Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Couture, Girard lead pickups to target this week

Utilizing the waiver wire is a crucial part of any championship fantasy hockey season. Finding players to work into your lineup every single week who can add points to your total is the number one way to control the outcome of your matchup.

In this weekly article, I’ll be going over players at every position and at different levels of rostership so you can fill out your fantasy squad with the best players available in your league. Let’s dive in:

Forwards

Rostered in 41-50% of leagues: Logan Couture, C - SJS (46% rostered)

Sometimes, safe and boring is the right option. Couture has been steady once again this season, posting 64 points in 76 games to date. But while most bottom-dwelling teams have pawned off assets and are barely able to muster a couple of goals per game, the Sharks have scored three or more in four straight contests, and Couture has four points over that time.

Couture also tends to provide good-not-great numbers in all of the peripheral categories. Plus/minus may be an issue — if that’s a category in your league — with two dates with the Colorado Avalanche looming, but Couture can definitely be that boring, steady contributor whom you can count on in this two-week finals matchup.

Honourable Mentions: Mikael Backlund, C - CGY (49%) and Dylan Strome, C/RW - WSH (43%)

Rostered in 31-40% of Leagues: J.T. Compher, C/RW - COL (39% rostered)

The Avalanche are one of five teams to play four games this week, and at this point, Compher appears to be a staple on the top power play in Colorado. That alone should be enough to put Compher on the fantasy radar, but Compher has also collected an assist in both of his past two games and has averaged over 22 minutes of ice time in his last six.

Compher is never going to be mistaken for an offensive dynamo, but any player skating 22-plus minutes a night, including top power-play work, has to be in consideration for fantasy. Toss in the elite team context, and that makes Compher a priority addition. Colorado also has one of the better schedules in the second half of the Week 25 matchup, meaning you can pick up Compher now and hold him for the full two weeks.

Honourable Mentions: Jakub Vrana, LW - STL (35%) and Andrew Mangiapane, LW/RW - CGY (32%)

Rostered in 21-30% of Leagues: Ivan Barbashev, C/LW - VGK (28% rostered)

Barbashev is a no-brainer this week, a top-line and top power play guy on a Vegas team that has really found its offensive groove of late. Barbashev has been an integral part of that groove himself, netting five points in his last five games while seeing his ice time increase along the way. Barbashev also provides extra value in bangers leagues, averaging over two hits per game in that five-game span with three blocks to boot.

Vegas is another of the five teams with four games played this week, and they start the week with a Monday/Tuesday back-to-back where you can get a quick look at Barbashev and decide afterward if he’s going to stick on the roster, or move on. If you’re looking to get the drop on your opponent with a couple of quick games, Barbashev is a great way to make sure you start the week on the right foot.

Honourable Mentions: Owen Tippett, LW/RW - PHI (30%) and Dominik Kubalik, LW/RW - DET (22%)

Rostered in 0-20% of Leagues: Jaden Schwartz, LW - SEA (4% rostered)

You’re going to catch onto the theme here, but Seattle is another of the five teams to play four games this week and they also start things off with a Monday/Tuesday back-to-back. Schwartz has been a consistent (if unexciting) streaming option this year, on a 24-goal pace for the season.

He’s got three points and 11 shots on goal in his last three games, and his next three are versus Vancouver and Arizona twice. It seems like a fair bet to anticipate some more points in Schwartz’s immediate future, and similar to Barbashev, you can treat Schwartz’s first two games as an early-week audition for a continued role on your roster throughout the matchup.

Honourable Mentions: Nicolas Roy, C/LW - VGK (4%) and Frank Vatrano, LW/RW - ANA (9%)

Defensemen

Rostered in 26-50% of Leagues: Brady Skjei - CAR (41%)

Skjei is a constant shot producer from the back end, a rare breed at the best of times and even rarer to find on the waiver wire this time of year. Skjei has fired three or more shots in six of his last nine games, and while that’s only resulted in three goals and four points during that span, he can’t be faulted for effort. I’m still very interested in Skjei simply as a 20-22-minute-per-night defender with offensive upside on a very strong Carolina team still trying to lock down the top seed in the Metropolitan division.

Skjei has regained some power-play work of late as well with the Hurricanes trying out a 2-D look on the top unit with both Brent Burns and Shayne Gostisbehere. Skjei is not exciting but is as good a bet as any defenseman on the wire to score a couple of goals for you this week.

Honourable Mentions: Jake Sanderson - OTT (34%) and Michael Matheson - MTL (43%)

Rostered in 0-25% of Leagues: Samuel Girard - COL (23% rostered)

Similar to Skjei, Girard gains fantasy relevance simply by playing 20-22 minutes a night for a top-end team in the Avalanche. Also similar to Skjei, Girard has regained some power-play work due to an unorthodox power play strategy as the Avs have been running a 2F/3D second unit with Girard joining fellow blueliners Devon Toews and Bowen Byram.

Girard is not typically a monster in the peripheral categories but has six shots and three blocks in his last three games and, after seven straight hitless games, has thrown eight in his past two contests. It’s tough to find defensemen scoring this time of year, so Girard feels like a very solid option on a strong team with a good schedule this week.

Honourable Mentions: Cam Fowler - ANA (20%) and Alec Martinez - VGK (15%)

Goalies

Rostered in 26-50% of Leagues: Martin Jones - SEA (39% rostered)

In the latest drop on the rollercoaster that is the Seattle Kraken crease, Martin Jones has regained starter status with back-to-back starts against Anaheim and Los Angeles. Jones only allowed three goals in those two starts and now has to be considered the betting favorite to get the majority of Seattle’s four games this week.

At minimum, I feel confident Jones gets two games this week, which is more than you can say for most goaltenderswho are widely available currently. I’m not saying I trust Jones, but Seattle is a good squad with a good schedule playing some bottom-dwelling teams this week, and this time of year that might just be enough to bring home a championship.

Honourable Mentions: John Gibson - ANA (43%) and Karel Vejmelka - ARI (40%)

Rostered in 0-25% of Leagues: Alex Lyon - FLA (6% rostered)

It’s always tough to find anyone in this range, but we have to give Lyon props for the week he just put together. The 30-year-old has been an AHL/NHL tweener since 2017, but no one can deny the three straight wins or the .951 save percentage he generated last week with the Panthers’ season on the line.

Incumbent Sergei Bobrovsky has been out with an illness, but one has to think the Panthers will at least entertain the hot hand this week with Lyon, given the urgency of the situation. I’d wait until Lyon is confirmed, but if he gets the Tuesday start he could end up being a late-season goldmine as Florida pulls out all the stops on their quest for the playoffs.

Honourable Mentions: Alex Stalock - CHI (8%) and Alex Nedeljkovic - DET (14%)

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Nate Groot Nibbelink is the creator of Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey and the originator of the #ZeroG draft strategy. You can find him pontificating about obscure fantasy hockey strategy topics in the Apples & Ginos Discord Server or on Twitter @applesginos.