Boxing Week isn’t just for finding deals on electronics. You can find some great bargains on your fantasy hockey league waiver wire as well.
Maybe you just lost David Krejci to injury or are fed up waiting for Marian Gaborik to find his touch. Whatever ails your fantasy team we’ve got six options to consider who are widely available in fantasy hockey leagues. (All ownership values based on Yahoo! leagues.)
Ryan Spooner – C/LW – 21 per cent owned
Spooner is your direct option for replacing Krejci. He has been centreing the third line all year but has been moved up alongside Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson and registered two assists last night.
Spooner also maintained his spot on the top power-play unit. Spooner is a streaky player but the minutes boost could be what he needs to spark a hot streak.
Mikkel Boedker – LW/RW – 30 per cent owned
It’s sad that we have to continue throwing his name out there. Only Boedker’s latest overtime winner (his third of the season) was enough to inspire some folks to acquire the speedy winger but there is still room for a lot of you to bring him into the fold.
With 29 points, Boedker sits above much higher rated players like Steven Stamkos, Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux. Will he out-perform those guys over the long haul? Maybe not, but Boedker is in the conversation.
He looks like a good bet for 60 points, which makes him valuable in 100 per cent of leagues, not just a third.
Tyler Bozak – C – 22 per cent owned
Reunited with James van Riemsdyk and soaking up top power-play minutes, Bozak is on fire. He has 22 points in 25 games since the start of November. Injuries are still a concern but there is no reason you can’t at least mine value from Bozak while he is healthy.
Aleksander Barkov – C – 31 per cent owned
If he played in a bigger hockey market we would all probably be talking about how Barkov is emerging as the Eastern Conference version of Anze Kopitar.
The big Finnish centreman lost 10 games to injury but is scoring at a 60-point pace anyhow. These are not superstar numbers but on an offensively starved Florida team Barkov is playing a great two-way game and giving enough offence to help the Panthers into the playoff conversation.
Alec Martinez – D – 18 per cent owned
Need help on defence? Martinez has turned it around after an awful first month of the season.
He has scored 13 points in 26 games since the start of November, which is as many as vaunted fantasy defenceman Keith Yandle and more than other more valued options like Andrei Markov, Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall.
Continue to sleep on Martinez at your own peril.
Thomas Greiss – G – 32 per cent owned
The latest injury to Jaroslav Halak has opened the door for another extended run of starts from Greiss who has performed admirably all season.
With a winning record, a goals-against average of 2.09 and a save percentage of .932, any opportunity to get Greiss into your lineup is a good opportunity.
Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of Dobber Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw. For more help in your fantasy hockey pool in the second half of the season pick up the Dobber Hockey Mid-Season Guide for $9.99. The Mid-Season Guide will be out January 8th.
