Hi all, and welcome to week 5 of the NHL season. We have a more narrow schedule this week than last. With a limited slate of games on the typical “off-days” i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Monday especially is light with only two games being played across the entire league. So, without further adieu let’s take a look at our best streaming options for the week:
- There are only four teams playing the high total of four games this week which include (as always listed in descending order by strength of schedule): Minnesota, New Jersey, Nashville, and L.A.
- There are five teams playing only two games this week which we will try to avoid if possible (streaming or otherwise). They are, in order: Seattle, Dallas, the NY Rangers, the Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay.
Top Streaming Targets for the Week:
- My top pickup for the week is easily Alex Laferriere of the L.A. Kings who’s less than 30% rostered right now on both Yahoo and ESPN. He’s had 4 goals in his last 3 games including a multi-goal game on Saturday vs. the Blackhawks. So far on the season he has 8 goals and 3 assists and is currently seeing PP1 deployment alongside Kopitar and Kempe. He’s a sneaky good add (and maybe even a hold for now depending on your roster) and especially with the Kings Monday/Tuesday back to back game schedule this week you’ll have a leg-up early in the week vs. your opponent.
- I want to touch on two defensemen with great schedules and solid counting stats quickly. The first is Joel Edmundson of the Kings who, while not providing much in the way of offense, is getting plenty of ice time on the second pairing and 2nd PK at nearly 21 mins per game. He’s a very low-rostered but solid streamer especially if you’re looking for hits and blocked shots this week. My second pick for d-men this week is Nashville Predator Alexandre Carrier. Very similar to Edmundson, we’re seeing high time on ice at 20:17 average, 2nd pairing + 2nd PK, and just a boatload of hits and blocked shots. It’s unlikely you’ll see a goal but the odd assist is always a possibility with both of these players as well.
- Among our top streaming teams for the week I’m actually particularly high on the Wild right now as they’ve looked awesome as of late, beating both Tampa and Toronto in back to back games. Unfortunately, outside of their top lines which seem to be really clicking for them right now there’s not much to be had for streamers. Ryan Hartman however just came back from an upper-body injury and may be available on waivers in your league. He’s currently stuck in a bottom-six role as it doesn’t appear that the coaching staff wants to mess with a good thing. That being said, I can easily see him moving back up into a top lone role very soon (especially if the Wild’s offense stagnates at all) and he’s probably the closest thing you’ll find to production from a Minnesota streaming player at the moment so he’s worth a look especially if you’re in a deeper league format.
Our discussion topic for this week is going to be struggling goalies and where we can possibly get some production off the waiver wire if you’re in a tough situation. We’re currently seeing a fair few goalies who you drafted in either high or mid-rounds who are having a tough time so far. Top names amongst them being Juuse Saros, Jeremy Swayman, and Alexandar Georgiev who was never super consistent but has been in a baffling free-fall as of late in Colorado. Now, Saros and Swayman I’m not personally super worried about. The Pred and Bruins have had rough starts both offensively and defensively this season but if both teams can right the ship a bit and lock in I imagine Saros and Swayman will start to see better days. Georgiev however is a different story. Colorado can’t seem to figure out what to do in the goal crease and they’ve even brought in a third-string goalie in recent days to try to find some form of consistency at the position. We’ll definitely see more starts from Georgiev, but unless he turns things around in a big way over his next few starts (which will likely be few and far between) I wouldn’t bank on him being a productive piece for your team for the rest of the season.
All that being said, if you’re in a situation where you have one of the above or another underperforming goalie that you drafted and thought would be a mainstay in your lineup, where can you turn? I have a few goalies in mind who are either producing right now or that I believe will be valuable very soon and are probably available on the majority of waiver wires.
Lukas Dostal is the first goalie I’d like to mention. He may already be gone off your waivers as he’s now over 60% rostered on ESPN but go ahead and check just in case. Yes, the Ducks are still pretty bad, but despite this Dostal has been pretty good. His team isn’t giving him a ton of goal-support but he’s still managing a sparkling .947 save percentage even with only 4 wins over 9 games. Even if the team isn’t winning he’s surely standing on his head, so to speak, and giving them a chance to do so night in and night out. I love this youngster rest of season and especially in future seasons going forward as the Ducks’ other young players continue to improve alongside him.
My next look is Kevin Lankinen of Vancouver. Similarly to Dostal he’s been sneaky good and people are starting to notice. He’s now over 50% rostered on ESPN as well so run to your wire and take a look for him before he gets swiped up if he hasn’t already. Unlike Dostal and the Ducks, Lankinen is getting plenty of goal-support from a veteran Vancouver squad and has wins in 5 out of 7 starts this season with a .919 save percentage. His most impressive win this season came on 10/17 vs. the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers where he came away with the win, posting a .929 SV% and only allowing 2 goals on 26 shots. Lankinen is solidified as the Canucks main man in crease for now with Thatcher Demko still on IR with no timetable for return and the rookie Arturs Silovs drawing the occasional start but struggling mightily so far (.797 SV% and 5 goals allowed on average over three starts).
I have one more (significantly lower rostered – for some reason) goalie to take a look at in case the above two are already scooped up in your league. I don’t know why he’s so low rostered as even just last season we saw him perform at a high level and go on an absolute heater for a number of weeks but Joey Daccord is currently only 25% rostered on ESPN. He’s seeing the majority of crease work for the Kraken with Philipp Grubauer seeing only the occasional start (1 start in the past 6 games) but he’s generally underperforming with a 1 in 5 record and .886 SV%. Daccord appears to be the Kraken’s primary goaltender and has been very serviceable thus far with 4 wins in 8 starts and a .915 SV%. At the very least he’s an easy hold and start especially vs. underperforming offenses until your star goalies get back on track.
Thanks for reading and as always feel free to leave questions, comments, concerns in the comments below and I’ll do my best to respond as quickly as I’m able! Good luck this week!
Who has two thumbs and streamed Darcy Kuemper last night? This guy!