Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire

Peter Harling — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 13:32:21 +0000

As the NHL season continues to unfold, some teams are performing ahead of expectations. Those teams success are being driven by some unheralded individual performances. Some of these players are under the radar and un-owned in a variety of leagues and offer value on the waiver wire. Here are a few for your consideration

Chris Terry – Carolina, LW 25% Fantrax Owned

Since Eric Staal returned the Canes have gone on a winning streak. Alex Semin has been missing in action all season and Jordan Staal has also been injured. In their absence Chris Terry has been delivering offence. In the first 11 games, Terry has produced three goals and seven assists. As a result he has been given time on the powerplay as well. All the while he has been scoring from the third line playing with the likes of Zack Boychuk and Victor Rask, meaning he is producing his own offense. With the Staal line facing the opposition’s top defenders, Terry should continue to get his offense.

Riley Nash – Carolina, C 23% Owned

Like Terry, Nash has been producing despite Carolinas early struggles. Nash is playing on a line with rookie Elias Lindholm and the little spark plug Nathan Gerbe. Nash has scored three goals and five assists in 11 games and has at least on point in four of the last five games. At just 25 years old, this former first round pick of the Oilers could be a good late blooming player.

Josh Jooris – Calgary, C 10% Owned

The Flames have been a big surprise this season led by Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie on the back end with Jonas Hiller in net and Johnny Gaudreau up front. Those players are widely owned, but Jooris is largely unknown, and un-owned. He has been a healthy scratch twice this season but has three goals and two assists for five points in eight games including a two goal performance against Montreal recently.

Lance Bouma – Calgary, LW 8% Owned

Surprisingly the Flames are one of the higher scoring teams so far this season. Bouma has not been a significant offensive threat with three goals and one assist in 14 games. He does have fantasy value in deep leagues that have categories for stats such as hits (37), and blocked shots (15). The Flames love his compete level, and are quite comfortable giving him ice time on a line with Jooris and Brandon Bollig.

Nick Bonino – Vancouver, C 73% Owned

The Vancouver Canucks are having a great start in large part due to the performance of the new players in Ryan Miller, Radim Vrbata and Nick Bonino. At 73 percent owned, chances are Bonino is not available in your league. I am pretty surprised his ownership percent is that low, it really should be closer to 100%. Bonino is off to a great start with seven goals and five assists in 14 games, don’t sleep on this rising star.

Chris Higgins – Vancouver, LW 29% Owned

The oft injured journeyman forward has been a risky pick, but this is the waiver wire, not the first round pick article. Higgins seems to have found new life on the second line with Bonino and Jannik Hansen scoring two goals and seven assists in 14 games. While this line is producing Higgins is fantasy relevant again and at less than 30% owned is a good value pick up if you can snag him.

Linden Vey – Vancouver, RW 39% Owned

Another key addition by new GM Jim Benning, Vey was buried behind a deep Kings roster but has broken out with the Canucks scoring four goals (three powerplay) and three assists in 14 games. Vey has been another pleasant addition if not a surprise and can make an impact on your fantasy team.

Young Stars Classic Q&A with Canucks Trevor Linden

Andy Levangie — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:53:26 +0000

PENTICTON, B.C. -- I had the opportunity to speak with Vancouver Canucks President Trevor Linden at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton B.C. this past weekend. Events like this provide scouts and management an opportunity to assess where their prospects are in terms of development and how close they are to the NHL.

Often an unstructured environment with only rudimentary work on systems will allow players to delight the fans and show off their individual skill sets. We were privy to some highlight-reel goals as well as some developing chemistry - while catching a glimpse into the future of Canada’s Western Conference teams.

I know what I see on the ice, but I wanted to hear what management is looking for and to pry a little into how they approach these annual events. Here are some observations from Trevor Linden about drafting and the organizational development of the Canucks.

What are the results when you get varying ages, backgrounds and abilities on the same team in an environment like this?

“It’s a great environment because they're playing against their peers and it’s a tighter range of skills, having said that each player has a unique skill set and its how they apply that and how we (as an organization) see that being applied to the NHL; that’s the challenge”

What is the Canucks goal coming out of this tournament?

“It's just as assessment tool, certainly this year with myself, Jim (Benning, GM), John (Weisbrod, VP player personnel), Willie (Desjardins, head coach) being kind of new, it’s the first chance we’ve had to see these kids in our system, understand what they are and how we can move them forward in their careers”

You’ve had time to assess the organization, what’s your philosophy going forward with regards to prospects?

“Jim identified early in the process that he wanted to give our core guys an opportunity to win, bringing in Bonino, Sbisa, Dorsett & Vey got us younger and (gave us) more depth, it helps support our core group and replenish our prospect pool by getting Jake (Virtanen) 6th overall and getting that Jared McCann pick (24th overall) was key. That one extra pick was huge. We’ve got to do a good job drafting from here on in, that’s critical, we’ve spent a lot of time this week with our amateur guys (scouts) making sure we’re all on the same page”.

Linden Vey – McKeen's Hockey

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire

Young Stars Classic Q&A with Canucks Trevor Linden