Welcome back to another fantasy hockey season! 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 can’t win a championship with the team you drafted, which means, you’ll need to be active on the waiver wire to help replace injured players, and others who are just not getting the job done. Let’s get right into it for this week.

Erik Gustafsson - Chicago Blackhawks - Defence

After setting a career high with 17-goals and 60-points, Erik Gustafsson has gone from breakout defenseman to top waiver wire add in one season. It’s been rough for the 27-year-old, but things could be turning around for him. With DeHann and Seabrook ruled out for the remainder of the season, the Blackhawks will need Gustafsson to find that magic from last season. He’s 51% owned in Yahoo! leagues, so he might just hanging around on the waiver wire waiting to be claimed. He’s been disappointing through the first half of the season, but there’s still time for him to turn it around. 

Kevin Stenlund - Columbus Blue Jackets - Winger

The Columbus Blue Jackets are so beat up, Kevin Stenlund is currently playing on their top line. The 23-year-old is getting a golden opportunity to prove that he can play in the NHL. In five games this season, the former second-round pick has two goals, and is seeing some time on the top power play unit. He’s obviously a target in deeper formats, and fantasy owners who are desperate for help up front can do worse than Stenlund. As long as he continues to get the opportunity to play meaningful minutes, he should be a player to consider. 

Ilya Mikheyev - Toronto Maple Leafs - Winger

After four seasons in the KHL, Ilya Mikheyev decided to make the jump to the NHL and signed with the Leafs. In 39-games, the 25-year-old has eight goals and 23-points. He’s been promoted to the top line with John Tavares and William Nylander and has seen his ice time increase by almost three minutes in the last five games. He has goals in four of his last six games and is averaging over three shots on goal per game. Despite all the recent success, he’s only 10% owned on Yahoo! As long as he continues to see top-6 minutes, he should be on a fantasy hockey roster. 

James Van Riemsdyk - Philadelphia Flyers - Winger

It’s amazing that Van Riemsdyk is only 33% owned despite his high fantasy hockey ceiling. The veteran forward has been a fixture on the third line for a large portion of the season, but he’s been promoted to the second line and continues to see a healthy amount of power play time. He also has 11 points in his last eight games, so the former second overall pick is as hot as any other player in the league. If you need some scoring depth , JVR is a great player to add. If he keeps this scoring goals at this pace, you may not be able to drop him again.

Tyler Toffoli - Los Angeles Kings - Winger

I know we’ve already talked about Toffoli in a previous waiver wire report, but at some point, the Kings are going to figure out that playing him in the bottom six is just a #NotGood idea. With Dustin Brown out of the lineup due to illness, Toffoli has been promoted to the top line with Iafallo and Kopitar, while also getting an opportunity to play on the top power play unit. The hope here is that the 27-year-old will go on a tear and force the Kings to trade him before the deadline. He has 21-points in 38-games playing bottom six minutes on a trash hockey team. If he’s on the waiver wire, adding him now would be a good idea. Let’s all hope that he gets traded to a contender that will appreciate his skill.




 

All stats provided by NHL.com