Working the waiver wire is essential to the success of any fantasy season. Injuries and suspensions are a big part of any season, and apparently the mumps are this year, too.
There are two kinds of waiver additions: Band-Aids and season-long. This column will contain both. Here are the name of some guys to look at this week, and for the rest of the season.
Centre
Mike Santorelli (Toronto) – 8.7 percent owned ESPN, 7 percent owned Yahoo
Last year, it was Mason Raymond who somewhat resurrected his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. This year, it appears that Mike Santorelli is doing the same. After signing a one-year deal with the Leafs in the off-season, Santorelli is now the highest-scoring Leaf outside of the top line.
Santorelli has 13 points in his last 16 games going back to Nov. 1. At the start of the season, he was bouncing all over the roster, and only averaged 12:32 in ice time for the month of October. Through Santorelli’s first 12 games of the year, he cracked the 14-minute mark once; he’s done so in each of the last seven games.
Of late, Santorelli has been skating on Toronto’s second line with Nazem Kadri and Daniel Winnik. The Vancouver native is also being given regular power play time now. There’s no real telling how much Leafs coach Randy Carlyle will trust these guys in the coming months, let alone the coming weeks. For now, though, Santorelli is a week to week play.
Left Wing
Boone Jenner (Columbus) – 10.9 percent owned ESPN, 7 percent owned Yahoo
It’s been a bad year for the Columbus Blue Jackets overall. The injuries are too numerous to list, the team finds itself near the bottom of the NHL standings, and a team that looked to be on the rise now may be in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes. That doesn’t mean there isn’t fantasy value here, though.
With all the injuries, Jenner has been playing a top six forward role with regularity. Out of 15 games since Nov. 1, Jenner hasn’t played less than 16 minutes, and has played at least 19 minutes in 10 of those games.
Jenner has been playing on a line with Matt Calvert and Cam Atkinson, and that includes power play time as well. This is a line that shoots a lot, too: Atkinson and Jenner alone have averaged over six shots a game combined.
Even with Brandon Dubinsky coming back any day now, Jenner should be a regular top six forward. Jenner is flirting with being an even possession player, too (49.39 percent CorsiFor since November 1st). If he can just break even on plus/minus, this could be a worthwhile add for the rest of the season.
Right Wing
Kyle Palmieri (Anaheim) – 3.7 percent owned ESPN, 2 percent owned Yahoo
It’s been a very difficult season to rely on top-six Anaheim forwards not named Perry, Getzlaf, or Kesler. Any number of players from Dany Heatley, Rene Bourque, Jakob Silfverberg and Emerson Etem have been rotated with regularity. Things have started to stabilize a bit, though, and Kyle Palmieri has found himself alongside Kesler.
The biggest problem with relying on Palmieri right now is that he’s not getting a lot of ice time. In fact, he’s cracked the 15 minute mark just twice in 10 games. Yes, he’s playing beside Kesler when he is on the ice. Also, he’s playing second unit power play minutes. Kesler, though, gets extra defensive zone starts that Palmieri isn’t getting. It’s good for his plus/minus, as he doesn’t have to start in the defensive zone nearly as much. It does cap his production, though.
Of all the reasons to add Palmieri, it’s Anaheim’s upcoming schedule more than anything. Through the end of the month, the Ducks play Edmonton twice, San Jose twice, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Arizona. That’s a soft schedule, and makes Palmieri a good addition for the next few weeks.
On Sportsnet’s Fantasy Hockey Pool, fantasy owners have to make weekly roster picks. Considering the Ducks get Edmonton twice this upcoming week, and Palmieri is a minimum cost, he makes a solid play to get exposure to the Ducks without spending on the top line.
Defence
Jakub Kindl (Detroit) – 1.5 percent owned ESPN, 2 percent owned Yahoo
Jakub Kindl has been hard to rely on this year, and he’s even been a healthy scratch at one point this year. He doesn’t shoot much (1.4 shots per game), he doesn’t tally many points (seven in 23 games), and he doesn’t rack the penalty minutes (10 this season). What he does well is get his power play points; Kindl is 1 of 30 defencemen so far this year to tally at least five power play points.
Detroit has spread out its power play assets, and the second unit now has Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar. Kindl runs that second unit regularly, and that’s where his value comes from. Like Palmieri, he doesn’t play a lot of minutes, so he has to contribute on the power play, and he has done that.
Detroit’s schedule for the rest of the month (11 games) includes the following teams, ranked by penalty kill: Colorado (4th), Toronto twice (9th), Carolina (10th), Ottawa (14th), Florida (15th), Boston (22nd), Buffalo (23rd), Columbus (26th), New Jersey (29th), NY Islanders (30th). Five of the next eleven games are against teams ranked in the bottom-third on the penalty kill. Kindl is a serviceable fifth defenceman for the rest of the month.
Aside from the Sportsnet Fantasy Hockey Pool, there is also a Sportsnet Pick ‘n Play, which pits two players facing off next Saturday. The first set of players will be released tomorrow.
Stats courtesy of Hockey Analysis, Hockey Reference, War On Ice, ESPN, and Yahoo