Welcome to the fantasy hockey waiver wire report! As usual, every week, the weekly waiver wire report will help you target some players that you should be adding, or monitoring, on the waiver wire. You’ll want to check back through the week to see if players are added. The fantasy hockey season is a long one, but staying on top of the waiver wire will most certainly help keep your team competitive. Let’s see who we should be targeting this week.
Jakub Vrana - Detroit Red Wings - Winger
Jakub Vrana is packing his bags and heading to Detroit, and while that may seem like a downgrade, he’s moving to a team where he can play in the top-6 and see a lot of minutes. It’s going to be a challenge for him to produce, but that’s true of every player playing for the Red Wings. The volume here is going to be key, so if we see Vrana seeing a lot of ice time, he’s probably going to rack up some points. He’s worth adding in deeper formats if he’s still available.
Martin Jones - San Jose Sharks - Goalie
I hate myself, I really do, because I’ve been the president of the Martin Jones hate club, and here I am telling you to trust him. He’s been hot for a month now, and trust me, I wish he wasn’t, but we can’t ignore him anymore, he deserves to be rostered. With Devan Dubnyk now in Colorado, no one is challenging Jones for starts, so he’s going to play a lot. He’s still going to play games against Anaheim and Arizona, and those are always great matchups for any goalie. I want him to go back to being #NotGood, but right now, he’s making me hate myself everytime I bet against him. If you do add him, be ready to be disappointed.
Anthony Mantha - Washington Capitals - Winger
I almost spit out my lightly toasted croissant when I saw that Anthony Mantha is only 19% owned in Yahoo! leagues! Are you kidding me? Now that he’s heading to Washington, I really think he can explode and score a bunch of goals. We know that he can, because he has scored 25 in a season where he didn’t play a full season. He’s been injured over the last few years, but when healthy, he’s a big winger who could probably score 35-plus goals. He’s going to play with some top talent, and that can only help him produce. If you haven’t added him already, you need to go do that NOW!
Jeff Carter - Pittsburgh Penguins - Center/Winger
I know he’s not the same player he once was, but he’s leaving Los Angeles and heading to a Pittsburgh team that needs some help up front. They’ve had to deal with a lot of injuries this season, and you can’t expect their top line to carry this kind of load all the way to the playoffs. Carter has triple position eligibility on Yahoo!, giving fantasy owners a lot of roster flexibility. I don't know if he’s going to see any top power play minutes, but if he does, that only boosts his value to the moon! He’s widely available on both sites, so if you need to add a player with the potential to rack up some points, he’s a good option to consider.
Cole Caufield - Montreal Canadiens - Winger
I know he hasn’t played a game in the NHL, but the Montreal Canadiens need to get Cole Caufield in their lineup, but they can’t afford to go on a losing streak at this point in the season. The kid won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award for the best college hockey player, and had three points in his first game in the AHL. Is he going to tear up the league when he gets here? Of course not, but he can score, and the Habs have ONE winger who is scoring a lot of goals (Sorry Josh Anderson, you’re good, but not on the same level as Tyler Toffoli). All this to say, if you have a NA spot on your roster, why not fill it with a player like Caufield? If he doesn’t get called up because Montreal doesn’t like goals, then you lose absolutely nothing. It’s a very speculative add, but that’s how you win fantasy championships.
All stats provided by NHL.com