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.

Cam Atkinson - Columbus Blue Jackets - Winger

It has been a season to forget for Cam Atkinson. After scoring a career high 41-goals last season, the 30-year-old only has five in 28 games this year. He’s been demoted to the third line and isn’t seeing any power play time. That being said, there is no reason for him to be 64% owned on Yahoo!. I know he’s been #NotGood, but Atkinson has too much skill to be this bad. Yes they’ve lost some key pieces up front, but he still has more than half a season left to turn things around, and I believe that he can. Tortorella needs to give his winger a chance to score goals, and that means giving him back his power play time. If he’s available on your waiver wire, take a chance on him.

Pontus Aberg - Toronto Maple Leafs - Winger

Auston Matthews has looked lost on the ice over the last few games, so he’s getting a new linemate in Pontus Aberg. The 26-year-old has 24-points in 22 games in the AHL, and the Leafs are hoping that can translate to some success in the NHL. Aberg has played for a couple of teams in his career, and he’s been unable to find a permanent spot on any of those teams. Is he going to help Matthews score more goals? Probably not, but for fantasy owners that need a player with some upside, Aberg is a high risk/high reward option. He’s a short-term solution before he gets demoted to the minors again.

Anthony Cirelli - Tampa Bay Lightning - Center

The former third-round pick in 2015 is now in his second full season with Tampa Bay and he’s starting to make an impact on the score sheet on a regular basis. Cirelli has 17-points in 25-games and is currently skating on the second line with Steven Stamkos, and is seeing top power play minutes. No one knows how long the 22-year-old will continue to see those opportunities, but it’s best to take advantage of it. The Ontario native is basically free on ESPN and Yahoo!, so if you need a player to fill in for a couple of weeks, Cirelli is your best choice. 

Alex Chiasson - Edmonton Oilers - Winger

The Edmonton Oilers have no depth, and the evidence is Josh Archibald playing on the top line with Zack Kassian out of the lineup due to injury. Archibald is a borderline NHL player, and putting him on the wing with McDavid only limits what the Oilers captain can do. At some point, Alex Chiasson is going to get a chance to play on that top line, and fantasy owners will want a piece of that. The 30-year-old is already playing on the top power play unit with Draisaitl and McDavid, and if he could eventually find a home on that top line, the possibilities would be endless. If you are desperate for a winger, I’d take a chance on Chiasson. He can’t make your team any worse than it already is if you’re considering making this move. 

Ben Chariot - Montreal Canadiens - Defence

It’s 2019 and I’m talking about Ben Chiarot being fantasy hockey relevant. What a time to be alive, right? The veteran defenceman has seen his role increase since Victor Mete went down to injury. He’s played over 27 minutes in four of the last five games, and he’s blocking over three shots per game in that same timeframe. He’s not going to wow you with goals and points, but if your league counts hits and blocked shots, Chiarot is an above-average player in those two departments. I’m not a fan of chasing certain stat categories on the waiver wire, but I’ll make the 28-year-old my exception to the rule. 


 

All stats provided by NHL.com