One full week of NHL hockey is in the books. It’s hardly enough time to make any rash decisions. That being said, there is likely a player or two sitting on the waiver wire who could make a difference for you this week, if not for the remainder of the year.
Here are the top players this week still sitting on the waiver wire (all ownership figures are from Yahoo! leagues):
David Krejci, C – 40 per cent owned
We aren’t sure what the remaining 60 per cent of you are doing, but Krejci is an elite scorer with a history of hitting of reaching 70 points. His minutes are up almost two this season to 19:44 per game. The big difference? Claude Julien is showing favouritism towards one power play unit, with Krejci’s group snagging the bulk of the minutes.
Krejci is averaging 3:33 in power play time per game, up nearly a minute and a half over what he received last season. The extra minutes have meant a lot, with three of Krejci’s five points coming with the man advantage. This is the rare opportunity to grab a proven star while he’s still undervalued.
Mathieu Perreault, C/LW – 11 per cent owned
Oh how quickly we forget. Perreault was a hot waiver addition last season when he emerged as a member of the Jets’ top power play unit. He’s right back on that top unit again and has four points through four games. Perreault was on pace for 54 points before running into injuries. Expecting him to produce at that rate (about two points for every three games) is a safe bet.
Tobias Rieder, RW – two per cent owned
Rieder won’t continue at his 120-point pace. That’s one of those early-season small sample aberrations that we tend to see. What can be expected is for Rieder to continue thumping shots on net. Thanks to some added opportunities in the form of top unit power play time, the sophomore winger is on pace for nearly 250 shots on-goal. That’s an attainable total and you can expect at minimum 40 points to go along with that kind of shooting.
Brandon Sutter – C, 17 per cent owned
Sutter kicked off the season in a big way notching a goal and an assist. He lined up on the right side with the Sedin twins, as well as on the top power play unit, a truly cushy job. He hasn’t produced in three games since, but the potential in such a peachy situation remains high.
Sutter will need to keep scoring if he is to hang onto that role, but 50 points is extremely possible if he sticks on the top line. His value will also receive a big kick whenever he gains right-wing eligibility, which can’t be far off.
Rasmus Ristolainen – D – eight per cent owned
The addition of Cody Franson was supposed to hinder the progress of Ristolainen into a top fantasy producer. Not so. Ristolainen is averaging nearly 25 minutes per game with 3:41 of that coming on the power play. He has two points on the season both coming with the man advantage.
A 40-point season is very possible with this sort of favourable deployment.
