NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 18 Waiver Wire: Rafael Harvey-Pinard Lights the Lamp for Montreal
Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Report. The only way to win a championship in any fantasy league is to be active on the waiver wire. If you aren’t checking the wire at least once a week, then you’re doing it wrong. Each week, we’ll look at some players you should be adding to your watch list, or adding right away. Let’s take a look at who we are keeping an eye on for this week.
Fantasy Hockey Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rafael Harvey-Pinard - Montreal Canadiens - Wing
Since being called up from the AHL, Rafael Harvey-Pinard has six goals and two assists in nine games and is skating on the top line and power play with Nick Suzuki. He’s showing that he can finish at the highest level and he’s going to continue to force the coaching staff to play him. He’s up to close to 16 minutes a night and he’s going to keep producing with that kind of ice time. If you have a chance to add him to your fantasy hockey team, do so, because he could be a difference-maker down the stretch.
Jonatan Berggren - Detroit Red Wings - Winger
Detroit Red Wings winger Jonatan Berggren has three goals in the last two games and is not up to 11 on the season. The kid is seeing just over 14 minutes a night while playing on the third line, so his upside feels limited, but he’s finding a way to score goals. If he keeps this up, he’s going to move up the lineup, and that can only be good. He’s probably worth adding in deeper formats as a flyer.
Alex Killorn - Tampa Bay Lightning - Winger
Alex Killorn is having a pretty good season, but no one seems to be talking about him. He’s up to 14 goals and 25 assists on the year, including five assists in the last two games. He’s skating on the second line and second power play unit, but most of his points are coming five-on-five. Tampa Bay has some pretty soft matchups over the next 10 days, so if you’re looking for some scoring depth, now might be a good time to add the veteran winger to your lineup.
Mads Sogaard - Ottawa Senators - Goalie
Already without Cam Talbot, the Senators announced that Anton Forberg is out for an extended period of time with injuries to both his knees. Mads Sogaard is the next man up and he’s probably going to be the bulk of the action until Talbot is ready to return. Is this an ideal situation? Obviously not, but if you spot-start him correctly every week, he could provide some value for at least the next seven days.
Juuso Valimaki - Arizona Coyotes - Defence
With Shayne Gostisbehere out of the lineup due to injury and Jakob Chychrun sitting due to trade rumours, the Arizona Coyotes need someone on their awful blue line to step up, and that could be Juuso Valimaki. He has 18 points on the season, but he’s racked up six assists in the last four games and is starting to block more shots. He’s the perfect target for teams in deeper formats who need a defenceman to fill the hits/blocked shots categories.
All stats provided by NHL.com
Player News
Cubs re-signed RHP Caleb Kilian to a minor league contract.
The 27-year-old hurler was released last weekend after being designated for assignment, but after exploring the open market he has decided that a reunion with the Cubs made the most sense. Kilian will continue to function as extra rotation depth at Triple-A Iowa for the time being.
Corey Seager went 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk to help the Rangers take down the Angels 5-3 on Thursday.
Seager had a bad first week and a half while dealing with a calf strain, but he’s collected 14 hits, including three homers, in his last eight games, putting him at .306/.368/.516 overall. Alas, it’s produced just six RBI, mostly because the Rangers are getting terrible production from the ninth and first spots in the order.
Kumar Rocker recorded his first MLB victory after pitching seven innings of three-run ball and striking out eight Thursday against the Angels.
Rocker walked none and surrendered just one double and four singles. Unfortunately, all five hits came in the first and fifth innings, resulting in three runs between them. Still, Rocker was terrific in needing just 78 pitches to get 21 outs. It’s the kind of performance that suggests he might offer mixed-league value at some point. We just wouldn’t trust him quite yet. His next start will come in Sacramento against the A’s.
Robert Garcia picked up his first save of the year with a perfect ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Garcia got the call tonight with Luke Jackson having pitched the previous two days and retired the Angels on five pitches. Even though he’s the better reliever of the two, he’ll likely resume taking a backseat to Jackson on Friday.
Jack Kochanowicz gave up four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Rangers on Thursday.
The surprising and misguided decision to pick Kochanowicz over Reid Detmers for a rotation spot at the end of the spring isn’t working out for the Angels. The team might reverse course soon, but Detmers hasn’t been used as a long guy and isn’t stretched out to start right away. Kochanowicz is now 1-2 with a 6.20 ERA, but at least he gets the Pirates next.
Joc Pederson went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Thursday, dropping his average to .060.
It’s mostly been hard grounders and routine flies from Pederson thus far, but given that his bat speed is unchanged from last year, we don’t have big concerns here yet. That said, this might not be the weekend he turns it around, given that the Rangers are set to face the Dodgers.