Weekend Waiver Wire

The fantasy playoffs are in full swing! All NHL teams have seven or fewer games remaining in the regular season. Thus, it’s crunch time for those of you embroiled in playoff matchups! Unfortunately for my fantasy teams, this GM has already started offseason planning. Hopefully, that is not the case for you! Let’s look at some potential lower-owned players that could help you in the near term.

Alex Nedeljkovic – Pittsburgh Penguins (28% owned on Fantrax and 22% owned on Yahoo)
As mentioned last week, “Ned” had been eating into Tristan Jarry’s starts, and that looks to be a continuing trend. The Penguins have chosen to ride the hot hand as anticipated, to keep their strong finish to the season going. Over the last 14 days, Nedeljkovic has started seven of the eight games played. In that span, he has gone 5-0-1 with a 2.31 goals against average, a 0.923 save percentage, and 192 Saves. While mathematically still alive, the Penguins are a long shot to make the playoffs. They will continue to attempt to push onward. Pittsburgh plays the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday and the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday. Those are not ideal starts against two playoff-bound teams, but “Ned” should start at the minimum one of those games.

Joel Hofer – St. Louis Blues (39% owned on Fantrax and 14% owned on Yahoo)
Jordan Binnington has dominated the starts in crease for the Blues the past 14 days, starting five of the six games played. St. Louis was pushing for the playoffs but were dealt a blow to these hopes last night, losing to the Nashville Predators 6-3. Hofer struggled his last start against the San Jose Sharks. He lost, posting a 3.04 goals against average, a 0.842 Save Percentage, and only 16 Saves on 19 shots. The Blues have a back-to-back against the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks this weekend. Hofer will get one of those games, and hopefully bounces back, maybe even in a “revenge” game against the Sharks!

Petr Mrazek – Chicago Blackhawks (43% owned on Fantrax and 28% owned on Yahoo)
Mrazek has been mentioned multiple times in past articles. He is so lowly owned due to the subpar team he plays for. Considering this fact, he has still performed admirably and put-up decent ratios for the most part. As a Blackhawks fan, it has been a struggle to watch them this season. But, Mrazek has been one of the bright spots. In watching them the past week or so, they have actually looked like a better team and have been a bit more competitive. Over the past 14 days, Mrazek has started four of the five games the Blackhawks have played. He has posted 2-2-0 record, a 2.30 goals against average, a 0.932 Save Percentage, and 123 Saves in that timeframe. Chicago has a back-to-back this weekend against the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild, both tough matchups. All season long the matchups have been tough for the Blackhawks, yet Mrazek has performed well.

Mackenzie Blackwood – San Jose Sharks (26% owned on Fantrax and 10% owned on Yahoo)
Blackwood officially plays for the worst team in the league. While the wins have not been there, his peripherals have been decent. Over the past five starts, he has a 1-4-0 record, a 2.63 goals against average, a 0.921 save percentage, 152 saves, and one shutout. San Jose has a back-to-back this weekend against the St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes. He will start one of those games, with Devin Cooley(3% owned on Fantrax and 2% owned on Yahoo) getting the other. Both San Jose goalies (in my opinion) are pretty must last ditch effort starts in fantasy leagues in the hopes of stealing a category or two by volume. Either should be readily available in all but the deepest leagues if this is the situation you are in.

Let’s throw one more option out there!

Ivan Fedotov – Philadelphia Flyers (17% owned on Fantrax and 5% owned on Yahoo)
Fedotov was once a highly touted prospect in the Flyers pipeline after multiple excellent seasons in the KHL. Now 27 years old, he finally crossed the pond and made a relief appearance last week against the New York Islanders. Well, he makes his first NHL start today against the Buffalo Sabres! He is spelling an obviously slumping and tired Samuel Ersson, who might have hit a wall in his rookie season. Ersson was thrust into the starting role and large workload due to the Carter Hart situation. It is hard to know what to expect in his first NHL start and second appearance, but he looked decent in relief last Monday. While likely still owned in most dynasty fantasy leagues, maybe someone gave up on him and he is available. Fedotov is the ultimate dart throw in this scenario!

Thanks for reading and best of luck to everyone in their endeavors to finish this week out!

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