Friday's waiver wire targets include puck wizard Trevor Zegras, the red-hot Dawson Mercer and the rising Anthony Mantha.
Trevor Zegras, C, ANA vs. WPG (46% rostered)
Based on talent alone, Zegras should be rostered in all leagues. He had an awfully slow start but he's picked it up with three points in five games. The Jets are playing the second half of a back-to-back and Zegras will get top-six and PP1 minutes.
Linemate Ryan Strome (illness) is questionable, and we shall see if he plays. If not, look for perhaps Max Jones to move up the lineup. This will hurt Zegras' value, but alternatively it might force Zegras to be more of the focus on offense.
Dawson Mercer, C/RW, NJ vs. CHI (38% rostered)
Mercer's coming off a two-goal effort against the Caps and now has four goals in his past four games. Playing L2 with Nico Hischier, Mercer's fantasy value has been up and down depending on his deployment and, needless to say, his fantasy value is trending up right now.
After going all of October without scoring a point, Mercer has since scored 20 points in 28 games. The Blackhawks are a soft matchup playing the second half of a back-to-back with weak goaltending.
Max Pacioretty, LW, WSH vs. CAR (33% rostered)
Obviously, our expectations should be tempered for a veteran winger coming off two Achilles injuries, but it was a fairly productive debut for Pacioretty, who finished with two hits and a block. The most surprising stat is zero shots, and you can definitely wait for Pacioretty to start scoring before you pick him up, but his ice time should increase steadily as he gets back into game shape.
Anthony Mantha, RW, WSH vs. CAR (5% rostered)
Mantha may never live up to his potential but he's notched an assist in two straight games and now has seven points in eight games. This will not be an easy matchup but the Caps will need some secondary scoring to win, and Mantha's line with Connor McMichael was more effective than Dylan Strome's line in their last game.
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