Weekend Waiver Wire

The weekend is finally upon us! Unfortunately, for waiver wire goalies in back-to-situations for spot starts, it is slim pickings. The options are:

Friday 02/16 and Saturday 02/17

Carolina Hurricanes: @Arizona Coyotes and @Vegas Golden Knights

Saturday 02/17 and Sunday 02/18

Los Angeles Kings: @Boston Bruins and @Pittsburgh Penguins

Sunday 02/18 and Monday 02/19

Arizona Coyotes: @Colorado Avalanche and @Edmonton Oilers

David Rittich – Los Angeles Kings The Kings have tough matchups on the road at the Boston Bruins and at the Pittsburgh Penguins. Los Angeles has struggled the past 10 games, going 4-4-2. But, Rittich (30% owned on Fantrax and 28% on Yahoo) has been decent after the All Star break, posting a 2-1-0 record with a 2.26 goals against average, a 0.914 save percentage, and 64 saves. This was against decent opponents in the Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, and New Jersey Devils. He is probably the best option this weekend.

Spencer Martin – Carolina Hurricanes With Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta injured and out, that leaves Pyotr Kochetkov and Spencer Martin to tend the goal. Carolina did not hold a morning skate, so we will know who starts tonight against the Arizona Coyotes at 8:30pm EST. If Martin (9% owned in Fantrax and 2% on Yahoo) starts tonight against Arizona, that is the better matchup than the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. Martin only has one start since being acquired by Carolina. That was a 2-0 win against the Boston Bruins on January 24, which was a great performance. Take caution on starting him, as he has not played much and is a risk in that regard. He does have a decent defense in front of him, and might be worth a flier for a last second dart throw at securing goalie stats.

I would avoid the Arizona Coyotes goalies this weekend. Connor Ingram will be out about a week to 10 days, leaving Karel Vejmelka (42% owned on Fantrax and 25% on Yahoo) the reigns. Vejmelka has had a sub-par season to put it nicely. Matt Villalta (3% owned on Fantrax and not listed on Yahoo) was called up and could get a start Sunday or Monday. Either way, I would steer clear of either of them in matchups against the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers, unless saves is what you need.

Calvin Pickard - Edmonton Oilers One other target this weekend is Pickard. He gets the start against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Some might be hesitant to start him versus the Stars, who just put up nine goals on the Nashville Predators Thursday. Since December 21, Pickard (11% rostered on Fantrax and 7% on Yahoo) has been very solid with a 5-0-0 record, a 2.00 goals against average, a 0.922 save percentage, 118 saves and one shutout.