Fantasy Hockey Championship Week
It is championship week in fantasy hockey and that means it is also sell-out week if you were fortunate enough to make it to the championship round.
This means that you want to have some of the players who are heating up the fastest on your roster this week and you want to cut ties with all the slumping players unless they are stars.
On offense, Barrett Hayton has been one of the better players in the league as of late and this comes as he is now playing on the top line with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz.
The Coyotes have a tough schedule ahead as they will face Stuart Skinner, Alexandar Georgiev and Jake Oettinger in their next four games but if the Coyotes are going to create offense it will start with Hayton.
Alex Killorn of the Lightning is another potential option for a waiver wire pickup as they are absolutely loaded on offense in Tampa Bay.
Killorn is currently on a line with Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli and has 54 points on the season which makes him a safe pickup with the potential to boom.
Mikael Backlund is a veteran who plays for Calgary and as Calgary makes its playoff push it would be wise to add a player from a team that has something to play for.
Backlund is centering a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Coleman and has as many points as Nazem Kadri does this year and is widely available in leagues so he can be an add for the week.
Jake Sanderson should have a serious argument for the Calder Trophy at the end of the year and would be a terrific addition for teams looking to add an impact defenseman.
The offensive numbers do not tell the whole story in his case as it took him a little while to get acclimated to the league and he is paired with Artem Zub.
The only downside is that the Senators have a difficult trio of games coming up against New Jersey, Tampa Bay and Florida.
Mattias Ekholm is widely available in leagues and has been a perfect fit in Edmonton since the trade from the Predators.
Ekholm is paired with Evan Bouchard and plays over 20 minutes a game but the Oilers will have their hands full with Vegas and Los Angeles in upcoming games.
With the trade of Vladislav Gavrikov to the Kings, Columbus needs a defenseman to step up and that has been Andrew Peeke who is a very decent player who can provide some offense.
Columbus is not necessarily a team that has a lot to play for but they will look toward who will be on the team next year and Peeke will look to try and get a good look during the rest of the season.
Even with the addition of Joonas Korpisalo, Phoenix Copley has held his own in net and will look to do so down the stretch.
The Kings will likely alternate goaltenders but it is important to note that Copley has a record of 22-4 and a better goals-against average than Korpisalo which could mean the team plays better with him in net.
James Morrison is a Junior majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email jpm6920@psu.edu.
