Every Monday, we'll mine the waiver wire for lesser-rostered performers who have the potential to help fantasy teams in a variety of leagues. We'll also present several strong streaming candidates for the immediate week ahead.
For those in weekly leagues, lineups lock at 7 p.m. Eastern on Monday, when the Minnesota Wild visit the New York Rangers, and the Seattle Kraken take the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers. The busiest day of the week is Saturday, with 13 games followed by Thursday with 12. The lightest is Wednesday, with just a mere three games.
In daily lineup leagues, the first lineups will lock weekdays at 7 p.m. except for Thursday, in which the Chicago Blackhawks face the Tampa Bay Lightning at 6:45 p.m. on Hulu. Saturday sees a 12:30 p.m. start in Philadelphia when the Flyers welcome the New York Islanders, and Sunday's matchups start at 1 p.m. when the Colorado Avalanche face the New Jersey Devils.
Here are some players who can help in the short term.
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Forwards
Zach Benson, F, Buffalo Sabres (3.8 FPPG, 84.3% available): The Buffalo Sabres are better with Benson aboard. Forced to sit out his first three games after taking a puck to the face in preseason, the 20-year-old contributed four assists against the Senators last Wednesday, and another helper in Saturday's 3-0 blanking of the Panthers. Skating on a top line and power play with Tage Thompson, Benson is expected to take a big leap forward in his third full NHL campaign. He won't be available in more than 80% of ESPN Fantasy leagues for long.
Quinton Byfield, C, Los Angeles Kings (2.3 FPPG, 51.1% available): Already off to a productive start, Byfield is now in position to benefit further from replacing Anze Kopitar as the Kings' top center. Skating alongside Adrian Kempe 5-on-5 and with the extra skater, the 23-year-old should continue to ride at a point/game pace, or at least near it. Kopitar is out week-to-week with a foot injury.
Jimmy Snuggerud, F, St. Louis Blues (2.3 FPPG, 79.3% available): Leading his squad with a pair of power-play points, the 21-year-old has three goals and an assist through five contests altogether. When he shoots, he scores -- finding the back of the net twice on six shots in Vancouver a week ago, and once on four against the Stars on Saturday. Guaranteed, coach Jim Montgomery is going to encourage his young charge to pepper the cage more often.
Artturi Lehkonen, F, Colorado Avalanche (2.3 FPPG, 55.4% available): Competing alongside Nathan MacKinnon must be a lot of fun. Racking up two goals and five assists already, Lehkonen can testify as much. One of these seasons, the veteran winger is going to string together a full, healthy campaign and bust through the 65-point mark. Maybe this year, if he plays close to 80 with MacKinnon consistently as his center.
Emmitt Finnie, F, Detroit Red Wings (2.1 FPPG, 97.9% available): The Red Wings rookie certainly appears to enjoy skating with Dylan Larkin and (when healthy) Lucas Raymond. After collecting a pair of assists through his first handful of games, he erupted for two goals and a helper on four shots, when logging nearly 20 minutes of ice-time, against the Oilers on Sunday. While Finnie provided the primary assist on one of Larkin's goals, Detroit's captain kicked in the secondary helper on both occasions the 20-year-old found the back of the net himself. Promising stuff. The former Kamloops Blazer also likes to throw his body around, with 21 hits to show for his first year already.
See also:
Jaden Schwartz, F, Seattle Kraken (2.0 FPPG, 91.5% available)
Dawson Mercer, F, New Jersey Devils (2.7 FPPG, 78.5% available)
Aliaksei Protas, F, Washington Capitals(2.1 FPPG, 41.5% available)
Dylan Cozens, F, Ottawa Senators (2.5 FPPG, 44.6% available)
Owen Tippett, RW, Philadelphia Flyers (2.0 FPPG, 37.4% available)
Defense
Alexander Nikishin, D, Carolina Hurricanes (1.9 FPPG, 76.0% available): An older rookie at 24 years old, Nikishin averaged 0.81 points/contests in three full seasons with St. Petersburg SKA. So we shouldn't feel all that surprised by his immediate output of a goal and three assists through five contests with the Hurricanes. He also leads his NHL club with 13 hits. No question, the KHL export provides real value in deeper fantasy competition.
Vince Dunn, D, Seattle Kraken (2.1 FPPG, 49.6% available): Leading his club in points with five, the defender has failed to register either a goal or an assist only once through Seattle's first quintet of contests. Anchoring the Kraken's No. 1 power play, Dunn also has a pair of assists with the extra skater in these early stages.
Tyler Myers, D, Vancouver Canucks (2.4 FPPG, 92.2% available): He's blocking shots, shooting on net, throwing hits, and even contributing to the scoresheet, here and there. Not every fantasy outing will be pretty from the towering blueliner, but he'll make up for the duds with gifts like Sunday's 4.5 fantasy-point show against the Capitals.
See also:
Brett Pesce, D, New Jersey Devils (2.2 FPPG, 98.7% available)
Goaltenders
John Gibson, G, Detroit Red Wings (1.0 FPPG, 77.6% available): That's more like it. After an ugly debut in the Red Wings' opener, Gibson looks a lot more like the netminder Detroit was hoping to get when they traded for him this summer. Projected to start in two of the upcoming three versus the Sabres, Islanders and Blues could net the veteran goaltender two more victories before the week is through.
Jake Allen, G, New Jersey Devils (4.1 FPPG, 91.6% available): With Jacob Markstrom sidelined for a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury, the Devils' net largely belongs to Allen. Three-straight solid performances -- .934 SV%, 1.88 GAA -- including wins over the Panthers and Oilers, indicate the streaky netminder is in one of his more positive grooves. Allen is worth riding until the wheels fall off or Markstrom returns and takes over once more.
Short-term streamers
Jonathan Huberdeau, F, Calgary Flames (3.3 FPPG, 40.5% available): If not willing to fully commit to the winger yet, consider giving him a week's worth of a whirl when the Flames host the Jets, Canadiens, Rangers, and visit Winnipeg on alternating nights. Making his season debut against Vegas Saturday, Huberdeau scored a power-play goal on three shots while logging almost 19 minutes. Competing on a top line and power play with Nazem Kadri, this is a player who should average 2.0 FPPG in ESPN Fantasy standard leagues.
Conor Garland, F, Vancouver Canucks (2.1 FPPG, 47.9% available): The banged up Canucks will need all they can get from their top-line winger this week as they visit Pittsburgh and Nashville before returning home to host Montreal and Edmonton. Leading his entire club in production, and all but three defenders in ATOI, Garland is a big reason Vancouver is off to a 4-2-0 start. Stream him this busy seven-day stretch then take it from there.
Jakub Dobes, G, Montreal Canadiens (5.7 FPPG, 90.6% available): Montreal's No. 2 will play at least once this week as the team travels out west to face Calgary and Edmonton on Wednesday and Thursday, before touching down in Vancouver Saturday. Dobes was excellent in the season opener against Detroit, and good enough to earn his second victory against Nashville last week.
Eric Comrie, G, Winnipeg Jets(6.6 FPPG, 99.1% available): Winnipeg's backup is likely to suit up against either Seattle or Calgary this week. Anything close to his recent performance against the Isles should put Comrie in good position to earn his second victory of the season, along with valuable fantasy points for his streaming-savvy managers. Especially versus the Flames Friday, when there are only three other games on the NHL slate.