Florida Man - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

Analyzing the best streaming options, schedule advantages, and advanced metrics in Week 4 of the Fantasy Hockey season.

By Jeff Stacks · October 17, 2026 · Updated October 17, 2026

QUICK PICKS

Short on time? Just above ere are my Week 4 picks. The full breakdown on each player is further down the article, if you want an expanded take.

Light Nights in Week 4: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Best schedule: the Colorado Avalanche, with four games and three Light Nights.

FANTASY ROUNDUP HOCKEY DASHBOARD

Before I begin, I want to ask my readers a question: Do you want to play hard? Or do you want to play smart?

If your answer was both, you'd be correct. That's usually the best way to win, and it's exactly why we built the new Fantasy Roundup Hockey Dashboard.

Start with the Lineup tab. It helps you set your best lineup every night. If one of your guys goes down, it'll move him to IR and show you the best pickup for the open spot. From there, the Waivers tab ranks every available player for the week with the Light Nights, line assignments and powerplay deployment already built in. My picks are tagged too, so you can see who I like at a glance.

Next, head over to the Matchup tab for your odds against this week's opponent. There we offer the Optimize Matchup tool. This shows you the best streamers to help your team that week, and maximize your chances.

The Standings tab is where you'll see your projected stats and your odds of making the playoffs.

Click on any player's name in the NHL Dashboard and it will pull up their player card. This card is our custom design to make sure your players are always looking sharp. The cards include ratings, advanced stats ranked against that player's own position, and the lines and powerplay units they're skating on right now.

And now, for the best part. If you're sick of setting an alarm to beat your fellow Fantasy Hockey Managers to a player, the Automated Waiver Tool lets you schedule your claims ahead of time and makes them for you. The Queue All button in this article can line up four of my recommended picks for the overnight waiver run in one click. Follow a pick and we'll let you know when that player is available in your league. Every Tuesday we'll email you the picks that are still sitting on your waiver wire.

All you have to do is sign in to your Fantasy Roundup account - or sign up if you haven't already - and sync your Yahoo or ESPN league. There's a button here to log in and see which players are available. There will also be a button before every player's write-up to select him in the Fantasy Roundup Automated Waiver Tool and get to him before everyone else.

[Click here to open the Hockey Dashboard](/nhl-roundup?tab=home). If you're signed in, it'll take you straight to your overview. If you're not, it'll walk you through how everything works.

INTRODUCTION

First things first, congratulations to Cale Makar and his family on the birth of their twin sons on Wednesday. Makar played that night against Dallas on next to no sleep, and he's already back on Colorado's top powerplay unit at practice. If you've ever tried to function after a night with a newborn, let alone two, you know that's incredibly difficult.

A belated congratulations goes out to John Tavares and his family, too. They welcomed their fourth child, a son named Tucker, last week, and Tavares sat out the Leafs' game against Colorado to be there for it. As a Leafs fan, I'll allow it.

Now, as promised last week, the quick picks are right at the top of the article. If all you need is a name, I've got you covered. If you want to know why, click the player's name and keep reading. Thank you again to everyone on Reddit for the feedback and who pushed for it. I think it's going to bring more dynamics to the reading experience, and I wanted to extend my appreciation.

Week 4 is all about the Light Nights. Heavy nights are going to leave your bench full no matter what you do, so those extra points and categories will be found on the nights when there are barely any games on the schedule.

So, you were probably expecting a Colorado article, yes? The Avalanche have the best streaming schedule in the league this week with four games and three Light Nights, and nobody else comes close. The problem is what's left of them on the waiver wire (hint, it's sparse). The Avs worth rostering are long gone in most leagues, and the pickings under 40% rostered are slim. Gabriel Landeskog is only on the second powerplay unit, and Sam Malinski just got bumped off it altogether. T.J. Hughes is the most interesting of the bunch, but he's a deep-league play. That's a thin menu for the best schedule of the week. I'll still point you to all of them, but I'm not building the week around Colorado.

I went shopping in Florida instead. The Panthers play on two of the lightest nights of the week, Wednesday and Sunday, and they've got underrated talent sitting on waivers. Three of my picks this week are Panthers, starting with a 55-point winger on their top powerplay unit. Keep reading for Florida Men.

There's one more change this week. Every stat in this article now comes from each player's last five games. Last season's numbers carried us through the first few weeks, but players have played enough games that what they're doing right now is what matters most. Every advanced stat is still powered by my model and site Stacked Analytics, at [stackedanalytics.app](https://stackedanalytics.app). I had a ton of new sign-ups this week. Please get your email in there for the waiting list for when I officially launch the beta platform.

Alright, let's see if my Second Helpings from last week were worth going back for.

WEEK 3 ROUNDUP

Jack Quinn was everything I said he'd be. He put up six points in four games, two of them on the powerplay, and he fired 10 shots on net. He's still on Buffalo's top powerplay unit with Tage Thompson. One thing to note, though; Ryan McLeod moved up to Thompson and Josh Doan's line during Buffalo's game against Toronto on Thursday, which makes Quinn's line with Benson and Ostlund the Sabres' second line now. That doesn't scare me, but what does scare me is the schedule. Buffalo only plays twice in Week 4, so if he was a streamer for you, Wednesday's Light Night against Philadelphia is about all you're going to get.

The Choo-Choo Trenin delivered, too. Twenty hits and an assist in four games is exactly the kind of production I was looking for, and the Wild still have Sunday's game at home against Columbus to close out Week 3... why oh why did I drop this stud? Keep an eye on his linemate Maxim Shabanov, because you'll be hearing about him later in the article.

Jake Allen was about what I expected. Two wins, around league average performance. He's safe to drop in Week 4, but I hope I can exceed his performance.

Zayne's World, Part Two was... not excellent. Parekh was blanked in three games, with five shots and six PIMs. I still believe in what he's doing underneath it all, but Calgary plays only twice in Week 4, both on heavy nights. He's a Stacks certified drop.

T.J. Hughes was quiet for most of the week, but he finally broke through last night with his first goal of the season in Colorado's 5-2 win over Pittsburgh. He's still on the Avs' top powerplay unit even with Makar back, and he's put 12 shots on net in his last five games. He'll get another look later on, so keep reading.

A couple of honourable mentions deserve a shout, too. Trevor Connelly, my Deeper Darlings alternative, had three points in four games, two of them on the powerplay. Jeremy Lauzon combined for 16 hits and blocks in four games. Vegas doesn't have a single Light Night in Week 4 though, so both are safe to send on home to the wire.

Two hits and a whiff, with Hughes saving his week on Friday night. Allen gave you wins, just not in as many games as I expected. Not bad, not great.

The Jack Quinn explosion makes up for any whiffs. Let's dive into the murky Florida waters in Week 4.

WEEK 4 PREVIEW

Week 4 runs from Monday, October 19, 2026 to Sunday, October 25, 2026. There are 48 games in total, and once again the schedule is lopsided.

Monday (4 games), Wednesday (2 games), Friday (2 games) and Sunday (5 games) are all Light Nights. That's just 13 games across four nights. Tuesday (11 games), Thursday (12 games) and Saturday (12 games) are all heavy.

On the heavy nights, most of your roster is going to be playing and some of your guys are going to sit on the bench. On the Light Nights, there are so few games that many of your lineup spots will sit empty unless you stream into them. Wednesday and Friday are the extreme, with only four teams playing each night. But, that's where you should find your edge.

Colorado, Anaheim, San Jose and Toronto all have a Monday-Tuesday back-to-back to start the week, so expect some backup goalies to get the start early on. Keep that in mind when you're setting your goalies on Monday. Minnesota closes the week with a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back.

Yahoo rostered percentages are still moving fast this early in the season. All the percentages in this article were pulled on October 17, 2026, so double check them before you make your claims.

SECTION INTRODUCTION

Included at the end of this article is a legend which has definitions for several advanced statistics I'll be using to evaluate players, and any other fantasy hockey-specific terms or jargon I may use.

Most Yahoo leagues allow four player adds per week. The players you can pick up with these adds are generally called "streamers". In this article I'll be outlining my five favourite streamer players for the week. One forward, one defenceman, one goalie, one "banger", and one deeper league target.

The first section is headlined "SUPER SCHEDULES", where I'm going to list all the NHL teams with a preferable schedule.

In the second section called "WAIVER WHIPLASH", I'll list my favourite Forward, Defenceman, and Goalie under 40% rostered in the standard Yahoo Head-to-Head (HTH) format.

The third section I've labelled "BANGER BEASTS". This will highlight my favourite player overall for those managers in banger formats, which have additional stats: Blocks (BLK), and Penalties in Minutes (PIM), combined with Hits (HIT).

The final section is entitled "DEEPER DARLINGS", where I'll identify an underrated player rostered under 10%, for managers in leagues with 12 teams or more (also called deep leagues).

As always, every advanced stat in this article is powered by Stacked Analytics. The stats are rates per 60 minutes, and each player is ranked against their own position, so the stats can be compared apples to apples. Starting this week, every stat card and every number in the write-ups comes from each player's last five games, all situations.

Line and powerplay deployment comes from each team's most recent game, along with the beat reporters' practice and warmup reports since.

SUPER SCHEDULES

Here's who plays on each Light Night:

- MON (4 games) - Anaheim, Colorado, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Toronto, Utah

- WED (2 games) - Buffalo, Florida, Ottawa, Philadelphia

- FRI (2 games) - Chicago, Colorado, Montreal, Tampa Bay

- SUN (5 games) - Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Florida, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, NY Islanders, Vancouver, Winnipeg

The plan this week is simple. An Avalanche player covers three of the four Light Nights all by himself, with a Tuesday game in New Jersey on top. A Panther covers Wednesday and doubles up on Sunday. That's all four Light Nights with just two moves. If you'd rather grab a Flyer for Wednesday, they cover Monday as well.

If your preference is to build it one night at a time, here's how my picks line up:

- MON - Gabriel Landeskog, Sam Malinski, T.J. Hughes, Tim Washe, Joseph Woll, Alex Nedeljkovic (assuming they each get the start)

- WED - Carter Verhaeghe, Aaron Ekblad, Garnet Hathaway, Joseph Woll (assuming he starts)

- FRI - Gabriel Landeskog, Sam Malinski, T.J. Hughes

- SUN - Carter Verhaeghe, Aaron Ekblad, Garnet Hathaway, Gabriel Landeskog, Sam Malinski, T.J. Hughes, Maxim Shabanov

Timing matters too. Get your Monday claims in over the weekend so they clear in time. Wednesday is the night to plan around. Just four teams are playing, and two of them (Florida and Philadelphia) are featured heavily in this article. If you're using the Automated Waiver Tool, you can queue the whole week now and let it handle the timing for you.

On the other side, twelve teams have zero Light Nights in Week 4. Calgary and Columbus are the worst of the bunch, with just two games each and neither on a Light Night. Washington is in the same boat. Boston, Carolina, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Seattle, St. Louis and Vegas all play three times, every one of them on a night when your bench is already full. If you're holding a streamer from any of those teams (Zayne Parekh and Jeremy Lauzon, I'm looking at you), they're the first players I'd drop for one of the options below.

WAIVER WHIPLASH

Carter Verhaeghe

Florida Man number one. A 50+ point PP1 winger, just sitting there on your waiver wire.

Carter Verhaeghe is my favourite Forward add for Week 4. He put up 55 points in 77 games last season including 25 goals. He's sitting on waivers in just under two thirds of Yahoo leagues. That doesn't happen very often for a guy with his track record.

In his last five games, Verhaeghe has three points, two being goals, while playing almost 19 minutes a night. He's on the Panthers' top powerplay unit with the Tkachuk brothers in the absence of Brad Marchand and Sasha Barkov. At even strength, he's skating with Sam Reinhart and Lars Eller. The Panthers listed that trio third in their lines before Thursday's game against Vancouver, but a line with Sam Reinhart on it is not a third line in my books.

The schedule is what locked this pick in for me. Florida's Wednesday game in Ottawa is one of only two games that night, and Sunday in Chicago is another Light Night. Two of his three games come on nights when your lineup will have open spots.

His On-Ice numbers over the last five games are fantastic. Among all forwards, he ranks 24th in CF/60 and 23rd in SCF/60, both in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. This means when he's on the ice, the Panthers are dominating possession. Individually, he ranks 39th in iCF/60, also Elite, so he's creating chances plenty himself.

Here's the issue. His Shots/60 ranks 353rd, which tells me a lot of those attempts are getting blocked or missing the net. Combined with his PDO of 1.117, one of the highest among forwards, he's had quite a bit of luck on his side lately. I'm not worried, though. You're adding Verhaeghe for the powerplay and the Light Nights, and both of those are locked in.

If you'd rather go all in on Colorado, take a look at Gabriel Landeskog. He gets you the best schedule in the league this week: four games, three of them on Light Nights. Landeskog is on the second line with Brock Nelson and Nazem Kadri, and on the second powerplay unit with Nelson and Martin Necas. In his last five games, he has three points, two of them goals, including one against Pittsburgh on Friday, and he's thrown 10 hits. His ixG/60 ranks 78th among all forwards, in the Stacked Analytics High tier. He's not going to win your week on his own, but he gives you a safe floor in every format. He's 35% rostered.

Aaron Ekblad

Florida Man number two. Big Ek energy.

Aaron Ekblad is my favourite Defenceman add for Week 4, and I think he might be the biggest steal in this whole article. Ekblad is just 13% rostered.

Big Ek missed a couple of Florida's games early in the season for a personal matter, but since he's been back he's been everywhere. In his last five games, he has three assists and 11 shots while playing over 21 minutes a night, and he's chipped in seven hits for the banger crowd. He's on the Panthers' top pair with Gustav Forsling, and on the second powerplay unit with Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell. Not too shabby for this type of skill and deployment.

His individual numbers are the best of any defenceman I've looked at this week. Among all defencemen over their last five games, Ekblad ranks 12th in iCF/60 and 22nd in ixG/60, both in the Elite tier. He's shooting a lot, and he's shooting from good spots.

So why only three assists? His PDO is 0.850, the 13th lowest of any defenceman in the league, and his OISH% is 5.71. The puck just isn't going in while he's on the ice. That's not going to last for a guy who's shooting this much on a team this good. I want you to be holding him when the bounces start going in.

He gets the same Florida schedule as Verhaeghe, with two of his three games on Light Nights. Pair him with an Avalanche streamer and you've got the entire week covered with just two moves.

If you'd rather chase volume, Sam Malinski in Colorado is your guy. I'll be upfront; he was going to be my pick until Friday morning. With Makar out, Malinski had moved onto the second powerplay unit. Now Makar is back on PP1 and Toews has slid back down to PP2. According to Avs beat reporter Corey Masisak, that leaves Malinski off the powerplay entirely, and that's how Colorado lined up against Pittsburgh on Friday. That hurts his upside. But, he's still on the second pair with Brett Kulak, and his even-strength numbers are excellent. Over his last five games, he ranks 23rd among all defencemen in xA1/60, in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier, and 30th in SCF/60, in the High tier. He had 40 points last season (8 goals, 32 assists), but he's only got one assist through seven games so far. This tells me he's due. Four games with three on Light Nights gives him every chance to break through. He's 21% rostered.

The NHL goalie is quite possibly the most unpredictable position in all of sports. While there are some studs in the NHL, all goalies are fallible. Goalies are voodoo, as they say. Considering this, I am not here to recommend a goalie for any particular reason other than they could have a good schedule, they could be on a good team, or I just like the way they play and think they have potential to produce good numbers. Take anything I say about goalies with a grain of salt, but know I have done research into them and I am recommending in good faith.

Joseph Woll

And after alll... I'm not going to continue. As a Leafs fan, this hurts me :'(.

Joseph Woll is my Goalie pick for Week 4. Before you look at his record and close this tab, hear me out.

Yes, Woll is 0-3-2 in five starts as a Flyer. Two of those losses came in overtime, and the rest of his numbers tell a completely different story. He has a .916 SV% and has saved 3.28 goals more than expected. Among all goalies, he ranks 12th in GSAx/60 and 12th in SV%, both in the Stacked Analytics High tier. He's been doing his job. The Flyers just haven't been scoring for him (nor really doing anything, considering their worst start in franchise history).

He's also been the better half of the tandem. Woll has started five of Philadelphia's nine games, and lately Head Coach Rick Tocchet has been alternating him with Dan Vladar. The Flyers host Ottawa tonight to close out Week 3, then in Week 4 they have Light Nights at home against Colorado on Monday and in Buffalo on Wednesday, before hosting Anaheim on Saturday. If Vladar gets the start tonight, the rotation lines Woll up for Monday, and I expect him to get two of the three Week 4 starts.

Fair warning, Woll had a .898 SV% and a 3.34 GAA in 39 games last season, so this is a better start than he's used to recently. I've been burned by starts three weeks in a row, so here's my pitch. If your league counts wins, temper your expectations. If you're chasing above-average volume, he's one of the best streams under 40% rostered.

If you'd rather go with the hot hand, look at Alex Nedeljkovic in San Jose. Back in April, I told you Nedeljkovic had been particularly bad. Funny how things change (see: Goalie Sidebar above this section). He's won both of his starts this season with a .933 SV%, and he's saved 4.26 goals more than expected. Ned ranks 2nd among all goalies in GSAx/60 and 4th in HDGSAx/60, albeit with a tiny sample size. Yaroslav Askarov has started five of San Jose's seven games, but the Sharks play four times in Week 4, starting with a Monday-Tuesday back-to-back in Toronto and Montreal. I expect Nedeljkovic to get one of those, and likely Monday's Light Night. He's 8% rostered.

BANGER BEASTS

Garnet Hathaway

Florida Man number three. Lock your doors, hide your kids, hide your wife. Garnet Hathaway is out here running people over.

Before I get into it, a quick word on last week's pick. If Yakov Trenin is still on your waiver wire, he's a fantastic option again in Week 4. He has 24 hits in his last five games, good for 12th among all forwards in Hits/60. The Wild play four times in Week 4, with Sunday's Light Night in Vancouver to close out the week. He's still just 15% rostered. But he was my pick last week, and I wanted to give you some other banger options this time around.

Garnet Hathaway is my Banger Beasts pick for Week 4. Let me get this out of the way first; he will not give you points. He has zero through eight games this season, and I'm not expecting that to change much. That's not why you're adding him.

You're adding Hathaway because he's one of the best pure hitters in the league. In his last five games, Hathaway has 24 hits and 17 PIMs. His 30.63 Hits/60 ranks 6th among all forwards, in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. This isn't some hot streak, either. He threw 252 hits with 59 PIMs in 66 games last season. This is just who he is. He bangs, and he doesn't give a damn.

He's on Florida's fourth line with Bokondji Imama and Sam Lafferty. He kills penalties on the Panthers' top unit. The penalty kill keeps him on the ice when games get chippy, which is where the hits and PIMs should pile up.

The schedule makes him an easy add. Florida's Wednesday game in Ottawa and Sunday game in Chicago are both on Light Nights, so two of his three games land on nights when your other bangers might be sitting. At just 1% rostered, he should be available in virtually every league.

Hathaway doesn't play until Wednesday, though, and that's where Tim Washe comes in. Washe is on Anaheim's fourth line at 5v5 with A.J. Greer and Jeff Malott. Washe also kills penalties on the Ducks' top unit. In his last five games, he has 21 hits and 10 blocks while playing around 15 minutes a night. His 8.13 Blocks/60 ranks 4th among all forwards, and his 17.08 Hits/60 ranks 29th. He's even chipped in a couple of goals. This is a step up from last season, when he played 12 minutes a night and threw 91 hits in 39 games, so the extra ice time is helping him get WAY more work done. What makes him useful this week is the schedule. Anaheim opens Week 4 with a Monday-Tuesday back-to-back, starting with Monday's Light Night against the Rangers. Washe is only 4% rostered.

Here's how I'd play it if you have the adds. Grab Washe for Anaheim's Monday-Tuesday back-to-back. Monday's a Light Night against the Rangers, then Tuesday Anaheim takes a trip to Long Island. Drop him for Hathaway on Wednesday. This gets him on your squad in time for Florida's Light Night in Ottawa, then ride Hathaway the rest of the way in Week 4. That's five banger games with just two adds, and three of them land on Light Nights. Washe brings the blocks early in the week, and Hathaway brings the hits and PIMs after that.

DEEPER DARLINGS

T.J. Hughes

No, still not that Hughes. But he's back for thirds this time.

T.J. Hughes is my Deeper Darlings pick for the second week in a row. I know, I know. He popped one goal in the four games since the last article, and it took until Friday night to get it. But just like Zayne Parekh last week, a lot can change, and in Hughes' case the important stuff hasn't changed at all.

Start with the deployment. Makar is back and when Colorado ran its powerplay at the morning skate on Friday, Hughes was still on the top unit with him and Nathan MacKinnon. That's the unit he played on against Pittsburgh that night. Martin Necas, (of all people you picked Necas? Really Bednar?), got bumped down to PP2. Hughes stuck, and was reason enough for me to give this guy a spin. At even strength, he's on the third line with Jaden Schwartz and Fedor Svechkov.

Then there are the shots. In his last five games, Hughes has 12 shots on net playing just 14 minutes a night. Among all forwards over that span, he ranks 18th in iSCF/60, in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. He's getting to the dangerous areas, and he's letting it fly.

The scoresheet is finally starting to catch up. Friday's goal was his first of the season on his 17th shot. His IPP over the last five games has climbed to 50.0. A guy with these shot numbers on Colorado's top powerplay unit has a lot more of those coming.

With Colorado having the best schedule in the league in Week 4, with four games and three Light Nights, the calendar sealed it for me. A 4% rostered winger on Colorado's PP1 with three Light Nights is everything a deep league manager could ask for.

If you'd rather try a ride with the Wild, take a look at Maxim Shabanov. He's 8% rostered and skates on the third line with Yakov Trenin, but more importantly, he's on Minnesota's top powerplay unit with Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes. In his last five games, he has three points, two of them on the powerplay. When he's on the ice, Minnesota is firing at the net, and he ranks 4th among all forwards in SF/60. His PDO of 0.862 is one of the lowest among forwards, so the bounces have been going against him. This makes me think he's due for a point explosion. With the Wild playing four times in Week 4 against some of the softest defences on the schedule, Shabanov may turn out to be the sneakiest pick of the week.

NEXT WEEK PREVIEW

As mentioned at the beginning, all these players listed can be scheduled with the Fantasy Roundup Automated Waiver Tool when you sign in to your account, sync your league, and work with the Hockey Dashboard. Do your sleep a favour; work smarter, not harder, and get that edge over your league mates.

If you're following any of my picks, the Hockey Dashboard will let you know when they hit your waiver wire.

Remember to hit up [stackedanalytics.app](https://stackedanalytics.app) to check the underlying metrics for all your favourite players. I only have a Preview Mode available to the public, but my waiting list is now open. Sign up, give me your email, and I'll send you a code to log in when the beta launch begins.

Next week, I'll give you the full Week 4 Roundup, and we'll find out which Florida Man came through for you. Please, keep commenting on my articles. The engagement is fantastic information and I love discussing these picks with you guys.

Big reminder to also go to the comment section below and tell me how your picks did this week. We would love to hear feedback from our readers and how we can make ourselves better.

Good luck, and stay stacking!