Welcome to the new Fantasy Hockey Sleepers and NHL Waiver Wire report. Each week I will be updating some of the players you should targeting on the waiver wire to help you build a championship fantasy hockey team. The recommendations will focus on, for the most part, standard Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey leagues with the following stat categories:
- Goals
- Assists
- Powerplay Points
- Short Handed Points
- +/- Rating
- Shots on Goal
- Hits
- Faceoffs Won
- Goalie Wins
- Saves
- Save %
- Goals Against Average
- Shutouts
Only players who are under 50% owned in Yahoo Fantasy Hockey will be considered for the waiver wire report. If you have specific questions about how a player fits your league settings please hit me up on Twitter(@Jager_Bombs9)
Let us now take a look at this week's low owned waiver wire options..
Fantasy Hockey Sleepers and Waiver Wire Pickups at Forward
Justin Abdelkader (DET, LW/RW) 44% Owned
He has been red hot since the calendar turned to December with five points in three games. The increase in production is a direct result of Abdelkader taking more shots. He went from averaging about 1.5 shots a game for the season to over 3 shots per game in the last four games. He is playing alongside Henrik Zetterberg and rookie sensation Dylan Larkin and if the shots continue so will the production.
Jason Pominville (MIN, RW) 22% Owned
He has three goals in his last four games and is averaging 14.8 shot attempts per 60 minutes on the season. He has started the season out surprisingly slow but with a 3.4 shooting % look for him to keep producing.
Mikael Granlund (MIN, C) 15% Owned
Another Wild player and linemate to Jason Pominville who started to produce recently. He now has 16 points on the season with 11 of those coming in the last 30 days. The production should also see an uptick once Zach Parise returns to elite status after returning from an injury.
Cody McLeod (COL, LW/RW) 20% Owned
This is more of a pickup for those of you playing in leagues that count hits and penalty minutes. In these leagues he is a Top 100 player and makes a great streaming option as his ownership is always low. He isn't going to hurt you in the +/- department either with a +7 rating for the season.