NHL fantasy hockey: 5 early season waiver pickups you should add

If your fantasy hockey team needs a boost, here are some potential NHL waiver wire candidates you should check out.

The 2019-20 NHL season is officially underway and so is fantasy hockey. With a number of early injuries, chances are your team is looking for a bit of help. Even if your team is fully healthy, it never hurts to try to upgrade your team. The waiver wire is a pretty good place to start.

Of course, it’s still very early in the season, so things can change quickly and players can heat up and cool down at a moment’s notice. Still, these five players are likely available on your waiver wire and they’re definitely worth checking out. Without further ado, here are five waiver wire candidates who could give your team a boost and potentially help you make the playoffs.

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Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars

Though the Dallas Stars aren’t off to a strong start to the season (1-3-0), Roope Hintz sure is. In 58 games last season, he scored nine goals. Hintz is nearly halfway there after just four games, with four goals. Head coach Jim Montgomery has taken notice, as he’s averaging over 17 minutes per game after averaging a shade over 14 last season.

If you include the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hintz has nine goals and 12 points in his last 17 games. The Stars are usually conservative on offense, but he has shown he doesn’t really care too much about the system. Usually, coaches hate that. But Hintz is getting impressive results, which means he’ll likely continue to be bold and aggressive in the offensive zone.

What’s most impressive is all of these goals have come at even strength. Hintz should start putting up points on the power play, as his role there is increasing as well. He could be a 20 goal scorer this season. If your team needs some scoring depth, Hintz would be a terrific addition.

Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers

Pavel Buchnevich has struggled to find a consistent role with the New York Rangers ever since he broke into the league in 2016. However, he has had some early success on the Rangers top forward line, which features Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin. The former is among the league leaders in goals and the latter is a proven elite talent at wing. Unfortunately, neither one of them is likely available on waivers. Buchnevich, however, might be.

He has yet to record a shot on goal this season in two games, but that should change. Buchnevich has two assists through two games and is looking as good as he ever has while playing alongside Zibanejad and Panarin. He’s getting minutes on the top power play unit as well, which should help his point totals.

Buchnevich should give you a healthy amount of assists, sprinkled in with a few goals. As long as the Rangers’ top forward line remains hot, he’s worth taking a look at. However, keep in mind their schedule is a little weird. Their next game isn’t until Saturday, Oct. 12. They don’t play again until the following Thursday, Oct. 17. But the Rangers schedule gets back on track after that. There’s a good chance Buchnevich is available and he could help your team.

Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets blueline is in terrible condition. They’ve already lost Jacob Trouba thanks to a trade. Now the Jets might be without Dustin Byfuglien, who is pondering retirement. This has left Neal Pionk, who the Jets got for Trouba, as their top-pairing right-handed defenseman by default. Pionk’s taking advantage of it, as he already has three points through four games.

He is unquestionably a flawed defenseman. Pionk struggles in his own zone, so keep that in mind if your league is silly enough to still count plus-minus. But even if it does, he should more than make up for his inevitably bad plus-minus with impressive point totals.

Pionk’s three points have all come at even strength, which is encouraging. With the Rangers, he was a bit of a power play specialist. Pionk’s still getting power play time with the Jets. Though their power play isn’t clicking right now, there’s way too much talent on the roster for it to not start clicking at some point.

He’s also averaging nearly three hits per game and over a blocked shot per game if your league counts those stats. Pionk’s averaging 25 minutes per game thus far, which means he should effectively accumulate those counting stats – hits, blocked shots, goals, assists, points, etc. If your blueline needs some help, he’s a nice candidate who could help out.

Tyler Bertuzzi

Much like Beauvillier, Tyler Bertuzzi of the Detroit Red Wings is the third wheel of a top line that’s producing. There’s no way Anthony Mantha or Dylan Larkin are on waivers, unfortunately. But Bertuzzi likely is. With five points in his first three games, he’s on fire.

Bertuzzi is averaging over 20 minutes per game, which means he’s going to have plenty of opportunities to get you a healthy amount of goals, assists, and points. He’s usually physical but has yet to record a hit this season. But expect that to change. Bertuzzi is at his best when he’s hitting everything in sight, whether it’s a player with the puck or the puck itself.

As long as Mantha and Larkin are putting up points, Bertuzzi should get his fair share of points as well. It’s worth questioning how long they can keep it up, as they’re playing over 20 minutes a game. Eventually, playing those kinds of minutes wear on most players. Bertuzzi has never averaged a lot of minutes per game, but as long as he’s hot, he’s worth a spot on your roster.

Have any waiver candidates you’ve added that you like? Feel free to share them in the comments so we can all have success in our fantasy leagues!