At the quarter pole of the season you are likely so inundated with injuries that you are looking to the waiver wire just to fill a nightly lineup. Or perhaps your hot starters have rocketed back down to Earth and now you need the latest flavour of the month to keep you afloat. Have no fear, Waiver Wednesday will always give you six widely available names to snag off the waiver wire. As always, all ownership figures are based on Yahoo! leagues.
Shayne Gostisbehere – D – Three per cent owned
With Mark Streit out, Gostisbehere has been called up and plopped straight onto the Flyers’ top power-play unit. Their power play has struggled this season but have been one of the top teams in the league with the man-advantage over the past few seasons. Gostisbehere has points in both of his games since being called up and has all the talent necessary to take advantage of this chance. Those in keeper leagues should take note. While the Flyers are loaded with quality defencemen prospects, Gostisbehere is the best of the bunch.
Brock Nelson – C – 10 per cent owned
Moved up to the top line alongside John Tavares, Nelson has made waves with six points in his last four games. This deployment is unlikely to last but opportunistic fantasy owners will take advantage of these brief explosions as they come. With a nice off-night schedule playing the next four games on Friday, Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, Nelson’s centre-only eligibility isn’t too large a hindrance either.
Rickard Rakell – C – Three per cent owned
Another centre-only option but like Nelson, Rakell boasts a nice off-night schedule over the next few weeks including four contests in the next seven days. Also like Nelson, Rakell has taken advantage of a promotion to the top line. In Anaheim that means minutes alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry who are both finally waking up after slow starts. With four points in the last four games, Rakell makes an intriguing addition in the short term.
Jannik Hansen – RW – 11 per cent owned
Hansen is the latest Canuck promoted to the top line alongside the Sedin twins and as usual he has reaped the rewards with seven points in his last eight games. Be warned, these hot runs from Hansen never last. Indeed, four of those seven points came in one contest and you cannot retroactively get him into your lineup. Long term, Radim Vrbata is still the Canuck you want to own. He has been getting the scoring chances but just not banging them home. That luck will turn. In the meantime, there is Hansen.
Karri Ramo – G – 12 per cent owned
His season-long numbers are not great, but owners will note that Ramo has started nine in a row for the Flames and won five of those. Ramo’s numbers across those nine starts are not all that pretty with a 2.89 goals-against average and a 0.904 save percentage but if you are desperate in goal, at least you know he is going to play, with about a 50/50 chance of nabbing you a win.
James Reimer – G – 37 per cent owned
Less available than Ramo and for good reason. Reimer has been tearing it up and seems to have grabbed the starting spot in Toronto for the foreseeable future. There are worse fates. We have seen Reimer go on excellent runs in the past and they typically do not last so this should not be viewed as a long-term solution. He can, however, hold the fort until you find something permanent.
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Steve Laidlaw is a Managing Editor at Dobber Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.
