NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Player Pickups Oct. 8 - Focusing On Faulk

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.

It's a tripleheader to kick things off in North America with the Blues at Kraken, Bruins at Panthers and Blackhawks at Utah. 

Note the Panthers' season opener, where they're scheduled to raise their championship banner, is going ahead as scheduled (as of this writing) despite the incoming Hurricane Milton. 

Dylan Guenther, RW, UTA vs. CHI (39% rostered)

Guenther is expected to be one of Utah's core forwards going forward after inking an eight-year, $57-million contract extension right before camp. He's scored 24 goals and 50 points in 78 through his first two pro seasons, and we're looking at 30-goal upside with a lot of potential for power-play points. Guenther will skate on the second line with Logan Cooley but play on the top power play unit with Clayton Keller. The Hawks ranked 27th on the PK last season.

Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CHI at UTA (37% rostered)

Teravainen was signed to play with Connor Bedard, and that's where he'll start. I'm cautiously optimistic 'Turbo' can supercharge his offense playing with one of the league's elite young talents and move him back to 60-70 point territory. Teravainen will share the ice with Bedard at both even strength and on the power play.

Jake Neighbours, LW/RW, STL at SEA (31% rostered)

The Blues have split up Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, which leaves Neighbours as the top triggerman on the top line. He scored 27 goals in 77 games last season on just 145 shots; I think the latter number is going to increase significantly this season. Thomas is one of the league's most underrated playmaking centers and ranked 15th in assists last season. 

Pavel Zacha, C, BOS at FLA (23% rostered)

Zacha moves from center to the left wing to make room for Elias Lindholm, but thankfully for his fantasy value remains with David Pastrnak. This is a tough matchup against one of the league's best defensive teams last season, but Zacha's offense has really improved over the past two seasons with two consecutive 20-goal, 50-point seasons sharing the ice with Pastrnak. 

The trio will stick together to form part of their top power play unit as well. If you're looking for roster flexibility, Zacha should gain LW eligibility before long.

Barrett Hayton, C, UTA vs. CHI (8% rostered)

A bit of a forgotten prospect and easy to forget Hayton's only 24 years old, so there's a ton of room to get better. Hayton will open the season where he played before injuries limited him to just 33 games last season - between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz on their top line and top power play unit. Hayton is not a big point producer, but don't be surprised if he sets career highs on offense across the board while adding 600-plus faceoff wins for added value.

Justin Faulk, D, STL at SEA (44% rostered)

Faulk is coming off an excellent pre-season and showed that he can score 50 points while adding 100-plus blocks and hits. He's a multi-category threat and he will quarterback their top power play unit in Torey Krug's absence. I think Faulk has excellent rest-of-season value.

Adam Boqvist, D, FLA vs. BOS (12% rostered)

A bit of a curveball from Paul Maurice here as neither Aaron Ekblad nor Gustav Forsling will open the season on the power play. Instead, Boqvist will quarterback the top unit. I'm not sure if this is something Maurice wants to try early in the season or if he's really going to stick with it, but playing PP1 instantly gives Boqvist a lot of fantasy value. 

The Panthers PP ranked eighth last season and will feature their big four in Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Boqvist's job can't get any easier than this.

Logan Cooley, C, UTA vs. CHI (49% rostered) - L2 with Guenther, PP2
Sam Bennett, C, FLA vs. BOS (38% rostered) - L2 with Tkachuk, PP2
Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, CHI at UTA (25% rostered) - L2 with Kurashev/Hall, PP1
Matty Beniers, C, SEA vs. STL (24% rostered) - L1, PP1
Dylan Holloway, LW, STL at SEA (3% rostered) - L1 with Thomas/Neighbours, PP2
Sean Durzi, D, UTA vs. CHI (42% rostered) - PP2 with Cooley/Crouse

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