The Waiver Wire

Welcome back to another week of The Waiver Wire!  I don't know about many of you, but my team may be the worst performing team over known to the human race over the past week.  My team went a combined 6 goals and 13 assists over the entire week.  That's with 14 skaters.  I've seen teams put that up in a day.  Hopefully most of you are less frustrated than I am.  So let's take a look at our disappointments, pleasant surprises,  my shot in the dark player of the week and a new feature just for Cheryl!

The Disappointments

Nathan MacKinnon - COL - C, RW - 97% owned

This past week, MacKinnon was a whopping 0-1-1 and -2.  He hasn't looked all that great all season either with a line of 0-4-4 and -6 in nine games.  He has taken 24 shots and has yet to score, which is extremely unlucky given that his shooting percentage last year was 10%.  Having watched about 7 of those 9 games, maybe 8, he just doesn't look like he is clicking.  Maybe it's a sophomore slump, maybe it's him adjusting to the extra 12 pounds he put on over the summer and maybe he's adjusting to increased challenges or a new system.  As an Avs fan, I care.  As a fantasy owner, I don't.  Hopefully you haven't lost patience with MacK.  I almost have, and am losing weeks because of it.

Kris Letang - PIT - D - 99% owned

Odds are you drafted Kris Letang because he is very good offensively, plays on Pitt and probably got him at a decent round because of his recent injury uncertainty.  He's had no points and was -4 in the past week.  Letang is a player who has a career points per game of .55 but he has yet to score a goal this season.  He's also a huge risk because he has yet to play a healthy season since 2010-11.  If he can stay healthy, his production should ramp up.  It's hard to imagine him averaging 24+ minutes per night, on Pittsburgh and continue to not produce.

Nazem Kadri - TOR - C - 57% owned

"Talent-wise, there's not too much of a difference, to be honest".  This is what Kadri said a little while ago when comparing himself to John Tavares.  I don't know about you, but if you look at the stat sheets, Kadri can't even touch Tavares.  Well, in the past week he is zeroes across the board.  At least no minuses, right?  Here's one better.  In the past two weeks he was  0-0-0 and -2.  Honestly, at this point, Toronto is 3rd to last in their conference.  Things don't seem to be getting better and Kadri has just spent two weeks on your team doing nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I'm sure there are better options and you may want to think about picking one up.

The Pleasant Surprises

That 70's Line

Jeff Carter - LA - C, RW - 94% owned

Tyler Toffoli - LA - RW - 69% owned

Tanner Pearson - LA - LW - 58% owned

To be honest, I hate when lines are named.  I'm not all that sentimental and I just name the lines by their numbers or their centers.  Nothing special.  But I will admit, That 70's Line is sort of a fun name just because it is close to copyright infringement.  Carter (#77), Toffoli (#73) and Pearson (#70) have had a combined production of 5-8-13 and +7 over the past week.  The least bit of production was Pearson with only two goals, but even then, that's not too shabby.  If you had any of these three, then you did pretty well.  If you had more than one, then you are probably one happy fantasy owner.

Tommy Wingels - SJS - RW - 25% owned

You may look at the stat sheet and wonder why I picked him.  He only had 1-1-2 and was even on the week.  Pretty good for him, but nothing special in fantasy land.  Then you move a little bit to the right at some of the less luxurious stats and you will see why he is on this list.  20 shots, 20 hits 4 blocked shots and 7 penalty minutes.  Not only did he fight, but for some of you more emotional owners, he fought Corey Perry, a person who well, most people on this blog think is the scum of the earth.

Ben Scrivens - EDM - G - 34% owned

Look out, NHL!  Edmonton is off the Connor McDavid Train!!  We will see how long it lasts, but it is undeniable how much talent they have over there.  If it clicks, watch out.  Scrivens had three starts in the past week, and came out with 3 wins.  No matter what league, that will make any fantasy owner happy.  He did so with a .920 save percentage and a 2.67 GAA.  Not the best GAA, but he did get the wins.  No clue how long this will hold up, but those wins were against Tampa, Washington and Carolina.  Carolina is chump change, but Washington and Tampa are nothing to laugh about.

Shot in the Dark

Nikolay Kulemin - NYI - LW, RW - 1% owned

It's hard to see which lines will be getting what time on the Islanders right now but in the past week, Kulemin has averaged 17:33 ice time while mainly playing with is Mikhail Grabovski and Frans Nielson.  He cashed in with 1-2-3 and  was +1.  As always with the shot in the dark, I have no clue whether this could be worth it, but it doesn't hurt that he has a secondary position as well as a primary.  The flexibility alone could be worth it for you.

Super Short Shot in the Dark for Cheryl

John-Michael Liles - CAR - D - 0% owned

As per Cheryl's request, this will be a repeating section, that has shorter players that may be shots in the dark.   Yahoo! says "he is not worth having on your team".  How dare they!  He has heart and soul.  He is the king of short people!  That flow and those piercing eyes!  I say take the risk, because what do you have to lose?!  He has 1 assist in 4 games, and with players coming back from injury (including himself, since he's already been injured twice this year), maybe he channels the 05-06 Liles and puts up 44 points.  He may be a shot in the dark, but if it sticks, it will be one hell of a shot*.

*For those of you that want serious advice:  Do not pick up JML.

Well folks, that about wraps it up.  What fantasy players are frustrating you?  Who is saving your team?  Who do you have an eye on?  What short player do you think could help your team the most? Let me know what you want to see next week on The Waiver Wire.