Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Load up for a final championship run!
By Evan Berofsky, RotoWire
Special to Yahoo Sports
Just over one week to go! I'm still alive in two fantasy leagues: Getting trounced in the first half of the RotoWire Staff Keeper Hockey League final and a neck-and-neck battle to the finish in a Yahoo! public roto league.
It would be great to watch some live games, but that'll only make me want to start throwing things at the TV when players won't do my bidding.
With the NHL schedule winding down, recommendations tend to focus more on matchups and roster situations than team strength and pedigree. There are clubs either locked into playoff positions or well out of contention that have rested/shelved players. As some of those announcements are done on game days, that makes it difficult to finalize your fantasy lineups — especially in formats restricted to weekly transactions.
The best thing you can do is to keep everything together just enough to take the top prize.
This also marks the last column of the season. Thanks for reading! I hope at least one of the players mentioned over the last six months helped you in some way! And if not, maybe somebody below will make a difference.
(Rostered rates as of Apr. 7)
Forwards
Dylan Cozens, BUF (Yahoo: Last Call — 57%)
Cozens has starred in his third NHL season with 66 points, 198 shots and a regular role on the top power play. He's also been instrumental as the Sabres' No. 2 center thanks to his offensive consistency and hard work. The club boasts a strong young core, which bodes well for the future, and there's promise for Cozens and others right now since Buffalo still has five games remaining and an outside shot of making the playoffs. Check your league's waiver wire to see if Cozens is available; regardless, go load up on Sabres.
David Perron, DET (Yahoo: Last Call — 54%)
The Red Wings lineup is a mix of veterans and youth, with Perron definitely fitting the former description. In his first year with Detroit, the soon-to-be 35-year-old has provided 23 goals, 31 assists, 186 shots and 102 hits. Perron also ranks second on the team with 28 power-play points and has registered six goals and six assists — including a hat-trick last Tuesday — from his last 10 games while having Dylan Larkin as his exclusive center. He might still be available in one of every two leagues.
Bryan Rust, PIT (Yahoo: Last Call — 51%)
Rust hasn't produced to his usual scoring levels, though he's been healthy throughout the season and has seen his numbers improve after his recent reunion with Sidney Crosby. In the last nine contests, he's accumulated eight points, 30 shots and 11 hits while averaging 20:25, with 2:21 of that on the man-advantage. As the Penguins push for a postseason berth, expect Rust to continue being heavily involved in the attack and post plenty of fantasy stats the rest of the way.
Logan Couture, SJ (Yahoo: 47%)
While San Jose endured another disappointing campaign, a couple of holdovers have enjoyed career years. Everyone knows about Erik Karlsson and his chase for 100 points, but fewer are aware of Couture's achievements. He's only five points away from a personal best, which is impressive considering the Sharks' 24th-ranked offense. Couture also contributes in other areas as evidenced by his 188 shots, 127 hits and 68 blocks. He's been red-hot since Jan. 28, having reeled off 10 goals and 19 assists.
Pavel Zacha, BOS (Yahoo: 28%)
With the Bruins on their way to achieving regular-season history, they've recently been sitting a few players for some time to recover before the playoffs. Meanwhile, Zacha hasn't missed a game while achieving career highs with 18 goals and 35 assists. He's excelled skating alongside David Pastrnak and David Krejci for most of the season and has picked up 10 points and 22 shots across three weeks, including five helpers from six games. That run shouldn't slow down with upcoming matchups against Philly, Washington and Montreal.
Morgan Frost, PHI (Yahoo: 13%)
Speaking of the Flyers, their 2.67 goal average is far from impressive. But like the Sharks, a couple of gems can be found amongst the rubble. Frost received a short taste of the big leagues before getting an extended look last year, though neither stay would be productive. That would continue into this season as he only totaled three goals and three assists in his first 27 outings. Everything changed on Dec. 11, when Frost broke out with four points and then duplicated that feat just over three weeks later. He's kept the momentum going by taking on a significant role while notching seven goals and six assists since mid-March.
Philip Tomasino, NSH (Yahoo: 5%)
Tomasino couldn't parlay a decent rookie campaign into a full-time role with the Predators and spent the first half in the AHL, where he'd tally 32 points from 38 appearances. He was called up in February and immediately posted a pair of zeroes, but he's since gone off for 5 goals, 13 assists, 41 shots, 22 hits and 16 blocks. Tomasino's responsibilities have recently grown and he's regularly logging 16-plus minutes while participating on the lead line at five-on-five and on the power play.
Daniel Sprong, SEA (Yahoo: 4%)
When Sprong was first featured at the end of December, he was able to produce a nice haul during limited ice time. Things haven't changed much in 2023 as he's recorded 23 points and 78 shots on 11:34 per night. Sprong remains a regular on the man-advantage with 13 PPPs on the year. With the Kraken set to close out the regular season facing the Blackhawks, Coyotes and Golden Knights (twice), there should be plenty of opportunities to put some pucks in the net.
Defensemen
Mike Matheson, MON (Yahoo: 43%)
We've already discussed Matheson twice, so there's no need to go much further than highlighting his massive role on the Montreal blueline. Just look at what he's accomplished in the last 29 games: 26 points (including seven PPAs), 82 shots and 54 blocks while averaging over 25 minutes. The only possible downside to Matheson is the fact the Habs only have three remaining against tough squads in the Leafs, Isles and Bruins, but sometimes in fantasy, you just have to take the best available player and hope he'll stay hot.
Brady Skjei, CAR (Yahoo: 42%)
Skjei is all about scoring and shots. He may be lacking in other categories, but he more than makes up for it on the offensive end, registering six goals from the last 13 contests supplemented by three helpers and 38 pucks on net. He's also matched his peak of seven PPPs, including a marker on Tuesday versus Ottawa. Throw in a rematch with the Senators and other bottom-half defensive teams like the Sabres, Red Wings and Panthers and Skjei is primed to build upon his recent numbers.
Jake Sanderson, OTT (Yahoo: 33%)
Ottawa appears to be just short of qualifying for the postseason, and that's a shame because the team's exciting to watch. Losing Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun obviously didn't help, but that only added more responsibilities for Sanderson. The Senators managed to score 27 times across nine outings, yet Sanderson somehow failed to contribute — and that's while skating 25:14 a night. He's still been active during this stretch with 19 shots and 19 blocks and preceded that by racking up seven assists through nine, so there's hope he can break out of his slump.
Ryan Suter, DAL (Yahoo: 2%)
Suter won't net you 40 points or log major minutes as he did in his heyday, but he's been very reliable for the last month or so. There wasn't much in the way of offense from his first 59 games, yet the 18-year veteran has dug deep and pulled out two goals and nine assists since Feb. 27. And just to prove he's not one-dimensional, Suter also registered 19 shots, 19 blocks and 16 hits during the same timeframe. He may be 38, but that shouldn't make a difference if his contributions help you win a title.
Goaltenders
Alex Lyon, FLA (Yahoo: 18%)
Lyon briefly burst onto the fantasy scene in January when he filled in for Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight to win twice and start four times the next week in the form of two back-to-backs. He's now back in the spotlight after the Russian went down again and hasn't been available for the last five games. All Lyon has done is earn victories in all five while turning back 172 of 179 shots, including 56 (!) of 58 versus Ottawa on Thursday. Even if Bob returns soon, Lyon has at least earned the right to split the remaining duties.
Devon Levi, BUF (Yahoo: 9%)
It was quite the NHL debut for Levi as he took down the Rangers last Friday. That followed a two-year domination of the NCAA at Northeastern where his "worst" season saw him post a 2.24 GAA and .933 save percentage en route to consecutive Hobey Baker nominations. He may have given up six goals in Detroit on Thursday, but he still earned the win in a shootout and impressed with a few nice saves. As mentioned earlier, Buffalo has five contests left. Since the Sabres recently signed Levi to an entry-level contract, they'll probably want to see as much of him as possible to assess their long-term netminding situation.
Players to consider from past columns: Martin Necas, David Krejci, Matty Beniers, Brock Boeser, Robert Thomas, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jeff Skinner, Andrei Kuzmenko, Nick Schmaltz, Kevin Hayes, Barrett Hayton, Dawson Mercer, Mason McTavish, Dylan Strome, Lucas Raymond, Filip Chytil, Ryan Hartman, Jared McCann, J.T. Compher, Mikael Backlund, Anthony Beauvillier, Seth Jarvis, T.J. Oshie, Alex Killorn, Boone Jenner, Scott Laughton, Brandon Hagel, Gabriel Vilardi, Phillip Danault, Jordan Eberle, Ivan Barbashev, Tom Wilson, Viktor Arvidsson, Eeli Tolvanen, Anton Lundell, Ondrej Palat, Owen Tippett, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Jason Zucker, William Karlsson, Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, Kirill Marchenko, Brandon Montour, Cam Fowler, Owen Power, Jeff Petry, Evan Bouchard, Dmitry Orlov, Shayne Gostisbehere, Noah Hanifin, Vince Dunn, Rasmus Sandin, Bowen Byram, Juuso Valimaki, K'Andre Miller, Adam Larsson, Samuel Girard, Mattias Ekholm, Janis Moser, Vitek Vanecek, Filip Gustavsson, Martin Jones, Karel Vejmelka, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Stuart Skinner, Pheonix Copley, Semyon Varlamov, Jaroslav Halak, Philipp Grubauer, Joonas Korpisalo
