Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Report. The NHL season has just begun, which means we need to start looking for top fantasy hockey waiver wire pickups. This part of the year is critical to be able to claim players who might have been missed in drafts but are rising up fantasy hockey rankings. Some of these players will help you win a championship, so make sure you aren’t asleep at the helm of your fantasy hockey lineup. Let’s take a look at some NHL players worth targeting on the fantasy hockey waiver wire this week.

 

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups Week 6
Tomas Hertl - San Jose Sharks - Centre

The San Jose Sharks are still a terrible hockey team, but they can only go up. Tomas Hertl is a good player on a bad team, so his upside will always be limited. He has five points in the last five games including a whopping 17 shots on goal. With volume like that, points are bound to come. He’s a solid depth option in 10-12 team formats. 

Wyatt Johnston - Dallas Stars - Centre

Don’t look now but Wyatt Johnston has 13 points on the season, including four goals in the last four games. The kid has a ton of skill and we may be witnessing his breakout season. His ice time is reasonable, but he’s not seeing any top power play minutes, so that might limit his upside. Regardless, he’s 30% owned in Yahoo! leagues and that’s just too low for a player who’s flirting with a point-per-game pace.

Nicholas Robertson - Toronto Maple Leafs - Winger

The Toronto Maple Leafs are desperate for secondary scoring and Nicholas Robertson is doing his part to be part of the solution. The winger has four points in the last four games despite not seeing more than 13 minutes in a single game. The low ice time is a concern, but if he keeps this up, at some point, Sheldon Keefe is going to have to move him up the lineup and give him more ice time. We know he can produce, but he just hasn’t been able to do it consistently in the NHL. He’s only worth considering in deeper formats where players are scarce. 

Erik Gustafsson - New York Rangers - Defence

With Adam Fox out of the lineup, Erik Gustafsson has gotten the first loom at quarterbacking the top power play unit and he’s done pretty well. He has five assists in the last four games and is playing well over 20 minutes a night. We know he’s not out there to play defence, but on a good Rangers team, if he can hold onto that spot until Fox is ready to return, he could provide fantasy owners with a ton of value. 

Calvin Pickard - Edmonton Oilers - Goalie

This is a speculative add and nothing more. The Oilers fired Jay Woodcroft over the weekend and they are desperate to get this ship turned around. Jack Campbell is in the AHL and Stuart Skinner has not been good this season. On the flip side, Calvin Pickard has posted a 2.03 GAA and a .939 SV% in the AHL. It’s unlikely that he will have numbers like those in the big league, but there’s no reason to not give the veteran a chance to show what he can do. What do the Oilers have to lose at this point? They are a mess and everyone should get a chance to prove that they deserve to be here, including Pickard. He’s going to get a look at some point, so add him, be patient and hope for the best. It’s never a bad idea to roster a goalie who plays on a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

All stats provided by NHL.com