NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups March 25 - Jason Chen's Best Picks

Every Tuesday and Thursday, THN Fantasy expert Jason Chen will highlight his best picks to stream or roster for the rest of the season. The recommended players and goalies are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues and can be selected in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.

Click for the full list of streaming options for goalies, defensemen and forwards. 

Goalies

Tristan Jarry, PIT at TB (32% rostered)

A bit of a light Tuesday with just 10 games, which means there aren’t a lot of appetizing options. Jarry has lost two games in a row after winning four straight, but the truth is he’s the reason the Pens had any chance of winning those games anyway.

This is a tough assignment and I suspect a lot of goals will be scored; over the past five seasons, Lightning-Pens matchups are averaging a little over seven goals per game combined. The interesting thing is the Pens actually hold the advantage during that span with a 7-3-1 record, including 4-1-0 on the road, but that’s also misleading because the scales tilt heavily in the Lightning’s favor these days, who have won three of their past four meetings.

I’m not confident the Pens can pull off the win. The Lightning are excellent at home (24-8-2) and the Pens awful on the road (11-18-6), and the Lightning are back at home after playing six of their last seven on the road with a short break following a back-to-back. The Lightning are a veteran team that tends to bounce back quickly. Jarry’s a good option for saves and a win would be a nice but unexpected result.

Click for the full list of streaming options for goalies.

Defensemen

Justin Faulk, STL vs. MTL (47% rostered)

We’re getting close to the point where Faulk ‘graduates’ from this list. He’s been superb over the past few weeks and registered his third multi-point game in his past five games. The Habs have been playing well but they’re also not particularly good defensively and often rely on their offense to stay in games. Fun fact: Faulk has never scored a goal against the Habs in 30 career games. That streak has to end some time, and now’s a good time with Faulk and the Blues playing so well.

Brandt Clarke, LA vs. NYR (22% rostered)

The Kings on a roll with eight wins in their past nine games and their offense has been excellent with 14 goals (!) in their past two games. It’s situations like these where I don’t mind rolling the dice with Clarke, who is coming off a two-assist performance but quite pedestrian overall for the season. I do like the matchup, however; the Rangers got lucky against the Canucks to earn a 5-3 win despite getting heavily outshot and outplayed and the Kings should be able to dominate this matchup. Clarke’s fantasy upside is his PP2 role with a red-hot Quinton Byfield.

Click for the full list of streaming options for defensemen. 

Forwards

Dylan Cozens, C, OTT at BUF (42% rostered)

Free from the shackles of Buffalo and coming back to exact revenge on the team that gave up on him? Sign me up! Cozens has been excellent for the Sens in what should be an exciting game. The Sens lost both of their prior meetings this season by a combined 9-1 score, so there’s plenty of motivation in this one. Cozens has seven points, 20 shots, 31 hits and 46 faceoff wins in eight games with the Sens.

Brayden Schenn, C/LW, STL vs. MTL (37% rostered)

Schenn carries a three-game points streak into this game and he’s always fared very well against the Habs in his career, scoring 10 goals and 28 points in 30 games. The Blues are red-hot with six straight wins and they’ve scored at least four goals in every game.

Marco Kasper, C/LW, DET at COL (9% rostered)

Full disclosure: I did pick up Kasper in one of my leagues for this week, mostly for the back-to-back. He scored a goal against Utah, his fourth in six games, and centers a high-upside offensive line with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat on his wings. Kasper has gone through some quiet periods this season but he’s very good all year. I think their second meeting with the Avs will yield more than three combined goals, and both teams need their offense to win games.

Click for the full list of streaming options for forwards. 

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