Attacking the waiver wire is paramount in any fantasy sport. A strong draft gives the fantasy owner a leg up, but being vigilant with waiver wire pickups helps solidify a team. Once in a while, it also nets a diamond in the rough that ends up being a star.
While letting fantasy teams breathe – giving them maybe a month or so to develop – is advised, ignoring what is occurring in the games will only lead to falling behind more than necessary. There are injuries, dead roster spots, and sometimes players whose situation just isn’t turning out as anticipated. Here are some players who showed in the first bundle of games that they should be able to help most fantasy hockey squads.
Pascal Dupuis (LW/RW – PIT)
Ownership rates : 39% Yahoo; 24.1% ESPN
The fantasy hockey draft season always carries uncertainty. One of the big ones was Pittsburgh’s top-six forwards. There were questions around Dupuis’ health, the status of rookie Kasperi Kapanen, and whether Sidney Crosby would get someone like Steve Downie on his line to start the year.
Well, most questions were answered in Pittsburgh’s first game. Dupuis was put on the second line with Brandon Sutter and Evgeni Malkin (with Malkin at right wing). Presumably, that’s temporary until Malkin gets his legs under him returning from injury. That would seem to move Sutter to the third line eventually, but Dupuis would stay in the top-six mix.
In Pittsburgh’s first game, something happened that hasn’t happened a lot for Dupuis: power play time. Over the last four years in Pittsburgh, Dupuis hadn’t averaged over 50 seconds of power play time in any season. In the first game of the year, he was over two minutes on four power plays. Even if it’s not on the top unit, additional power play time is a huge boost.
As long as Dupuis stays in Pittsburgh’s top-six forwards, and on the power play, he’s a player that needs to be owned. His dual-eligible wing status on Yahoo is a nice luxury, too.
Patrick Maroon (LW – ANA)
Ownership rates: 6% Yahoo; 0.7% ESPN
Dany Heatley was signed in the offseason, presumably to take over the top line left wing duties. That dream didn’t last very long as Heatley injured his groin in the preseason. He was put on the injured reserve to start the year, but that designation could still seem him return at any moment. At time of writing, though, he still hasn’t started skating.
The cushy first line position next to Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry was given to Patrick Maroon in Anaheim’s first game. This wasn’t a decision made out of thin air; according to ProgressiveHockey, the line of Maroon/Getzlaf/Perry spent over 137 minutes together at 5-on-5 last year. They dominated possession at a 59.1-percent FenwickFor. It’s another small sample, but in Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh, Maroon was a 64.9-percent CorsiFor, adding to that previous time last year (courtesy of HockeyStats). Maroon had an assist in over 16 minutes of ice time, over four of which were spread over six power plays.
Until Heatley returns, which does not seem imminent, it looks like Maroon is a lock on Anaheim’s top line, and top power play unit. He adds value in roto leagues with penalty minutes – Maroon had 101 PIMs in 62 games last year – but he’s not a goon. In fact, Maroon had 278 points in 353 career AHL games. Also in a small sample, Maroon was averaging 2.16 points/60 minutes at 5-on-5 for his career coming into this season. For reference, Corey Perry is at 2.17 over the last three years.
Maroon’s a tough player, but a skilled player as well. Until his situation changes, he’s a must-own in any league 12-teams or larger.
Martin Jones (G – LAK, 13% Yahoo; 4.4% ESPN)
This may come as a surprise to some, but in roto leagues (and head-to-head leagues), backup goalies can carry a lot of value. I wrote about this here not too long ago.
Anyone that watched the opening night game between San Jose and Los Angeles saw Kings netminder Jonathan Quick get pulled, and the Kings lose 4-0. While the game certainly wasn’t on Quick alone, there needs to be some clarification here.
Jonathan Quick had an absolutely marvelous 2011-2012 season, posting a .929 save percentage. He was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, won the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP, and back-stopped the Kings to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. However, going back to 2009, when Quick became the Kings’ unquestioned number-1, Quick is about average: from 2009-2014, there were 18 goalies with at least 10,000 minutes played at 5-on-5, and Quick was 13th out of those 18 goalies in save percentage (0.9237). That mark is behind other question mark goalies like Cam Ward (0.9243), and Ilya Bryzgalov (.9254). Since the start of the 2012-2013 season, Quick is 21st out of 27 goalies (minimum 4000 minutes) in save percentage at 5-on-5. In other words, he’s not elite. He’s far from it.
The Kings are paying Quick too much money to staple him to the bench, but if his performance doesn’t improve, there’s no reason to think he’ll be a 60- to 65-start goalie. Maybe that gives Martin Jones 25-30 starts instead of 15-20. In that piece I linked, I note that any goalie can out-play their true talent in a small sample. Even if Jones isn’t elite, his team is, and that’s enough for him to carry value. In 12-team leagues, Jones could better than most third goalies, and some second goalies.
*As always, thanks to Hockey Reference, Hockey Analysis, and NHL.com for their resources.
