This article is part of our Blue Line Buzz series.
The Waiver Wire – For the week of March 30 – April 5
Because this is likely the finals for your head-to-head playoffs, we're going to do something a little different for this week's Waiver Wire – we're going to break down stat categories, and players you can likely grab that are going to be able to augment these categories. Most waiver adds at this point are to make up for short-comings in a particular area; this article will help you solidify these weaknesses.
Scoring (Goals and Assists)
Matt Stajan C, CGY – With six points in four games, and an impressive +5 rating, Stajan is acting like he has something to prove of late. While he's never been a point beast, his ownership level is so low (1%) that he's widely available to add in just about every league. He has three games this week (one of which is against the drowning Toronto Maple Leafs) and should be able to pot you some needed points if he continues his hot streak.
James Sheppard C, SJ – Even though his ownership level is currently at 0% - a wonderful rounding error, no doubt – Sheppard has had a great run in the last five games, recording two goals and three assists for five points. In addition to lighting it up, he's also a plus-five with a pair of penalty minutes – secondary categories which help GMs overall. With San Jose playing three games this week, he would be a great add if you need a quick boost in a deep league.
Power Play Points
Patrick Maroon LW, ANA – It's astounding that a person who's on the first unit power play on a team like Anaheim, playing with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry is available in 99% of leagues. If you're deperate for opportunity to gain some ground, you're not likely going to find a better person right now than Maroon. Sure, he doesn't have that many power play points to show for it right now – only three – but your options are likely limited.
Eric Gelinas D, NJ – We're confused – he currently has 16 power play points, and is the best power play quarterback the Devils have, and yet, he's currently on the second unit. He's typically good for just over 2 minutes of powerplay time a game, which equates to a power play point per 8 minutes of power play ice time over the course of the season. What does that mean? If you play him for the four games this week, he should be good for at least a point on the power play, and with some weaker opponents this week in Florida, Buffalo, Washington and Carolina, we'll guess at least three.
Plus-Minus
Ben Lovejoy D, ANA – One of our favorite things about the Anaheim Ducks are their wonderful plus-minus scores, basically across the entire roster. Even their fourth line grinders are solid plus players, and the dedication to defensive hockey is evident. Ben Lovejoy is only owned in 7% of leagues, and yet, he is a +20 with a ridiculously easy schedule in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Nashville and Edmonton, which should be a handful of pluses.
Alec Martinez D, LA – We haven't followed LA enough this season to understand what changed March 1st, when Martinez apparently became Ray Bourque, but those GMs that were paying attention caught lightining in a bottle with him. Since the beginning of the month, Martinez has six goals and five assists for 11 points in 13 games, but his +6 has been a real help to solidifying a difficult category to lock down. LA plays four games this week, which will likely help all his categories, but you may want to bench him on Thursday when they play the Sharks – if plus-minus is an issue, you want to avoid those types of matchups with your players wherever possible.
Penalty Minutes
Zac Rinaldo C/W, PHI – He's pretty much the epitome of goon – three points on the season, a -14, but 132 PIM to go along with it. If you find yourself down late in the week, and need 10 or so PIM to catch up, add Rinaldo. He's not good for much else, but he'll singlehandedly take down that category.
Ryan Reaves RW, STL – Just like Rinaldo, he only has six points this year, but he's also only a -1. His 117 PIM put him seventh in the league, but he's also less likely to hurt you if your plus-minus category is in jeopardy.
Shots
Patric Hornqvist RW, NAS – If your team is constantly being outshot week after week, Hornqvist is a great add for this week HOWEVER you have to add him no earlier than Thursday for the optimum gain, as he has a back-to-back Friday/Saturday, but does not play during the week. His 41 points are not world beating, but with an ownership of 17%, and with 224 shots – good for 21st in the league – he's probably your best option to solidify that category.
Cam Atkinson RW, CLS – We think this marks the third time we've recommended Atkinson this year in this article. With 191 shots, he's in the top 50 in the league right now, and he has an ownership of 11%. In addition to shots, Atkinson will be good across the board in just about all stat categories, and by virtue of the fact that Columbus is currently in a race for the wildcard spots in the East, you know the Blue Jackets will be firing on all cylinders.
Goaltending
Curtis McElhinney CLS – With Sergei Bobrovsky on the shelf with the flu, McElhinney has really stepped up for the Blue Jackets, giving them every opportunity to win. This week, he'll likely get a start against Philadelphia on Thursday, as the Jackets are playing back-to-back with Chicago the following night. With the way he's been playing of late, we would recommend keeping an eye on him and, if your goaltending is dire, adding him the morning of once he's the confirmed starter.
Thomas Greiss PHO – Mike Smith is down for the foreseeable future, and it's up to Greiss to carry the load for the Coyotes for at least this week. Phoenix is holding on to the last wildcard spot in the West, and it appears that the entire season will come down to the wire, with Dallas only three points behind and a game in hand. Greiss has been good so far for the Coyotes this year – we expect him to shine this week. Add him if you get into early goalie trouble.
How did we do last week?
(When we judged our correctness, we looked at whether we were expecting performance or lack thereof.)
Mika Zibanejad OTT – ADD – 2GP 0G 0A -1 [Incorrect]
Gustav Nyquist DET – ADD – 4GP 5G 0A +5 [Correct]
Travis Zajac NJ – DROP – 2GP 0G 0A +0 [Correct]
Ales Hemsky OTT – ADD – 3GP 0G 1A -1 [Incorrect]
Milan Michalek OTT – ADD – 3GP 1G 1A +0 4PIM [Correct]
Steve Downie PHI – ADD – (Did not play – Injury) [N/A]
Marc-Edouard Vlasic SJ – SHORT-TERM ADD – 3GP 0G 0A -1 [Incorrect]
Andrej Meszaros BOS – ADD – 1GP 0G 0A +0 [Neutral]
Chad Johnson BOS – 1GP 1-0 2.00 GAA / .939 SV% [Correct]
Antti Raanta CHI – 1GP 0-1 5.00 GAA / .828 SV% [Incorrect]
Alex Stalock SJ – 1GP 0-1 3.00 GAA / .864 SV% [Incorrect]
Jeff Zatkoff PIT – 1GP 0-1 3.00 GAA / .906 SV% [Neutral]
Carter Hutton NAS – 1GP 1-0 1.00 GAA / .970 SV% [Correct]
So, by our count, we went 5-5-2 with one N/A. Historically, we're 99-50-38 for the season.
Weekly Notes
Grab players from these teams this week, if you can (with an eye to the future weeks):
1. Columbus Blue Jackets – Four games this week – Colorado, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York Islanders
2. Philadelphia Flyers – Four games this week – St. Louis, Columbus, Boston and Buffalo
3. Ottawa Senators – Four games this week – Carolina, New York Islanders, Montreal and New York Rangers
Avoid players from these teams this week, if you can (with an eye to the future weeks):
1. Vancouver Canucks – Two games this week – New York Rangers and Los Angeles
2. Nashville Predators – Two games this week – Anaheim and San Jose
3. Minnesota Wild – Three games this week – Los Angeles, Chicago and Pittsburgh (ouch)
