Frozen Fantasy: Raise Your Roster’s Floor

I'm so glad to be out of draft season. You? We both saw some weird and wild things at draft tables. And if you're like me, you might even have been caught in a run that you regretted later. 

I've forgiven myself. You should too. 

The silver lining of draft chaos is the waiver wire – there are some solid options available right now, so it's time to do some sifting. 

I'm not suggesting you drop a strong player who has started slowly – you play in leagues with folks who are in that panic. Let them spin. And then sweep in and snap up their drops. Strong almost always rises. That might as well happen on your team. 

But there are a few players on the wire right now who shouldn't be, and now's the time to recalibrate the bottom half of your roster. Get rid of those you swung for, hoping they'd make the roster. Or overdrafted because you got caught up in a run. 

The group below is diverse. There are a few opportunistic types if you're trying to stream the hottest hands to gain an early lead. There are players who were simply missed during drafts and probably shouldn't have been. And there are a few hunches. 

I'm looking at you, Tampa Bay. 

Let's take a look at who caught my eye this week. 

Joey Daccord, G, Seattle (2 percent Yahoo!) – Get on Daccord now. Philipp Grubauer (46 percent Yahoo!) has been solid despite dropping his first two games. But Daccord delivered the Kraken its first win on Saturday, and did so with quiet confidence. Grubauer's save percentage hasn't crested .900 in two full seasons, so his play needs to take a leap and fast. Daccord's start numbers could slowly climb as the Kraken tightens its tentacles on its expensive starter. And you and I both know how valuable goalies are in every format.

Nicolas Hague, D, Vegas (3 percent Yahoo!) – Hague is talented enough, but he's never produced more than 17 points in any season. But he has an expanded role with Alec Martinez (8 percent Yahoo!) and Zach Whitecloud (0 percent Yahoo!) out of the lineup, and he's suddenly producing. Hague has a goal and two assists in three games and is benefiting from increased ice time with the Knights' top scorers. He's clearly a short-term grab and may not be worth the squeeze, though Hague might help if you're in streaming mode on your blueline. 

Calle Jarnkrok, LW/C, Toronto (2 percent Yahoo!) – This is pure speculation, but hear me out. Jarnkrok slid into Max Domi's (62 percent Yahoo!) spot beside John Tavares (98 percent Yahoo!) and William Nylander (100 percent Yahoo!) in the third period Saturday night. He finished the game with a goal and an assist. Jarnkrok is purely complementary, and that's a license to print money with the Leafs' firepower. Domi looks a bit lost so far, and Jarnkrok can take advantage… at least until Matthew Knies (20 percent Yahoo!) forces his way higher in the lineup. 

Andrew Mangiapane, LW/RW, Calgary (38 percent Yahoo!) – Sure, it's one game. But three points, including two goals? Mangiapane looks like a fit on the top line with Elias Lindholm (83 percent Yahoo!) and Jonathan Huberdeau (84 percent Yahoo!). New coach, new opportunity, new heights? Mangiapane potted 35 goals two seasons ago. I'm not saying he'll repeat that. But stranger things have happened. This top-line gig feels like it could stick, so he won't be available in just under two-thirds of Yahoo! leagues for long. 

Ryan O'Reilly, C, Nashville (25 percent Yahoo!) – O'Reilly feels like he has a lot of mileage on his Bauers, yet last season's 30 points in 53 games were a complete outlier. He probably isn't a true 1C, but that's his role in Nashville. If O'Reilly can stay healthy, he could rebound with 55-60 points, including solid power-play production on PP1. And a lot of people have forgotten he can almost singlehandedly win you the FW and FO% categories if your format counts that. It was only two seasons ago O'Reilly won 900. Yes, 900. And he boasts a career 55.8 percent win rate. 

Juuso Parssinen, C, Nashville (2 percent Yahoo!) – Parssinen is playing on the first line with Ryan O'Reilly (25 percent Yahoo!) and Filip Forsberg (71 percent Yahoo!) and he's already notched a goal in each of the Preds' first two games. Don't expect huge goal totals – he's more playmaker than sniper. But Parssinen scored at a 45-point pace as a rookie last year in a much lesser role. His value goes up once Yahoo! gives him wing designation. 

Nick Paul, LW/C, Tampa Bay (40 percent Yahoo!) – Paul is Jon Cooper's' big net-front experiment. And so far, so good as he shoveled in two goals from that spot on the power play on Opening Night, and that's half the number he recorded on the man-advantage last season. Coach Cooper may simply be messing with our minds – after all, he has a real distaste (or should I say, hatred) for fantasy hockey. He's already throwing Victor Hedman (99 percent Yahoo!) out with PP1 ahead of Mikhail Sergachev (97 percent Yahoo!), and that has some fantasy managers frothing. Paul is someone who can help you early, but don't wait too long. In less than 24 hours (Saturday to Sunday), he jumped from 24 percent rostered to 40. The juice might already be squeezed out on this one, but take a look. And look closely at who was dropped if Paul is already gone. 

Evan Rodrigues, LW/C, Florida (12 percent Yahoo!) – Rodrigues looked like a fantasy stud Saturday with a two-goal, two-assist effort in the Kitties' top-six. At least he knows where to put his stick when he's on the ice with stars like Aleksander Barkov (96 percent Yahoo!) and Carter Verhaeghe (96 percent Yahoo!). Or Sam Reinhart (89 percent Yahoo!) and Matthew Tkachuk (100 percent Yahoo!). His role isn't secure – the Cats are still fiddling with their lines, though Rodrigues does have a 43-point, 243-shot campaign under his belt and the Panthers need a third wheel to play with their stars on both of their first two units. This could be more than a Week 1 experiment. 

Reilly Smith, LW/RW, Pittsburgh (57 percent Yahoo!) – Three games, 12 shots and three points, including two snipes? Smith is firing the puck like Alex Ovechkin (100 percent Yahoo!). It won't last, but he's alongside Evgeni Malkin (93 percent Yahoo!), who might be the best linemate he's ever had. Smith already has five, 20-plus goal and six, 50-plus point seasons. And one 60-pointer. If Malkin can stay healthy, Smith could set new career marks all around. He's available in almost half of Yahoo! leagues, but not for long. The Pens seriously raised the floor on their roster over the summer, and they're more competitive than we've seen in a while. 

Chandler Stephenson, C, Vegas (42 percent Yahoo!) – OK, so you might think he's overrated. Or you could believe Vegas spreads scoring around and no one outside Jack Eichel (96 percent Yahoo!) or Mark Stone (96 percent Yahoo!) is valuable. But seriously? Stephenson is hot out of the gate after a Cup win (two goals, three assists, two PPA in three games). And he's coming off two consecutive, 60-plus point campaigns and more than 650 faceoff wins each year. Plus power-play production and about a hit a game? Put him on another elite team, especially in the East, and he's in the 70-80 percent rostered range. That spells value in all but the smallest of leagues. 

Matt Tomkins, G, Tampa Bay (13 percent Yahoo!) – Tomkins is set to play his first NHL game Sunday, but I can't help but think he'll see more time soon. Jonas Johansson (53 percent Yahoo!) has allowed eight goals in two starts. He's 1-1, but only because the Bolts have scored nine times. Sure, Tampa has elite scorers, but at some point, you need your goalie to stop pucks. Tomkins was 20-12 with a .911 save percentage and 2.53 GAA with Farjestads (Sweden) last season. One good outing could become two. And so on. The Bolts will do whatever it takes to get to Andrei Vasilevskiy's (98 percent Yahoo!) December(ish) return. 

Back to the wire. 

Patience can be a virtue. I get it. I've always been a bit reluctant to make early season tweaks. After all, we've both heard the wait-until-US-Thanksgiving mantra to see what rises. This year is different. At least for me. 

In most leagues, the bottom half of rosters is largely interchangeable. So raise the floor of your roster, sooner rather than later. The net gain over time might be the difference over a full season.

The only caveat? Yahoo! is still adjusting position eligibility, so it seems like there are more centers than ever right now. But that will come soon enough. 

Until next week.