NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups March 6 - 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

Cam Talbot, DET vs. UTA (48% rostered)

The Wings have suddenly lost a bunch of steam while Utah’s three-game winning streak just ended. This is a tough call, and note NHL.com’s odds have both teams at -110 on the money line as of Wednesday. I think both clubs have good offensive players which doesn’t bode well for Talbot’s save percentage. In cases like these, I tend to default to the better team, and even more so if they’re on home ice. In this case, it’s the Wings.

Connor Ingram, or Karel Vejmelka, should he start with Utah playing the first game of a back-to-back, and Talbot are both riskier plays for Thursday. This game is a toss-up, but note the Wings are at home and they’ve been a much stronger offensive team under Todd McLellan while Utah has gone through stretches where they’ve been unable to score many goals. I’m going with Talbot for the win but not confident he can provide a stellar save percentage.

Click for the full list of streaming options for goalies.

Defensemen

Darren Raddysh, TB vs. BUF (5% rostered)

Raddysh’s two assists against the Jackets gives him three points in his past two games. While Victor Hedman is still their top option, Raddysh has filled in on occasion. Raddysh’s production can be hard to predict it depends a lot on his usage and deployment, but past Sabres-Lightning matchups have featured some high-scoring affairs.

Click for the full list of streaming options for defensemen. 

Forwards

Shane Wright, C/RW, SEA at NSH (13% rostered)

Wright has been low-key very productive over the past month, scoring 21 points in his past 24 games. The Kraken offense took a small hit after trading Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde to the Lightning on Wednesday, but it shouldn’t affect Wright much since his line with Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky remains intact. In fact, it might even up some minutes for Wright, who faces one of the league’s worst defensive teams. The Preds’ goaltending has been uncharacteristically weak and expected to be without captain Roman Josi on their blue line.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, RW, TB vs. BUF (13% rostered)

Bjorkstrand was traded to the Lightning in a multi-player swap on Wednesday and expected to debut with his new club. Not quite sure how Jon Cooper will manage his lines, but it’s likely Bjorkstrand steps onto the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, dropping Zemgus Girgensons to the bottom six where he’s a much better fit.

Bjorkstrand doesn’t shoot the puck much but he’s an efficient scorer with strong two-way play. Perhaps playing on a much better offensive team such as the Lightning can unlock some potential. Bjorkstrand’s a speculative play because we don’t know where he’ll play in the lineup and how he’ll mesh with his new team.

Click for the full list of streaming options for forwards. 

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