NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Player Pickups Oct. 11 - A Golden Start For Ivan Barbashev

On every game day this season, THN Fantasy be highlighting players for fantasy managers to stream or roster for the rest of the season. A separate article will be provided for goalies. The recommended players and goalies can be used in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.

Ivan Barbashev, C/LW, VEG vs. STL (27% rostered)
Victor Olofsson, LW, VEG vs. STL (8% rostered)

A four-point game from Barbashev saw his rostered percentage jump from 21 to 27 percent. He's back on L1 next to Jack Eichel, where he played a lot last season, and adding value with PP2 minutes. 

Olofsson was moved off Eichel's wing even though they had previous experience playing together with the Sabres. Olofsson's fantasy value takes a hit moving down to the third line with Nicolas Roy and Brendan Brisson, but maintains his spot on PP1. 

The Blues are playing the second half of a back-to-back after facing the Sharks in San Jose on Thursday. Jordan Binnington is expected to get the start. 

Daniel Sprong, RW, VAN vs. PHI (6% rostered)

Sprong sniped a goal in his Canucks debut and more will come. His one job is to score goals, and he'll get plenty of chances playing alongside Elias Pettersson at even strength and being one of the go-to shooters on PP2. 

Morgan Frost, C, PHI at VAN (4% rostered)

A bit of a bummer Frost won't be playing with top prospect and Calder candidate Matvei Michkov at even strength even though they played well together during the pre-season, but they will play together on PP1. At even strength, Frost will have Owen Tippett, arguably the Flyers' best shooter, and Tyson Foerster (among the honorable mentions below) on his wings. 

Given how poor the Canucks' defense and goaltending looked in a 6-5 overtime loss in their season opener, the Flyers are unlikely to be held off the score sheet. Kevin Lankinen is expected to start for the Canucks in his season debut with his new club. 

Nick Foligno, LW, CHI at WPG (2% rostered)

As I mentioned before, there was simply no way Ilya Mikheyev and his stone hands would last very long with Connor Bedard. Captain Nick Foligno is back on L1 and PP1, providing him a huge boost in fantasy value. Foligno only offers up modest offensive potential at this point of his career - he scored just 17 goals in 74 games last season - but if he does score, it's largely because he's sharing the ice with Bedard. 

Justin Faulk, D, STL at VEG (49% rostered)

Hurry up and pick up Faulk before he 'graduates' from this list and ends up being rostered in more than half of Yahoo leagues. I highlighted Faulk for the Blues' season opener and he was excellent with two assists, two hits and a block and trailed only Nick Leddy in total TOI. He scored the game-tying goal against the Sharks in a comeback win Thursday night. Faulk is their PP1 quarterback. 

Neal Pionk, D, WPG vs. CHI (39% rostered)

Pionk usually plays more than the 19:20 he played in the season opener but there was no need in a 6-0 blowout win against the Oilers. He's great for multi-category coverage with blocks and hits and currently quarterbacks PP2. Since the 2019-20 season, the Jets are 12-3-1 against the Hawks with 3.31 goals scored per game and a 23.1 PP%. 

Jamie Drysdale, D, PHI at VAN (9% rostered)

The Flyers power play was awful last season but with a healthy roster and Michkov, that should improve. Drysdale, who was limited to just 34 games last season, including 10 with the Ducks, is expected to be their quarterback on PP1. When healthy, Drysdale is capable of providing nearly two shots per game. 

Honorable mention:

Dylan Holloway, LW, STL at VEG (5% rostered) - L1, PP2
Tyson Foerster, C/RW, PHI at VAN (4% rostered) - L2, PP2
Jack Roslovic, C, CAR vs. TB (1% rostered) - L1, PP2
Jackson Blake, RW, CAR vs. TB (0% rostered) - L4, PP2

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