 15 PIMs, 44 hits, 18 blocks, 237 faceoffs won and five power play points in 23 games. Fisher has won 146 faceoffs over the last month which is the seventh most in the NHL over that span. He’s playing for a contract and seems motivated to me.
Patrick Maroon – LW Y! 15% / ESPN 13%
Two weeks ago I brought Maroon up for the 100th time and his ownership then was a combined five percent in both Yahoo and ESPN leagues. As we head into Week 16, Maroon’s ownership has more than doubled itself on both sites. Hopefully you benefited as Maroon has reeled off points in six straight games and seven of his last eight. He has four goals and four assists with a +8 rating over his last eight games.
Two of his eight points have come on the power play and if your looking for a few hits and shots Maroon plenty of both. He has shots in 16 straight games; 22 over his last seven games and he has hits in 12 consecutive games with 10 in his last three. Fitting in nicely with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Maroon is a must-add.
Mathieu Perreault – C – Y! 33% / ESPN 41%
Perreault was dropped by many after missing two games with an upper-body injury, but he picked up where he left off when he returned scoring two goals (one on the PP) on eight shots in three games. He also had five hits in those three games. Perreault has 15 goals and 25 points over his last 24 games with 10 of those points coming on the power play. He can provide a few real-time stats if in need too as the center has hits in 13 straight games, 12 PIMs over his last 12 games and is great in the faceoff circle.
Patrick Eaves – RW – Y! 1% / ESPN 1 %
Eaves has played three games since December 2nd due to an ankle injury, but in his three games since returning, he’s been lights out. Two goals, three points (all on the power play), 10 shots and seven hits. Why is he scoring so much? Well, he’s playing on a line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Not only is Eaves a great daily play, he’s a decent pickup. No reason to think he’ll be bumped off the line just yet.
Melker Karlsson – C – Y! 2%/ ESPN 3 %
Karlsson is also playing with two studs in Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Karlsson is fresh off a two point game where he finished with a +2 rating, two shots, two hits and a game winning goal. He has three goals over his last eight games and is more of a daily play then a pickup, but somebody you should keep on your radar nonetheless.
Josh Bailey – LW Y! 7% / ESPN 8%
Bailey is a solid deep league pick up and worth a stream as the Islanders play four times during Week 16 of the Fantasy Hockey season. Bailey is also a great daily play as he remains cheap and has been playing with John Tavares. Bailey has one goal and six assists over his last six games. Keep an eye on Anders Lee because as of right now, he is the third member on the Islanders top unit.
Mikael Backlund – C – Y! 7% / ESPN 14%
Backlund has five goals, 10 points and 28 shots on goal over his first 10 games since returning from injury. He scored a goal in his first four games and has power play and shorthanded points over the past two weeks.
Jacob Trouba – D – Y! 43% / ESPN 32%
Trouba has three points in four games since being activated off the IR. He has a +3 rating, 16 shots on goal and nine hits over that span. The 20-year-old only had three points over his first 20 games, but then picked up nine over his next 11 games before suffering a wrist injury. He played 29:43 seconds Saturday against Dallas. Trouba has four power play points on the year and an impressive 74 shots in 35 games.
Seth Jones – D – Y! 21% / ESPN 20%
Jones has seen ice-time sky rocket with the injury to Ryan Ellis. The production has increased as a result. Jones has played at least 20 minutes in 10 straight games and has one goal and four assists over his last eight games. Three of those five points have come on the power play. He also has at least a hit and shot on goal in nine straight games.
John Klingberg – LW/RW -Y! 19% / ESPN 29%
The only downfall with Klingberg is that he he could come away a -3 on any given night despite having a +9 rating on the season. If you are playing in +/- leagues (you shouldn’t be) he could hurt you as the Stars are one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL. If you are not playing in +/- leagues then it doesn’t matter and Klingberg becomes a must add.
He’s fresh off a four point game where he picked up two goals aginst the Jets. Klingberg now has five goals and 11 points over his last eight games. Dallas has been bad this season in their own end, but they are one the highest scoring teams in the NHL and Klingberg getting power play time only adds to his upside. The Stars’ defenseman has four power play points in his last two games.
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