Welcome to the final week of fantasy hockey. If you’re reading this, all your hard work has paid off. This is where every fantasy manager wants to be sitting. This is the moment to wrap up a fantastic season. There is no turning back from here, so let’s look at the season's final waiver wire.

Before we do that, I just want to take a moment to thank every one of you for reading this. We know that Best Ball and DFS are the more popular ways for people to play fantasy hockey, but there are people (myself included) that still enjoy the grind of old school fantasy hockey. It means the world to me that you take the time every week to read this, and I hope you’ll share with me your wins from this season. We might not win every year, but I promise you all one thing; we won’t be losers since 1967. 

 

 

 

Fantasy Hockey Week 25 Injury Report

Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers - Undisclosed **UPDATE**

Leon Draisaitl - Edmonton Oilers - Undisclosed **UPDATE**

Stuart Skinner - Edmonton Oilers - Head **UPDATE**

If I had to drop a serious amount of money on which of these three players will return before the end of the year, I would pick none. Leon Draisaitl was able to return for a brief stint, but he has once again found himself out of the lineup. The Oilers are a lock to make the playoffs and there is absolutely no reason for him or Connor McDavid to be seeing any action if they aren’t 100%

For Stuart Skinner, we don’t know when he might be able to return. We haven’t seen him at practice and the team has provided us with no update. Again, it would be foolish of the Oilers to rush their starting goalie back when they have a playoff spot locked up. They are destined to play the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and they’ve yet to find a way to beat them in a seven-game series, so rest and recovery should be the main focus until the playoffs start.

If you have any of these players and can’t stash them on IR, you need to consider maybe dropping them before the end of the week if you’re training in your matchup.

Aleksander Barkov - Florida Panthers - Upper-body

Aleksander Barkov has missed the last three games due to an upper-body injury and there is still no clear timetable for when he may be able to return. There is talk that he might be able to return by the end of the week, which would be better than him not playing at all. 

Florida still has a chance to win their division, but they have not helped themselves by losing five in a row. As long as there is a chance that Barkov can return to the lineup before the end of the fantasy playoffs, we must hold onto him.

 

 

 

Brady Tkachuk - Ottawa Senators - Upper-body

Brady Tkachuk has missed the last four games due to an upper-body injury but there may be good news on the horizon. The Senators captain was seen skating at practice recently and the team did say that he would make the trip to Columbus. 

Does that mean he is going to play? Not necessarily, but players aren’t travelling for one road game at this point of the season just for fun. It sounds like Tkachuk is close to making a return, we just don’t know if it will be Tuesday or later on in the week.

Aliaksei Protas - Washington Capitals - Foot

The Washington Capitals have announced that forward Aliaksei Protas is considered week-to-week with a foot injury and there is no timetable for his return. He suffered a cut on his foot against Chicago and was unable to suit up for Alex Ovechkin’s historic afternoon in New York. 

There is a real danger that the 30-goal scorer doesn’t return for the remainder of the season, so this is a huge blow to fantasy owners. At this point of the year, it would be best to find his replacement on the waiver wire.

 

 

 

Fantasy Hockey Week 25 Waiver Wire

Rutger McGroarty - Pittsburgh Penguins - Yahoo!: 3% owned

The Pittsburgh Penguins have three games this week and one of the easiest schedules. They have games against Chicago, New Jersey and Boston, three games that could involve a lot of offence. 

Rutger McGroarty is skating on the top line with Sidney Crosby and seeing close to 18 minutes a game. He could very well finish the week with multiple points and help you lock up a fantasy hockey championship.

Dan Vladar - Calgary Flames- Yahoo!: 4% owned

The Calgary Flames have four games this week, two of which are against the San Jose Sharks. Calgary is still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they can’t afford to drop a single game this week. 

There is an outside chance that Dustin Wolf will start every game from now until the end of the season, but if they do give Vladar a chance to start, he’s likely to get one of the earlier games in the week against San Jose or Anaheim. Vladar doesn’t have fantastic numbers, but for one game this week, he could be very serviceable. Take the risk of adding him now and hope he gets one start.

 

 

 

Matt Coronato - Calgary Flames - Yahoo!: 6% owned 

Sticking with the Flames, Matt Coronato could have himself a nice week. As mentioned above, the Flames have some juicy matchups to look forward to and Coronato is playing close to 18 minutes a game while also holding down a spot on the top power play unit. 

Calgary isn’t a high-scoring team, but the floor for them to find the back of the net is elevated and Coronato is a low-risk/high-reward waiver wire add.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau - New York Islanders - Yahoo!: 14% owned 

The New York Islanders are still mathematically not eliminated from the playoffs, but time is running out. They have four games this week and some very interesting matchups. They have a couple of players who can score goals, but the rest of that lineup is #NotGood. That being said, Jean-Gabriel Pageau can provide us with some value. 

He has duo position eligibility and is skating on the second line. If you’re in a league where faceoffs matter, he can also lock that category up for you. He doesn’t do anything one thing great, but he does enough to be fantasy relevant. He’s an option in deeper category formats.