Rickard Rakell – The Fantasy Sports Coach

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Week 25

The playoffs are still underway for most leagues and in order to advance into the next round – you need some strategic adds and drops. I will not only cover what players you should add and drop but also mix in some strategy in this week’s Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire.

It’s easy. Games played equals opportunity. Opportunity equals stuffing your categories with points. Points equals wins. If you haven’t checked weekly schedules for teams, I suggest you start immediately in the playoffs. I always recommend picking players up on four game streams but this week it’s definitely worth noting how many games some teams have. This deep into the season, it’s not worth picking someone up that plays two games just because they’re a name of value. Punch your ticket into the next round and then worry about re-adding players.

Must Adds

Vincent Lecavalier – C,LW – Los Angeles Kings
6% Owned
OPP: NSH/MIN/WPG/EDM

Out of all the teams that have four games this week (CAR, LA, NYI, NYR, PHI, VAN) none have an easier schedule than the Kings. Vincent Lecavalier has looked like “Old Vinny” from years ago since being moved to LA from Philadelphia. Talk about a revitalizing trade. He has eight goals in 32 games since being traded (puts him on pace for about 21 goals in a full season) and has been hot as of late. Dating back to March 5th, he’s only been held off the scoresheet in two games.

Rickard Rakell – C – Anaheim Ducks
18% Owned
OPP: MTL/TOR/OTT

The Anaheim Ducks have the easiest schedule this week. Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa are all inside the bottom ten of the league when it comes to the standings while Toronto and Ottawa have the honour of being in the top ten of giving up the most goals per game (Montreal gets an honourable mention at 11th). Rickard Rakell is getting fed a steady diet of minutes as well as playing on the same line with a former Rocket Richard winner in Corey Perry. It wouldn’t be far fetched to say Anaheim could score five or more against these three teams with Rakell definitely getting in on the action.

Frans Nielsen – C – New York Islanders
30% Owned
OPP: PHI/OTT/TBL/CAR

Frans Nielsen has quietly been having a great season for the Islanders. Currently third on the team in points, he’s been very under-owned in fantasy. Over his last 12 games he’s only seen his minutes dip below 16 twice while being above 20 minutes four times. He’s really clicked well recently with Ryan Strome and Nikolay Kulemin and should continue to this week with a relatively easy schedule.

Radko Gudas – D – Philadelphia Flyers
24% Owned
OPP: NYI/CBJ/COL/ARI

Don’t be fooled by his two recent goals. That is not why you’re picking up Radko Gudas. Sure, if he scores – that’s just icing on the cake. Gudas is great when it comes to other categories such as blocked shots or hits. In fact, he’s a monster when it comes to that. Gudas is fourth in hits in the NHL while having over 100 blocked shots. If you’re needing those stats padded, Gudas is the go-to guy.

Drops

Lee Stempniak – LW,RW – Boston Bruins
47% Owned
OPP: NYR/FLA/TOR

Lee Stempniak is back to doing what Lee Stempniak does when he’s not the number one option on a team. Disappear. Pointless in his last six games and seeing back-to-back nights with less than 13 minutes of ice time, it’s time to cut ties with Stempniak. At the pace he’s playing right now in Boston, with a full season with the B’s he’s projected to score 9 goals. He scored 16 in 63 games for the Devils this year. The last time he had 16 or more goals in a full season was in 2010-2011 with the Coyotes.

Ryan Callahan – RW – Tampa Bay Lightning
32% Owned
OPP: DET/NYI/FLA

It’s a shame Ryan Callahan had to find himself on this list. He was producing so well after the All-Star break (14 points in 22 games). He’s on here because he’s been recently dealing with an “undisclosed injury”. I don’t like the sounds of that at all and I don’t want to run the risk of missing games and having his production fall off when he comes back. There are much safer options out there.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via Twitter @BESTofMATT

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Week 21

With the trade deadline quickly approaching on Monday, February 29th, now is the time to lock in some players who may see a rise in production due to trades surrounding them or being traded themselves. Below, I’ll outline who these players are as well as providing you with some other adds and drops for the fantasy hockey waiver wire week 21.

Must Add

Rickard Rakell – C – Anaheim Ducks
13% Owned
OPP: CAL/EDM/VAN/CAL

Rickard Rakell has been thriving playing with Corey Perry. Rakell has already shattered his career highs in every category. At the time of writing this – in 16 less games played compared to last year, Rakell has 30 more shots and his shooting percentage is up to 11.1% from 8.6% last year. In his last five games Rakell has only played less than 17 minutes just once. The Ducks are high on Rakell and you should be too in your fantasy leagues.

Jordan Staal – C/LW – Carolina Hurricanes
32% Owned
OPP: WPG/OTT/SJS/TBL

Jordan Staal is a perfect example of someone whose production will sky rocket due to a trade. If his brother Eric is traded (And he doesn’t seem to care if he does or not) Jordan will almost certainly jump to the first line in Carolina. Already the points leader for the Hurricanes, a bump to the top line with more minutes would almost guarantee that he finishes the season the leading point getter in Carolina. A plus player with a 14.30% shooting percentage to go along with 100+ hits, Staal is a perfect fantasy stat stuffing machine.

Jason Pominville – RW – Minnesota Wild
16% Owned
OPP: VAN/CAL/EDM/CHI

Jason Pominville is literally at the hands of the Minnesota Wild in the best ways possible. Pominville and the Wild are hot right now (Pominville – three goals over his last three games. Minnesota – winners of four straight) and they have to decide if they want to be buyers or sellers at the deadline. If they’re buyers – they’ll almost certainly get a complimentary player to help Pominville keep putting the puck in the net, but if they’re sellers – Pominville is definitely a big trading chip.

Michael Stone – D – Arizona Coyotes
16% Owned
OPP: MTL/DAL/STL

Mostly known as a shot blocker, Michael Stone has really been chipping in offensively as of late. With six points in his last five games, his trade value has never been higher. With the Coyotes five points out of a wildcard spot, it’s looking more and more like they’ll be sellers at the deadline. Stone is a perfect fit on a contending team looking for blocked shots with a bit of an offensive upside.

Drops

Mark Streit – D – Philadelphia Flyers
42% Owned
OPP: NJD/MTL/TOR

With Shayne Gostisbehere as the go-to guy in Philadelphia, Mark Streit is basically fantasy irrelevant. He might be on the second powerplay unit, but it’s with nobody special (Sam Gagner is the biggest name on the unit). If he’s not scoring – he’s not helping you out fantasy wise.

Lee Stempniak – LW/RW – New Jersey
48% Owned
OPP: PHI/NYI/WSH

Lee Stempniak was good for providing some offence with Mike Cammalleri out of the lineup but at the end of the day, Stempniak can’t be relied on for a long period of time to do so. He’s cooled off considerably with no goals in his last nine games with only two assists across that span as well.

Thanks for reading! If you have any NHL DFS or season long questions, feel free to contact me via Twitter @BESTofMATT