Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Report. For most of you, it’s the start of the playoffs. If you’ve made it that far, congratulations. The regular season is a grind in fantasy hockey and it marathon that can have its fair share of challenges. That being said, the real work is just getting started. The waiver wire is more important now than ever before, so let’s take a look at some players who can help you win your matchup this week.

 


Nino Niederreiter - Winnipeg Jets - Winger

The Winnipeg Jets are still in the hunt for a playoff spot and they need to start racking up the wins. The Jets are in California this week to face Arizona, Anaheim and Los Angeles. The first two games should be very winnable, which means they should also be able to score a healthy amount of goals. Nino Neiderreiter has fit it nicely since coming over from Nashville and continues to skate on the top line. For this week, he should be on every fantasy hockey team due to the upside he has. 


Warren Foegele - Edmonton Oilers - Winger

For the time being, Warren Foegele is skating on the second line with Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, so he has a really good chance of picking up a decent amount of points if he can hold onto that spot. Edmonton has three games this week, including against San Jose and Arizona. Both those teams are pretty terrible at keeping the puck out of their own net, so Foegele could easily finish the week with multiple points. 


Dylan Strome - Washington Capitals - Center

The Washington Capitals still have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but this week is make-it-or-break-it for them. They have matchups with Columbus, Chicago and Pittsburgh, so they have a good chance of going 3-0 by the end of the week. Dylan Strome has found a home on the top line and is also seeing time on the top power-play unit. He has 17 goals and 35 assists on the year, so he’s been very productive in his top-line role. He’s only 35% owned in Yahoo! leagues, which seems pretty low considering his production. I like his upside this week and I think he could easily put together five or more points by Sunday night. 


Alec Martinez - Vegas Golden Knights - Defence

Alec Martinez has been a DFS god this season because he is elite at blocking shots. He’s not going to rack up a ton of points, but if you’re in a category league, he could easily with you that category all on his own. Vegas is on the road for all three games this week. They will travel to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. The Flames and Oilers can really shoot the puck, so those matchups favor Martinez tremendously. He has 26 blocked shots in the last 14 days and he’s only going to add more.


Jonas Johansson - Colorado Avalanche - Goalie

We are really scraping the bottom of the barrel with Jonas Johansson this week, but he could be the difference between advancing to the next week and not. Colorado plays four games this week: two against Arizona, one against Pittsburgh and Chicago. It’s unlikely that Alexandar Georgiev plays all four games, so Johansson is likely to get at least one start. It will probably come against Arizona, which is a great matchup for any goalie. He was good in his season debut against Ottawa and he should be able to provide some value for fantasy owners who are looking to spot start a goalie in an easy matchup. 

All stats provided by NHL.com