Life is all about choices, whether that be which brand of hair product to buy or which presidential (or prime minister) candidate to vote for.
But the nice thing about choosing an option for your league’s waiver wire? You don’t have to wait another four years until you make your next choice if you need a do-over. If one option doesn’t come through, you can turn to another one almost right away (depending on your league settings, of course).
Coincidentally, three of the players listed here play for the team based out of the city where the two major presidential candidates spent election night. But in evaluating these waiver candidates for your fantasy team, we will not provide any political spin – just the fantasy spin.
Pat Maroon, LW, EDM
If you happened to be immersed in the round-the-clock U.S. election coverage, you may not have realized that Tuesday featured the first-ever matchup between Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid (more on that game here). So you may not have realized that Maroon is McDavid’s new linemate (more line combinations here). Maroon has also earned his keep on that line, scoring goals in three of his past four games while adding two helpers. Milan Lucic may eventually find his way back on that top line, but Maroon also played alongside McDavid last season. He’s worth an add as long as he sticks on that line.
Conor Sheary, LW/RW, PIT
Also a participant in the Crosby/McDavid showdown, Sheary has seven points in seven games, including four points over his past three games following his return from injury. Currently his linemates are Nick Bonino and Bryan Rust, but expect him to receive a promotion soon if he continues to score at this pace. Sheary has posted strong scoring numbers in both college and the AHL, so it may only be a matter of time before he does the same in the NHL.
Pavel Buchnevich, LW/RW, NYR
The Rangers have averaged more than four goals per game this season – far and away the highest total by any team. So even secondary scoring options are appealing at the moment. Buchnevich, who is one of those options in his first NHL season, has already scored seven points in nine games. He has been especially hot of late, scoring goals in three consecutive games, including a goal and two assists in his most recent game on Tuesday in Vancouver. Even better: he has earned power play time, with three of those points coming on the man advantage.
Brady Skjei, D, NYR
Speaking of the Rangers, all this scoring is also rubbing off on their defencemen. Rookie blueliner Skjei is tied for the team lead in scoring among defencemen with nine points (all assists in 14 games). More noteworthy, Skjei is currently riding a six-game point streak. More minutes would be nice, as he has not reached the 20-minute mark in any one game this season. But you can’t ignore the scoring right now, even though it will no doubt tail off.
Nick Holden, D, NYR
Holden isn’t far behind teammate Skjei in scoring with one goal and six assists in 14 games. And as long as the Rangers keep leading the league in 5-on-5 scoring (38 goals), players like Holden will continue to post strong plus/minus. His plus-11 currently leads all Rangers defencemen. We’d like to see Holden take more shots (only eight this season), but he has reached 20 minutes of ice time in three of his past five games. He’s in a great spot to exceed his career high of 25 points set in 2013-14, his rookie season.
Tyler Myers, D, WPG
Myers has stuffed numbers into numerous categories since returning from IR earlier in the week (three assists, plus-4, seven penalty minutes in two games). Since his 48-point rookie season, Myers hasn’t been a huge scorer, but he can still provide value in leagues that count penalty minutes and icetime. The return of Jacob Trouba – whenever that is and for however long – may cut into Myers’ ice time, but he has already proven capable of logging major minutes.
