Stuart Skinner and Joel Hofer lead some potential waiver-wire gems. Secure your fantasy hockey advantage with these crucial goalie picks.
On every game day this season, THN Fantasy will highlight players and goalies for fantasy hockey managers to stream, roster or utilize in standard leagues and/or DFS games. Players and goalies highlighted for streaming in standard leagues are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues.
12 games on Thursday, February 26
* = confirmed
Jet Greaves, CBJ at Jeremy Swayman, BOS (7 p.m. ET)
Ilya Sorokin, NYI at Samuel Montembeault, MTL (7 p.m. ET)
John Gibson, DET at Linus Ullmark, OTT (7 p.m. ET)
Joseph Woll, TOR at Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (7 p.m. ET)
Jacob Markstrom, NJ at Stuart Skinner, PIT (7 p.m. ET)
Jonas Johansson, TB at Brandon Bussi, CAR (7 p.m. ET)
Samuel Ersson, PHI at Jonathan Quick, NYR (8 p.m. ET)
Philipp Grubauer, SEA* at Joel Hofer, STL* (8 p.m. ET)
Spencer Knight, CHI at Juuse Saros, NSH (8 p.m. ET)
Filip Gustavsson, MIN at Mackenzie Blackwood, COL (9 p.m. ET)
Dustin Wolf, CGY at Yaroslav Askarov, SJ (10 p.m. ET)
Connor Ingram, EDM at Darcy Kuemper, LA (10:30 p.m. ET)
Goalies
Stuart Skinner, PIT vs. NJ (57% rostered) - FanDuel $7,600
No Sidney Crosby and taking away Kris Letang’s dependable partner Brett Kulak, who has sent to the Avs for Sam Girard, could make this matchup a lot more difficult for the Pens. However, they are still the stronger team and the Devils are playing the second game of a back-to-back. Offensively, they’re still struggling as a unit, scoring just one goal against the Sabres on Wednesday. Skinner is 8-4-1 with slightly better consistency with the Pens than with the Oilers, though the underlying numbers still suggest he is a mediocre goalie with value below a replacement-level goalie based on goals saved above average metrics.
Joel Hofer, STL vs. SEA (17% rostered) - FanDuel $7,700
The Kraken are expected to start Philipp Grubauer, who’s had the much better season than Hofer, but we’re going against the grain and picking the home team against a potentially tired opponent. The Blues will not have Robert Thomas but will have several key wingers returning, including Dylan Holloway, and overall have enough depth to contend with the Kraken, who really rely on one slightly above-average scoring line led by Jared McCann. Hofer may not stop a lot of pucks, but the Blues should be victorious in this matchup.
Connor Ingram, EDM at LA (16% rostered) - FanDuel $7,500
The Oilers have had the Kings’ number in recent seasons and it should be no different this time. Both teams are playing the second game of a back-to-back but the Oilers have minimal travel after playing in Anaheim last night. Ingram has only one win in his past four starts with the Oilers and the key to winning will be the Oilers’ offense. Even after adding Artemi Panarin, the Oilers should have the upper hand in this matchup and pull off a win for Ingram.
Jonathan Quick, NYR vs. PHI (7% rostered) - FanDuel $7,600
Watch the news for this one as Igor Shesterkin may be available. If he isn’t, Quick should get the start against an offensively-challenged Flyers team that generated just one goal and 24 shots Wednesday against the Caps. Their expected starter is Samuel Ersson, who’s been horrendous this season with 15 losses and .856 SP in 24 starts. Several Rangers had good showings at the Olympics, defying expectations considering how poorly they’ve been during the NHL season, and hopefully that positive momentum carries back overseas from Italy.
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