NHL Fantasy Preview – Week 2 Schedule & Waiver Wire Targets
The first week of the NHL season is in the books, and what a week it was! Week 2 promises more excitement, and we’re back with another episode to cover all the details regarding the schedule and must-add waiver wire targets. Be sure to check out our live show Wednesdays at 9 PM MST, as we cover off all the latest fantasy hockey news, mailbag questions, and much more!
John’s List
If you have been listening to our podcast for a while, you’ve undoubtedly heard about “John’s List”; which is basically John’s $h!t list of players past and present, as well as interesting and current topics from around the hockey world. If you have any suggestions for players or topics we should add to the list, let us know!
Edmonton’s Goaltending – Jack Campbell (8.73 GAA, .750 SV%) and Stuart Skinner (5.33 GAA, .750 SV%) have been nothing short of awful to start the 2023-2024 regular season.🤮
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Fantasy Lock Of The Week | Week 1 – Oct. 10 – 15, 2023
🔥Auston Matthews, C, 100% Rostered (Yahoo), 100% Rostered (Fantrax)
6 goals (2 hat tricks, 2 powerplay goals) on 13 shots. Only the 2nd player in NHL history to score back to back hat tricks to start the regular season. He also added 6 hits while averaging 22:05 TOI
Hon. Mention: Elias Pettersson – 6 Points (1 Goal, 5 Assists), 4 PPP, 6 SOG, +4, 68% PP Share, 19:04 TOI in 2 games played during opening week.
Edge Work | NHL Schedule – Week 2
The segment where we put in the work to give you the EDGE in your fantasy hockey leagues! Each week the Hacks will cover the NHL Schedule and Waiver Wire Targets to guide you to victory.
Need To Know:
The 2023-2024 regular season is into its second week; and week 2 gets in the action with Tuesday(9), Thursday (12) and Saturday (15) being the busiest days on the schedule; with 5 or fewer games taking place on the remaining days during the week – so optimizing for games played will present a challenge as the NHL schedule ramps up.
There are a total of 47 games on the schedule, with 4 “light days” (50% or fewer NHL teams in action) during week 22.
In terms of attempting to optimize the schedule for games played, there are a total of 3 teams (ARI, CGY, DET) next week that do provide an advantage with 4 games played. Of those 3 teams, both Calgary and Detroit play three of their games on “off-nights”.
No teams play fewer than two games this week, with Ottawa, New Jersey, Montreal, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh playing just twice.
- Monday – 5 Games
- Tuesday – 9 Games
- Wednesday – 2 Games
- Thursday – 12 Games
- Friday – 2 Games
- Saturday – 15 Games
- Sunday – 2 Games
Teams With 4 Games:
ARI, CGY, DET
Teams With 3 Games:
CBJ, NYR, ANA, EDM, VGK, CHI, BUF, WPG, DAL, PHI, LAK, COL, FLA, TOR, VAN, CAR, NSH, SJS, SEA, MIN, WSH, BOS, NYI, TB
Teams With 2 Games:
OTT, NJD, MTL, STL, PIT
Teams With 1 Games:
NONE
Edge Work | NHL Waiver Wire Targets For Week 2
Waiver wire targets will be focused on players with ownership ~50% or less. When considering players to target, we review recent performance, player deployment, upcoming schedule and more.
Forwards
🎯Seth Jarvis (C/RW), CAR
Rostered: 41% (73% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@SJS, @SEA, @COL) | Line: 1 (w/ Sebastian Aho & Michael Bunting, PP1)
Seth Jarvis finds himself getting prime deployment alongside Sebastian Aho and Michael Bunting on the Canes top line. Averaging 20 minutes a night to date, and 5:21 on the power play (56% PP Share). Jarvis has 1 assist in 2 games so far, with just 4 SOG, but also provides some category coverage with 7 hits. Rest assured, the points are coming given the type of minutes and linemates that Jarvis is working with.
ALSO: Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW (37% Yahoo, 53% Fantrax) – 3 G, 3:38 PPTOI/GM (38% PP Share).
🎯Andrew Mangiapane (LW/RW), CGY
Rostered: 36% (47% Fantrax) | GP: 4 (@WSH, @BUF, @CBJ, @DET) | Line: 1 (w/ Elias Lindholm & Jonathan Huberdeau, PP2)
Andrew Mangiapane finds himself on the top line in Calgary. 4 points (2G, 2A) in 2 games he has made the most of his promotion. Still on PP2, Mangiapane is worth a look if you have an open roster spot and the Flames play 4 games this week – 3 of which are on off-nights.
🎯Wyatt Johnston (C), DAL
Rostered: 19% (66% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@VGK, @ANA, Vs.PHI) | Line: 2 (w/ Jamie Benn & Evgenii Dadonov, PP2)
Wyatt Johnston looked great in Dallas’ 2-1 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues. The 20-year old sophomore played over 17 minutes, while leading all Dallas skaters in shot attempts, individual scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances! Expect Johnston to improve on his 41-point, 24-goal rookie season.
🎯 Boone Jenner (C/LW), CBJ
Rostered: 36% (63% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.DET, Vs.CGY, @MIN) | Line: 1 (w/ Johnny Gaudreau & Kirill Marchenko, PP2)
Boone Jenner is centering the 2nd line in Columbus with Kirill Marchenko and Johnny Gaudreau, along with a role on PP1. In 2 games Jenner has 4 points (3g, 1a) including a powerplay goal, 7 shots on goal, 4 hits and 4 blocks. Scoring and a nice bit of category coverage there as well. Hard to believe he is only 36% rostered in Yahoo!
🎯Reilly Smith (LW/RW), PIT
Rostered: 56% (52% Fantrax) | GP: 2 (@MIN, @WPG ) | Line: 1 (w/ Evgeni Malkin & Rickard Rakell , PP2)
The former Golden Knight has looked good early in the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, collecting 3 points (2 goals) in 3 games playing alongside Evgeni Malkin on the second line. Smith is firing the puck at an unusually-high 4.0 SOG/GM (15.3 SOG/60), so expect regression there; but the 32-year old has also never played with a talent like Malkin, so even as the shot rate normalizes, offensive opportunities will still present themselves.
ALSO: Bryan Rust (39%) – In 3 GP: 18:15 TOI/GM, 3 G, 10 SOG, 6 Blks. Playing with Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby at 5v5.
🎯Kirby Dach (RW), MTL
Rostered: 11% (62% Fantrax) | GP: 2 (Vs.MIN, Vs.WSH) | Line: 2 (w/ Alex Newhook & Jurai Slafkovsky, PP1)
Kirby Dach posted 2 two points in his season debut, received top power play minutes (3:59 PPTOI, 66.6% PP Share), and despite not playing on the “top line”, received 21:22 TOI. Unfortunately, Dach left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury after clocking just 4:40 TOI. This is a setback to be sure, but the 22-year old may just be worth a season-long acquisition, depending on the depth of your league.
ALSO: Sean Monahan, C (2%) – 1 SHG/GWG, 1 A, +3, 4 PIMs, 3 SOG, 5 iCF, 3 iSCF, 3 iHDCF, 14 FOW (87.5%), 18:26 TOI, 2:38 PPTOI (66% PP). Should continue to see big minutes, particularly w/ Dach sidelined.
Defensemen
🎯John Klingberg (D), TOR
Rostered: 60% (89% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.CHI, @FLA, @TB) | Line: 2 (w/ Jake McCabe, PP1)
John Klingberg, as we expected, has taken over top power play duties for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Through just two games, Klingberg has 3 assists while playing nearly 23 minutes per game; including 3:53 PPTOI (82.2% PP Share). In the Leafs first game of the season, the 31-year old played just under 25 minutes, seeing more overall time on ice than Morgan Rielly.
🎯Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D), FLA
Rostered: 13% (44% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@NJD, Vs.TOR, Vs.VAN) | Line: 1 (w/ Gustav Forsling, PP1)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is doing an admirable job filling in for the injured Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. OEL may be pointless through two games, but he is averaging 26:24 TOI and 6:18 on the man-advantage (74% PP Share)! Given that kind of deployment, it’s just a matter of time before the long-time Yote starts piling up points. Keep in mind that this deployment may only last a month or two, but take advantage while you can.
🎯Ivan Provorov (D), CBJ
Rostered: 6% (37% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (Vs.DET, Vs.CGY, @MIN) | Line: 2 (w/ David Jiricek, PP2)
With the injury to Zach Werenski, someone needs to take up the minutes left behind, particularly on the power play. Damon Severson appears to be in line to absorb the bulk of power play minutes with Werenski away; but on Saturday, it was Provorov that posted 2 points (1 PPP), 1 Hit, and 4 Blocks in nearly 23 minutes of time on ice. The former Flyer is averaging over 24 minutes per game and generally provides better category (hits, blocks) coverage.
ALSO: Damon Severson (4%)
Goaltenders
🎯Karel Vejmelka (G), ARI
Rostered: 40% (61% Fantrax) | GP: 4 (@NYR, @NYI, @STL, Vs.ANA) | Role: Starter (N/A Net Share)
The Arizona Coyotes may be a sleeper pick to compete for a playoff spot this season, and a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils to start the season was an excellent start. For his part, Karel Vehmelka made 33 saves enroute to a 2.77 GAA and a .917 SV%. With 4 games on the schedule this week, Vejmelka could see three starts, and could certainly help your fantasy roster for this week and beyond.
🎯Petr Mrazek (G), CHI
Rostered: 19% (32% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@TOR, @COL, Vs.VGK) | Role: Starter (N/A Net Share)
Expectations for Petr Mrazek and the Chicago Blackhawks are low to say the least; but through two games, Mrazek has posted very respectable numbers – 1-1-0, 2.54 GAA, and a .934 SV%. Be cautious with the matchups, but Mrazek may be a serviceable streaming option; at least while healthy…
🎯Jonas Johansson (G), TB
Rostered: 51% (52% Fantrax) | GP: 3 (@BUF, Vs.VAN, Vs.TOR) | Role: Starter (TBD % Net Share)
Jonas Johansson struggled on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings (5 goals against), but he was serviceable against the Nashville Predators in game 1. Until Andrei Vasilevskiy returns, Johansson has little/no competition for starts behind a recently elite squad in Tampa Bay.
ALSO: Jordan Binnington (61%) – 1 Win, 0.92 GAA, and .969 SV% through 2 games.