Welcome back to the Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Teams to Stream & Best Pickups article! We’re getting back to a normal NHL calendar with the pre-scheduled Olympic break winding down this week. Let’s get right into the Fantasy Hockey teams to stream and best pickups for Week 18!
There are seven teams playing four times this week and I’m going to run through each of them with a suggestion or two. If you are in a shallower or deeper league, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@RGilbertSOP), in the Reddit comments, or in the SGPN Slack for any questions!
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Teams to Stream & Best Pickups – Week 18
Columbus Blue Jackets
Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
Boone Jenner (C, W – 48% Rostered)
It’s surprising to me that Boone Jenner is rostered in less than half of Yahoo! leagues. This season, Jenner has 37 points (20 G, 17 A) and 130 SOG in 48 games and he’s been heating up recently. He had 17 points (8 G, 9 A) in 16 games from January 8th to February 17th.
Jenner plays on Columbus’ top line and top-power play unit. He also gets some penalty killing time so he could pick up some blocked shots –– and he hits as well.
Jenner may be a guy to pick up for this week and beyond.
Jakub Voracek (W – 46% Rostered)
Voracek is another guy that is surprisingly under-rostered. Sure, he doesn’t score many goals, but he’s racked up the apples with 31 assists in 46 games. He has two goals for 33 points this season. Voracek has points in five of his last six games with six points in that span.
Voracek also plays in Columbus’ top six and is on the top power-play unit.
Fantasy Hockey Goalie Watch
Jean-Francois Berube (G – 4% Rostered)
Berube hasn’t played in the NHL in four years so it makes sense that he’s only rostered in 4% of leagues. However, with Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo both hurt, Berube is getting the nod on Sunday. I don’t recommend him for most leagues, but there are some that reward simply having goalie starts and Berube could get a few.
Seattle Kraken
Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
Mark Giordano (D – 48% Rostered)
Giordano continues to be one of the few Kraken that should be rostered in some leagues. The defenseman has 21 points (4 G, 17 A) and 98 SOG in 45 games this season. He’s picked it up a bit as of late with 10 points (all assists) in his last 15 games dating back to January 15th.
Giordano plays on the top unit in all situations: even strength, power play, and penalty kill.
Jared McCann (C, W – 26% Rostered)
I McCann’t believe that Jared is only rostered in 26% of leagues. He’s up to 32 points (20 G, 12 A) in 46 games this season and has 118 SOG as well. He’s showing what he can do in the past month or so with 9 points (5 G, 4 A) in his last 11 games.
McCann is on the top line and power-play unit, giving him plenty of chances to produce.
Fantasy Hockey Goalie Watch
Chris Driedger (G – 11% Rostered)
Driedger is 4-7-0 with a 3.24 GAA and .890 SV% this season, so it’s really just a desperation play depending on your league’s scoring settings, but he should get at least one start this week. Philipp Grubauer (60% Rostered) is the full-time starter.
Winnipeg Jets
Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
Blake Wheeler (C, W – 75% Rostered)
Wheeler probably isn’t available in your league, but you need to pick him up if he is. The big forward is surging recently after a slow start and injury.
Since returning from injury on January 22nd, Wheeler has 16 points (4 G, 12 A) and 32 shots in 13 games. That includes recent five-point and four-point games since the All-Star break. In fact, Wheeler has been on fire since the break with 13 points (3 G, 10 A) in just seven games.
If someone cut bait on Wheeler and he’s still available, grab him.
Josh Morrissey (D – 43% Rostered)
Morrissey is showing his worth recently on the Jets’ top pair and power-play unit. He’s a streaky guy points-wise but he’s riding a hot streak right now with five points in his last five games.
Morrissey averages over 23 minutes a night and is a good option on the blue line.
Colorado Avalanche
Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
Valeri Nichushkin (W – 29% Rostered)
Nichushkin flies under the radar a bit with all of Colorado’s firepower up front. However, he shouldn’t be overlooked this week.
The Russian forward plays on the second line and power-play unit and he’s producing this season. Nichushkin has an even split of goals and assists for 26 points in 33 games. He has 91 SOG to go with that. He has 9 points (3 G, 6 A) in his last 11 games.
Fantasy Hockey Goalie Watch
Pavel Francouz (G – 38% Rostered)
Francouz is a very good backup for the Avalanche. He is 7-2-0 with a 2.39 GAA, .921 SV%, and two shutouts in just nine starts this season. He should get a start this weekend against Winnipeg at home on Friday with the Avs likely to start Darcy Kuemper on Saturday in Vegas.
New York Islanders
Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
Noah Dobson (D – 38% Rostered)
Noah Dobson needs to be rostered.
The former first-round pick is finding his game in 2022. Dobson has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) with 57 SOG in his last 18 games. Looking at his more recent games, he has eight points (3 G, 5 A) and 28 shots in his last 10 games.
Dobson plays on the second pair and top power-play unit for an Islanders team that needs to make a push.
San Jose Sharks
Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
The Sharks play four times this week, but no one sticks out on the waiver wire. San Jose has a few top guys that should be rostered (Timo Meier, Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl) and then Logan Couture rostered in 62% of leagues, but he’s been cooling off of late. They’re a team to stream if you simply need games, but I can’t really recommend anyone based on recent play or opportunity.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Watch
Michael Bunting (W – 32% Rostered)
Bunting is another guy that is rostered in a surprisingly low amount of leagues.
He plays in the top six and on the second power-play unit for one of the best offenses in the league, and he’s playing well of late. Bunting has 33 points (16 G, 17 A) in 48 games on the season and 14 points (9 G, 5 A) in 16 games since January 8th.
Fantasy Hockey Goalie Watch
Petr Mrazek (G – 45% Rostered)
Mrazek is already confirmed to start on Monday for Toronto and could get another start later in the week with Jack Campbell struggling a bit.
Mrazek has only been okay this season for the Leafs, going 6-3-0 with a 2.95 GAA and .899 SV%. However, he should be able to get the win against Montreal on Monday and the Leafs’ schedule isn’t that tough this week.
Fantasy Hockey Week 18: Teams to Avoid
The seven teams above play four times this week, but there are also seven teams only playing twice.
Two Games: Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals
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