Every week, we’ll mine the waiver wire for lesser-rostered assets to help your squad, whether you favor dynasty or the redraft format, and we’ll also toss in some tips for DFS players out there. Finally, we will look at some former go-to fantasy assets who may be overvalued – in the short- or long-term – for one reason or another.
Forwards
Nick Ritchie, LW, Boston Bruins (Rostered in 31.5% of ESPN.com leagues): The former Duck has an equal number of power-play points (six) to Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. What’s more, the 25-year-old remains a fixture Boston’s top special teams unit even with David Pastrnak back in the lineup. Drafted 10th overall in 2014, Ritchie finally appears poised to enjoy a career year. Particularly if he can also figure out how to score at even-strength on a top-six line with David Krejci.
Brandon Saad, LW/RW, Colorado Avalanche (28.9%): One of the league’s more volatile fantasy assets of the past several years is on the upswing once more. After a sluggish start with his new squad in Colorado, Saad has four goals and three assists in his past four games. A spot on a scoring line with Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky, along with a role on the secondary power play, offers sustained fantasy promise. And it won’t be long before the former Blackhawk/Blue Jacket/Blackhawk starts shooting the puck with greater regularity. Roster Saad while he’s hot.
Alex Tuch, RW/LW, Vegas Golden Knights (25.2%): Tuch might be worth grabbing in deeper leagues before the Golden Knights get back at it later this week. Boasting two goals and three assists in four recent games, the regular third-line winger spent time on a scoring unit with Max Pacioretty and Chandler Stephenson against St. Louis last week, in addition to earning his usual valuable minutes with the extra skater. If all goes well, Vegas is scheduled to face the Kings Friday after having three games postponed in accordance with the league’s COVID protocol. Still only 24, Tuch potted 20 goals and 32 assists in 74 games only two years ago.
Jordan Greenway, LW, Minnesota Wild (8.1%): The 23-year-old appears poised to take a substantial stride forward in his third full NHL season. Skating on a top-six line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman, Greenway leads the Wild with 10 points in 10 games. An imposing figure by any measuring stick, the young power forward can also be relied upon for a solid number of hits over the course of a campaign.
Philipp Kurashev, LW, Chicago Blackhawks (0.2%): Bumped to the Blackhawks’ top scoring line alongside Patrick Kane, Kurashev collected a goal and assist in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Columbus. While it’s much too early to assess his enduring productive potential at the NHL level, the 21-year-old surely merits monitoring in the coming days and weeks – particularly in deeper leagues.
See also: Nils Hoglander, LW, Vancouver Canucks
Defenders
John Marino, Pittsburgh Penguins (50.0%): The young Pittsburgh defenseman has yet to live up to pre-season expectations – amplified by his $26.4-million extension – but that could change in a hurry if Kris Letang is to miss significant time. Marino ended up skating more than 26 minutes and registered an assist on three shots after Letang was hurt in the first period of Saturday’s tilt with the Rangers. The 23-year-old Sophomore also took over the veteran’s coveted spot on the Penguins’ top power play. We expect to hear more on Letang’s condition on Monday. The Penguins’ battered blue line is also missing Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola, and Mike Matheson at present. Marino needs to rachet it up a couple of notches, regardless of how Letang feels.
See also: Samuel Girard, Colorado Avalanche
Goaltenders
Kevin Lankinen, Chicago Blackhawks (30.5%): Through no great fault of his own, the six-game NHL veteran isn’t going to win a lot of games. But he will continue to face an overabundance of shots, and if his current stretch of play proves denotative, continue to save a good number of them. Lankinen is rocking a .956 save percentage over his last five contests. Hard to find fault in that figure. Until he falls back to earth, the 25-year-old has use in redraft leagues that reward saves and don’t punish losses.
James Reimer, Carolina Hurricanes (13.1%): They’re talking surgery in Carolina after Petr Mrazek suffered a suspected wrist injury over the weekend. Any fantasy manager with serious goaltending issues should target Reimer ASAP. Solid so far, he’s going to play plenty during Mrazek’s absence.
Chris Driedger, Florida Panthers (9.2%): Sergei Bobrovsky cashes much too large a paycheck to sit too often even though the Panthers’ backup has been the better netminder thus far. Still, when chasing W’s in a truncated season, Florida’s coaching staff will eventually stop floating their No. 1 out there if he starts to struggle (to be fair, Bob’s been okay to date). Plus Driedger’s recent record, however limited at the NHL level, impresses on it’s own.
The minor-league maven – a pro since he was 19 years old – rocked out a .938 save percentage and 2.05 goals-against average through 12 appearances with the Panthers in 2019-20. The fella can stop a puck, is all. Fantasy managers with great roster flexibility should give him a look. Driedger also shines as a DFS asset at present.
See also: Linus Ullmark, Buffalo Sabres
Lowered expectations
The Anaheim Ducks: They can’t score. The Ducks have only 16 goals to show for their first 10 games, including five in their past four. To offer additional perspective – and there are several teams I could parade out here as a contrasting example – the Montreal Canadiens have 33 goals in eight contests. Bench your Ducks until they figure it out, while sparing a kind thought for gifted netminder John Gibson.
See also: Braden Holtby, Vancouver Canucks