Weekend Waiver Wire

Welcome everyone to this year's first iteration of the Weekend Waiver Wire. My name is Mike Ouellet and I am thrilled to be bringing you some helpful advice every Friday as it relates to some waiver pickups at the goaltending position.(Thursday this week as yours truly will be on a camping trip over the holiday weekend)

Let’s get to it!

With only two teams having to deal with back-to-backs over the course of the season's first week of play this will be a quick and painless process.

Jonathan Quick - New York Rangers (0% owned on Yahoo)

I would expect the Rangers to start Quick on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins while having Igor Shesterkin take on the Washington Capitals at home in the team's first set of back-to-backs of the season. That being said, I've been wrong once or twice before.

Quick may be on the eighteenth hole of his career, however with GM Chris Drury’s addition of Vladislav Gavrikov to the blueline and bringing in Mike Sullivan’s more structured approach, will go a long way in helping out on the defensive side of the ledger. However, even if the Penguins are no longer at the height of their powers they can still provide bursts of offensive production.

I feel confident in regard to Quick securing the win with the expectation that his peripherals will be slightly below average. If it is solely a win you are looking for, snap him up. If you are in need of some solid peripherals my advice would be to fade him.

Charlie Lindgren - Washington Capitals (7% owned on Yahoo)

Sliding over to the winners of the Metro division in 2024-2025, the Washington Capitals will hit the road for both games of their first set of back-to-backs. My guess would be that Charlie Lindgren gets the front end against the New York Islanders on Saturday while Logan Thompson would then get the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Lindgren’s numbers took a bit of a hit last year as the Capitals backup started ten fewer games than the previous season putting together a 20-14-3 record accompanied by a rather pedestrian 2.73 goals against and .896 save percentage. That being said, the Islanders are far from an offensive juggernaut and are more than a work in progress on the back end which should put Lindgren in a great spot to not only secure a win, but also come out of it with some decent peripheral numbers as well.

If your league is weighted more towards wins, dress him with confidence. However, if your categories are weighted more on the peripheral numbers, my advice would be to proceed with caution.

Hopefully I have provided you with some sound insight to start the year as it relates to goaltenders on the waiver wire.

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Thanks for reading and feel free to follow me on X @mikeouellet9 or BlueSky @mikeouellet9.bsky.social

See you all again next Friday!