The fantasy hockey season is still in its early stages. Here are the top five pickups you should make in the waiver wire this week.
With the NHL entering its second week of play, so are your fantasy hockey matchups. Teams are still in the early-goings of their seasons, but with a handful of key injuries and hot starts after just a few days of play, it may be beneficial to take advantage the waiver wire less than a week into the 2019-20 NHL season.
Things can change quickly in the first few weeks of a new hockey season, but here are five NHL players you can swoop up early should things break their way the rest of the season.
Erik Haula, C – Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are the NHL’s current hottest team, sitting at a comfortable 3-0 start to the season after handing the Tampa Bay Lightning an almost unbelievable loss on Sunday. The Hurricanes can thank part of their quick start thanks to the play of 28-year-old center Erik Haula and his three goals in three games for the team.
Haula was traded from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Hurricanes over the summer after a promising 2018-19 season was cut short due to injury. The center had a breakout year in 2017-18 where he posted 55 points in 76 games, and seems to be poised to pick up where he left off in Vegas, if his first few games with the Hurricanes are any indication.
Alex Galchenyuk, C – Pittsburgh Penguins
With the news that star Penguins’ center Evgeni Malkin will be out at least a month for Pittsburgh after sustaining a soft-tissue injury in his leg over the weekend, the team will have to rely on their depth players to step up big time. One of those players is newly acquired center Alex Galchenyuk from the team’s trade with Arizona that sent Phil Kessel to the Coyotes in the offseason.
So far this season, Galchenyuk has two assists in two games played with his new team. Given Malkin’s injury and the severity of it, the Penguins will likely play Galchenyuk in a bigger role than the 15 minutes of ice time he’s received already so far this year. The forward has been a 40-plus point scorer for the majority of his NHL career, and he could see that accelerate given the team’s dire need for offense over the coming weeks.
James Neal, LW – Edmonton Oilers
It may be too early to tell for James Neal, but so far the 32-year-old winger has seen a slight resurgence in his play with his new team in Edmonton. Last season, the forward disappointed terribly in Calgary with only 19 points in 63 games for the Flames after being a major factor in Vegas’ inaugural season success the year prior.
Neal is not the type of player you’d want to drop a struggling star for, of course, but with two goals so far in two games played for the Oilers, the winger may be worth a pick up to slot in on an off day or two.
Mikhail Sergachev, D – Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning may be struggling to start the season, but their young defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has been one of the teams top points contributors so far in this young season. The 21-year-old defenseman leads the Lightning in points, with four points (all assists) in three games with an average time on ice of 17:07 minutes a game.
Sergachev is on pace for 109 points this season, a ridiculous pace that he should no doubt slow down from sometime this year. Even still, the defenseman has put up 40 and 32 points respectively in his last two full NHL seasons, making him a potential meaningful pick up to pad out your defensive lineup with.
Carter Hutton, G – Buffalo Sabres
If you are a big believer in the Sabres this season, Hutton may be a sneaky goaltender pick to put in your back pocket. The season is still early for Hutton, but as of Monday, the netminder has a .939 save percentage through two games so far this year after facing the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The risk with Hutton is that he’s a career .913 save percentage goaltender and will potentially regress back to his usual self in due time. However, if Hutton has turned the page, snagging him early on in the season may be worth a look if you can spare the roster spot.