Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire; Cam Talbot
With Sunday’s action finished, the puck is set to drop on Week 17 of the Fantasy Hockey season , meaning only six weeks left until Fantasy playoffs depending on your format.
Week 16 was one of the busier weeks to date as owners had superstars Evgeni Malkin (unknown) and Pekka Rinne (knee) return from injuries, while others lost Ryan Getzlaf (lower-body) and Henrik Lundqvist (throat). Getzlaf returned Sunday after missing the Ducks’ last two games. The news is much worse for Lundqvist as the Rangers’ goalie will miss at least the next three weeks leaving Cam Talbot with a pretty big opportunity (more on him below). Darcy Kuemper is on his way back to the NHL after a conditioning stint in the minors, but it’ll be hard for him to get his job back with the way Devan Dubnyk has been playing.
Taylor Hall missed three straight games with a leg injury, returned to the lineup and then suffered an ankle injury which has forced him to miss the last two games.
Taylor Hall has returned to Edmonton to undergo further assessment on his injured left ankle.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 8, 2015
Hall managed to play only 10 minutes in Monday’s game as he continues to be one of the bigger busts of the season. Tyson Barrie (hip) missed two in a row for Colorado, but got back in the lineup Sunday and scored a goal. Colin Wilson (upper-body) was forced out of Saturday’s game against the Rangers and missed Sunday’s contest against the Panthers. He remains day-to-day. No timetable for Dion Phaneuf (lower-body) either, but the Maple Leafs placed the defenseman on the IR and Steve Mason suffered a (lower-body) injury yet again which looked harmless. He too could be headed for the IR.
The biggest news of the week though, comes out of Winnipeg as the Jets will be without Evander Kane (shoulder) for the remainder of the year after season-ending surgery. The news came down shortly after reports suggested the 23-year-old winger had a run-in with teammates, which caused him to skip Winnipeg’s game Tuesday night in Vancouver. Kane owners will have to find a replacement and it looks like Kane has played his last game as a Jet.
There are seven teams scheduled to play four times during Week 17 of the Fantasy Hockey season, but as you’ll see below, there are not a lot of appealing four-game streams as most guys you want are already owned. With that said, there is an option from each team that hits the ice four times. A player owned in fewer than 50 percent of either Y! or ESPN leagues.
Four-Game Streams
Arizona Coyotes
Zbynek Michalek – D – Y! 1%/ ESPN 1%
Michalek has only two goals and eight points on the season, but can provide plenty of real-time stats. He’s the perfect defenseman to stream if you need blocked shots. Michalek’s 121 blocks are tied for the 8th most in the NHL and he’ll continue to get them due to the fact he’s played at least 20 minutes in six of his last seven games.
Chicago Blackhawks
Kris Versteeg – LW/RW – Y! 23%/ ESPN 20%
Versteeg is back on the ice practicing and is set to return either Wednesday or Friday. The Blackhawks’ winger has missed the last 14 games with a hand injury and doesn’t make for a great stream for Week 17, but he’s someone you should be watching closely. He could have been placed on the IR by some, but was let go by more than half of owners.
There’s no saying Versteeg will get his spot back on a line with Patrick Kane, but he certainly deserves it with 27 points, 83 shots and a +14 rating in 34 games this season. He had 24 points in his last 26 games leading up to his broken hand.
Edmonton Oilers
Oscar Klefbom – D – Y! 0%/ ESPN 1%
Most have never heard of Klefbom as he’s played in only 48 NHL games, but the 19th overall pick from the 2011 draft is starting to make a name for himself. The defenseman only has seven points on the year, but five of them (1 G & 4 A) have come over his last seven games. He also has a shot on goal in eight straight games and a total of 15 over his last five.
It’s always risky plugging in an Oilers player if you are playing in +/- leagues and I wouldn’t suggest picking him up if you are, despite a +5 rating over his last eight games. But take notice as Klefbom has played 20 plus minutes in four straight games. He finished Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs with 22:47 of ice-time which was only 10 seconds shy of a team high set by Justin Schultz.
Florida Panthers
Jonathan Huberdeau – C/LW – Y! 37%/ ESPN 14%
One could argue Huberdeau is more than just a stream as the third year player is just three points away from his career high of 31 scored in his rookie season. Huberdeau has two assists over his last three games and eight points (3G & 5 A) over his last 13. He has at least a shot on goal in nine of his last 11 games and hits in six of his last seven.
The Panthers don’t score much and with games against the Ducks, Wild and Blues during Week 17 of the Fantasy Hockey season it’s probably best to stay away from them. With that said…
Brandon Pirri – C – Y! 4% / ESPN 3%
The former Blackhawk has goals in six of his last eight games. Pirri has shots (29) in eight straight and two of his goals have come on the power play. Don’t expect him to keep it up, but Pirri is certainly an option at the moment, especially in daily leagues.
Minnesota Wild
Mikael Granlund – C – Y! 10%/ ESPN 3 %
Granlund has been a disappointment all season as many experts (myself included) expected a breakout season from the Wild center after registering 41 points in 63 games as a sophomore. Granlund has only 18 points in 36 games this season and missed about a month with a wrist injury. He has a goal, three points and nine shots in his five game since getting back in the lineup.
Granlund also has six hits and a +4 rating over that span. He’s currently skating alongside Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek and getting time on the power play where he picked up a point earlier in the month.
San Jose Sharks
Melker Karlsson – C/LW – Y! 3%/ ESPN 4%
Karlsson has nine goals and 14 points to go along with a +6 rating in only 25 games this season. The undrafted Swede has been a category filler in his short time in the NHL and has earned the right to play with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.
Karlsson has 42 shots (11 over his last five), 23 hits and 10 PIMs on the season. Game winning goals are a ridiculous stat, but he has two of them and a power player maker as well.
Vancouver Canucks
Alexandre Burrows – LW/RW – Y! 6% / ESPN 5%
Burrows has 12 goals on the year and two of them have come over his last three games. He’s not quite the same player who put up 28 and 35 goals while playing with the Sedin twins, but he’s still getting power play time with them as he assisted on Daniel Sedin‘s PP marker Saturday against the Penguins. He also scored his fourth power play goal of the year Saturday and has 12 shots over his last five games.
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Must-Owns
Mike Fisher – C/LW – Y! 31% / ESPN 48%
The ownership continues to rise. This is what I wrote about him last week, with his stats updated from Week 16 action.
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 11 points over his last 12 games.
The Preds’ center has nine hits over his last four games and seven shots over his last four. Production has been fantastic since returning from injury; 13 goals, 25 points, 17 PIMs, 69 hits, 28 blocks, 330 faceoffs won and seven power play points in 32 games. Fisher ranks inside the top 10 in faceoffs won over the past month.
Cam Talbot – G – Y! 36% / ESPN 20%
Talbot is the man in the crease for New York over the next three weeks at least, making the goaltender a must add. Talbot has been one of the better backups in the league for the past couple season and will now get to show if his 2.14 GAA and .924 sv% in 11 games is for real.
He allowed only two goals in a 3-2 win against Boston in his first start since taking over for an injured Lundqvist. He then followed that outing by allowing three goals on 23 shots in a 3-2 loss to Nashville and then allowed another three goals Sunday night, losing 3-2 again, this time in overtime.
Anders Lee – C/LW – Y! – 6% / ESPN 6%
Lee has stepped up nicely for Kyle Okposo (eye) who is sidelined for 6-8 weeks. Lee picked up his 16th goal Sunday against the Sabres and has three over his last four games. The 24-year-old was successful last season as well with nine goals in 22 games. He has 26 over his first 71 games in the NHL. Lee loves to put the puck on net with 108 shots on goal and 95 hits in 47 games this season.
Patrick Maroon – LW Y! 14% / ESPN 13%
Maroon is not as appealing when he’s not playing with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Getzlaf missed the Ducks’s last two games and when he returned Maroon was humped off the top unit despite being very productive on the line. Even still, I wouldn’t drop him…yet. I do think he’ll be back with Getzlaf and Perry making him at least DFS worthy.
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Quick Hits
John Klingberg – D -Y! 44% / ESPN 49% – Producing every night. Getting big minutes and on the power play.
Jacob Trouba – D – Y! 43% / ESPN 33% – Dustin Byfuglien is back up front, leaving lots of ice-time for Trouba. Kid has game.
Seth Jones – D – Y! 22% / ESPN 20% – As does Jones. Two goals and two assists over a current four-game point streak. The 20-year-old is averaging well over 2o minutes per-game over his last 10 games.
Mathieu Perreault – C – Y! 32% / ESPN 42% – Picked up goal number 17 Sunday and added two assists to give him four points over his last two.
Dale Weise – RW – Y! 1% / ESPN 1% – Weise has spent the better part of the last three games on a line with Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais and has three goals and five points with a +5 rating to show for it. Weise has 10 shots on goal in those three games and is a DFS steal at the moment.
Patrick Eaves – RW – Y! 4% / ESPN 4% – Eaves is more of a DFS play due to the ice-time with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Eaves has a shot in all seven games (20) since returning from injury and three goals and four points. All three of his goals came on the PP.
Cedric Paquette – C -Y! 7% / ESPN – Hard to leave out Paquette after scoring goals in four straight games. His six goals over that span is more than half of his total (11) on the year and I don’t expect the him to be able to keep it up. The Bolts’ center is more of a dialy play than anything.
Josh Bailey– LW Y! 6% / ESPN 8% – Very quiet since the Okposo’s (eye) injury and remains only a daily league play. Shots in nine straight and always a threat to score because of John Tavares.
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