NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Advice (Week 2)
The NHL season is in full force and our fantasy hockey advice is just getting started!
Every Monday we will be dishing out the top waiver-wire additions for your reading pleasure. This advice will be tailored toward 10-team (or deeper) leagues while we will aim for players who are rostered in less than 50% of ESPN leagues. It’s entirely possible the same player could be mentioned multiple times over the course of the season as we aim to stay present in our advice to ensure we hammer home the top waiver wire options.
Let’s get started and see who the top waiver wire options are as we get into week 2 of the fantasy hockey season!
NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Advice (Week 2)
Taylor Hall (LW – CHI) 40% rostered
In all honesty, Ryan Donato (less than 5% rostered) is a solid option as well given his opportunity on the Blackhawks’ top line. However, Taylor Hall is the best bet as he skates alongside young phenom Connor Bedard at both five-on-five and on the Blackhawks’ top power-play unit.
Hall suffered a shoulder injury last week and was originally expected to miss some time, but that doesn’t appear to be the case as he expects to play Monday night in Toronto. Through 28 minutes of action, across two games to begin the season, he has one assist, four shots, and a plus-one rating to his credit. It’s crystal clear Bedard is as advertised and Hall’s production should remain steady on his left flank for the duration of the season.
He might not be the same player who erupted for 93 points and a Hart Trophy in the 2017-18 season, but he sure has a fine opportunity ahead of him alongside a young prodigy in the 2023-24 campaign.
Nazem Kadri (C – CGY) 28.3% rostered
It’s unfair to expect Flames pivot Nazem Kadri to replicate his 28-goal, 87-point career year from the 2021-22 season with the Colorado Avalanche, but there is still plenty the 33-year-old can bring to the table from a fantasy perspective.
His 24 goals and 56 points across 82 games last season aren’t the worst production in the world. However, let’s keep in mind he also fired a hefty 267 shots on goal — 23rd in the league — while laying 99 hits and spending 56 minutes in the penalty box. His main setback was a minus-19 rating on a poor Flames club and that has proven to be true early this season, with a minus-three rating through two games in which he hasn’t recorded a point to begin this season.
It’s difficult to envision the Flames as a high-end contender this season. Kadri doesn’t have big-time talent on his flanks at the moment while he skates with Dillon Dube and Adam Ruzicka. However, he gets top-unit power play minutes, shoots the puck a ton and throws his body around.
He’s not going to be your best option at center on your roster but he is a fine depth piece down the middle.
Michael Bunting (LW – CAR) 44% rostered
Michael Bunting could be a real X-factor from a fantasy hockey perspective in his first season with the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s all about the opportunity at hand. Bunting has spent the first three games of his season skating with Sebastian Aho on the Hurricanes’ top line and top power-play unit, tallying a goal and an assist with both points coming on the power play. He’s added a solid seven shots on goal and a pair of penalty minutes.
He should certainly be a factor in the PIMs department. He racked up 103 penalty minutes — 10th in the NHL — while skating in all 82 games with the Maple Leafs last season and had 80 in the previous season. He managed 23 goals and 49 points in that time while registering 174 shots, 85 hits, and a plus-21 rating.
His plus/minus rating should remain in good standing on a quality Hurricanes hockey team while his cross-category production on the club’s top line should remain intact. It’s actually rather shocking he is sitting at just 44% rostered to begin the season.
Devon Levi (G – BUF) 40.9% rostered
We’ll do our best to include a goaltending option in these weekly pieces and this week it’s Sabres rookie netminder Devon Levi who has started the first two games for the Sabres this season. While they didn’t go as planned with Levi surrendering seven goals and taking the loss in both outings, he doesn’t have much competition in the net in Buffalo.
As a result, the Sabres will give the 21-year-old every opportunity to seize the No. 1 job. He put up eye-popping numbers at Northeastern University in two seasons before debuting with the Sabres last season. He posted a decent 2.94 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in seven games. His .881 Sv% in two games to begin this season isn’t pretty, but if you have noticed, he is far from the only netminder sporting ugly numbers as the league-wide sloppiness takes place early in the season.
Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen linger behind him but Levi is the future between the pipes in Buffalo. He could end up as a true workhorse at some point while he should be able to lock down the lion’s share of starts for the time being on an improved Sabres squad.
