Flow State - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

Analyzing the best streaming options, schedule advantages, and advanced metrics in Week 6 of the Fantasy Hockey season.

By Jeff Stacks · October 31, 2026 · Updated October 31, 2026

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

Good morning, Fantasy Hockey World, and a very Happy Halloween. Hope you've got a costume ready and a candy bowl to share.

What a Friday night in the NHL! Elliotte Friedman reported Friday evening that Nikita Kucherov has told the Tampa Bay Lightning he will not be re-signing with them, and has asked for a trade. The reigning Hart Trophy winner is in the final year of his deal and would walk as a free agent in July if Tampa doesn't honour his request. A couple hours later, Julien BriseBois put out a statement saying the Lightning "unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita." Kucherov's agent, Dan Milstein, said Nikita has spoken to everyone involved and there's nothing else to add. So, we've got a 33-year-old MVP with 15 points in 12 games this season who wants out, and a GM who says he isn't going anywhere. Buckle up, this one's probably going to run for months.

From a fantasy perspective, nothing changes today. If you own Kucherov, you keep him and you enjoy the points as he racks them up. If he does get moved, I'll be all over it when it happens. Until then, it's the best soap opera hockey has had since... well, just last week when Hellebuyck joined the New Jersey Devils.

Speaking of goalies, let's talk about the most interesting man in hockey. Devin Cooley, my Goalie pick in Week 5, spent the past two weeks becoming a story far bigger than fantasy hockey. After beating Carolina on October 18th, Cooley gave a postgame interview about how too much fun changes him "from an unconscious goalie to a conscious goalie", and how he has to let his unconscious brain do the work because it reacts quicker. If you asked him how he made a save, he'd have no idea. It started small, making the rounds in hockey media circles for a few days. Then after his third straight win, Cooley had a follow-up interview where he described being completely in control of his mind, which pushed this story over the edge. By the end of the week, these clips were in mainstream media and people who have never watched a hockey game were talking about a Flames backup goalie and his philosophy on the position. Doing a media tour earlier this week, Cooley explained that when a negative thought shows up before a game, he tells himself "I literally don't care" until it goes away. He also apparently has a pet bunny named Tito who calms his nerves before games. I'm not making any of that up.

Then he went out and walked the talk. Cooley won four straight games, was named one of the NHL's Three Stars of the week ending October 25th, and opened Week 5 by stopping 26 of 28 shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday's Light Night. On Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers, Colton Dach came crashing through his crease, and Cooley unfortunately left after the first period with a lower-body injury. Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska called him week to week on Friday, October 30th. I really feel for the guy. He finally had the net to himself. He had the whole hockey world watching and listening. Ultimately, it lasted just five starts.

That's why Devin Cooley is my Stacks' Picks cover player this week, and this is a first for my article series. He's not one of my featured picks, because, obviously, you can't stream a goalie on IR. He's on the cover because I've been writing about him since my very first article with FS Roundup, Week 10 of the 2025-26 season.

Cooley was playing like the best goalie in the league before he got hurt. He went 4-0-0 with a 0.955 SV% on Calgary's home stand. Over his last five games, his SV% is the best of any goalie in the league and his GSAx/60 ranks 5th. If you have an IR spot, stash him now. If you don't, set a reminder for when he's cleared to return. Whatever Calgary's crease looks like in two weeks, I want you to be the manager who grabbed him before everyone else remembered he existed. More on what his absence does to the Flames' net will be included in the Goalie Sidebar.

In other goalie news, Connor Hellebuyck won his Devils debut 5-1 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. He was right back in the net on Friday against the Vegas Golden Knights and picked up another win. Jake Allen started the Wednesday half of the back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche. I don't expect Allen to be very rosterable moving forward with the Big Dog taking his spot. Last week I mentioned his days as a streamer were numbered, and that number turned out to be just one.

Now, about the title. Cooley's flow state is what every streaming manager is chasing, and this week Calgary's schedule hands it to you. The Flames play four games in Week 6, and all four of them are Light Nights. Monday in San Jose, Wednesday in Seattle, Friday at home against Anaheim and Sunday at home against Philadelphia. It's been a while since I saw a team go four-for-four on Light Nights in a single week. Flames have been a steady source of streaming candidates recently, so you may even have a couple on your squad already. If you don't, go grab a Flame before your league mates do. A Flames streamer will be in your lineup every single night in Week 6, so you'll never have to think about him. Let the unconscious brain do the work. Yes, this means the Flames are in here for a fourth straight week. No, the Flames are not paying me.

The good news for anyone sick of reading about Calgary can be rest assured; they're only represented in two of my five favourite picks in Week 6. Buffalo has three games this week, all of them at home and all of them on Light Nights. The Sabres have a L1 PP1 winger sitting at 38% rostered. Florida and San Jose each have four games with three Light Nights. Those two teams are supplying my goalie picks and a couple of backup options.

And if you've already read the Quick Picks, yes, it's Zayne's World, Part Four. The trilogy is over. This is a franchise now. At this point, you could call it a Haunting Saga (because his box score numbers frighten me).

Every stat in this article comes from each player's last five games, all situations, powered by my model and site Stacked Analytics at [stackedanalytics.app](https://stackedanalytics.app). I'll be opening the site for a public beta soon, and you can sign up for that now. Go take it for a spin, and get your email on the waiting list while you're there.

Alright, let's find out whether the C of Red paid off.

WEEK 5 ROUNDUP

A couple of honourable mentions deserve a shout, too.

Luke Evangelista had two assists and eight shots in four games and is up to 43% rostered, so he's priced out.

Jamie Drysdale scored his first goal of the season in Columbus on Tuesday and added a powerplay assist against Anaheim, bringing his fantasy totals to a goal, an assist and five shots in three games. He's still quarterbacking Philadelphia's top unit at 5% rostered, but the Flyers have just one Light Night in Week 6 so you can safely drop him.

Tristan Jarry gave up six to Toronto on the night the article went up, took an overtime loss to Detroit on Monday, and then shut out the Flames with 24 saves on Wednesday. That's goalies, baby! He's 34% rostered now and Edmonton has zero Light Nights next week, so he's probably a drop.

Zack MacEwen had a goal, seven hits and seven PIMs in three games at under ten minutes a night. You're welcome.

Morgan Frost had a goal and two assists, with a powerplay goal against Seattle on Friday.

The big one is Matt Coronato. My Week 1 Deeper Darling had a goal, seven assists and four powerplay points in four games, including a goal and three assists against Seattle on Friday. That was the first four-point game by a Flame since Jonathan Huberdeau did it on October 12, 2024. He's up to 19% rostered and you'll see him below as my backup Forward.

Two hits, two duds and a goalie who got hurt in the middle of a heater. Give me a rating out of 5 in the comments. On to Week 6.

WEEK 6 PREVIEW

Week 6 runs from Monday, November 2, 2026 to Sunday, November 8, 2026. There are 51 games in total. Once again the schedule swings hard from night to night, and that's exactly what you want when you need some streams.

Monday (4 games), Wednesday (4 games), Friday (3 games) and Sunday (6 games) are all Light Nights. That's 17 games across four nights. Tuesday (11 games), Thursday (11 games) and Saturday (12 games) are all heavy.

Saturday is the heaviest night of the week with 24 teams in action, so your bench will likely be full no matter what you do. Friday is the shallowest, but with six teams playing, you could use that to your advantage. If you've got a Flame, a Sabre, a Shark or a Duck on your roster, Friday is where you can flip a matchup if you strategize.

Back-to-backs are all over the place again, so watch for backup options if you need some Goalie stats. Vegas, Colorado and Detroit all open with a Monday-Tuesday. Chicago goes on Wednesday and Thursday. Anaheim and Columbus play Thursday and Friday. San Jose and Minnesota play Friday and Saturday, and they play each other on the Friday half. Florida, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Toronto all close the week playing Saturday and Sunday.

Yahoo rostered percentages are still moving. All the percentages in this article were pulled today, October 31, 2026, but double-check them before you make your claims. Two of my picks are sitting right under the 40% line, so they could change before the games start today at 1PM ET.

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. 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) - Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Florida, San Jose, Vegas

- WED (4 games) - Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Ottawa, San Jose, Seattle

- FRI (3 games) - Anaheim, Buffalo, Calgary, Columbus, Minnesota, San Jose

- SUN (6 games) - Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Florida, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Vegas, Winnipeg

My plan this week is simple. One Flame covers all four Light Nights by himself. That has never happened in this article before, and I'm going to enjoy it. A Sabre covers Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. A Shark covers Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and a Panther covers Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. Any two of those four teams gets you every Light Night with two moves, and if you're running a Calgary player, every other add is gravy.

If you'd rather build it one night at a time, here's how my picks line up:

- MON - Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh, Dmitry Orlov, Akira Schmid (if Markstrom is still out), Alex Nedeljkovic (if he gets the start), Adam Klapka, Garnet Hathaway, Trevor Connelly

- WED - Zach Benson, Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh, Dmitry Orlov, Akira Schmid or Alex Nedeljkovic (whichever gets the start), Adam Klapka, Garnet Hathaway, Jason Zucker

- FRI - Zach Benson, Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Nedeljkovic (if he gets the start), Adam Klapka, Jason Zucker

- SUN - Zach Benson, Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh, Akira Schmid (if he gets the start), Adam Klapka, Garnet Hathaway, Trevor Connelly, Jason Zucker

Timing matters too. Monday is an eight-team night, and Calgary, Florida, San Jose and Vegas are all on it, so get those claims in over the weekend. Wednesday has Buffalo, Calgary, Florida and San Jose all playing, which makes it the busiest Light Night for this article. Sunday is loaded with Buffalo hosting Vegas, which puts Benson, Zucker and Connelly on the same sheet of ice. If you're using the Fantasy Roundup Automated Waiver Tool, queue the whole week now and let us handle the timing for you.

Conversely, eleven teams have zero Light Nights in Week 6. Carolina, Dallas, Edmonton, Montreal, Nashville, the Rangers, St. Louis, Utah and Vancouver all play three times on heavy nights. The Islanders and Washington are the worst of the bunch with just two games each, both heavy. If you're holding a streamer from either of those two teams, he's the first guy I'd move out for one of the options below.

WAIVER WHIPLASH

Zach Benson

Zach Benson is my favourite Forward add for Week 6. He's sitting at 38% rostered, and with the week he just had, that number is going to cross 40% very soon. If you want him, you may have to go get him today.

Benson has been an Honourable Mention in this article three times going back to last season, in Weeks 15, 18 and 24, always as a second-unit powerplay guy at 6% or 7% rostered. You might also remember him from my Week 3 article this year, when he was the left winger on Jack Quinn's line. Quinn did exactly what I said he would, and now it's Benson's turn as a headliner. Buffalo's 2023 first-round pick put up 13 goals and 30 assists in 65 games last season, with 142 shots and a very banger-friendly 106 PIMs. This year he has two goals and nine assists through 13 games, and he's playing around 19:42 a night. That is top-line ice time on any team in the league.

The deployment is the reason he's here. With Konsta Helenius out with an upper-body injury and sent back to Buffalo for evaluation on Thursday, Benson is on the Sabres' top line with Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs. He's also on the top powerplay unit with the aforementioned Quinn, Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Noah Ostlund. That unit has been feeding families. In his last five games Benson has two goals and four assists, with a goal and five shots in San Jose on Tuesday and a goal and two assists, one of them on the powerplay, in Anaheim on Thursday.

His underlying numbers are even better than the box scores. Among all forwards over their last five games, Benson's ixG/60 of 1.94 ranks 9th, in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. He's getting to the dangerous ice himself, and his iSCF/60 (56th) and Shots/60 (104th) are both considered High. On-ice, Buffalo is generating 4.90 expected goals per 60 with Benson out there, 34th among all forwards and again in the Elite tier. His xA1/60 ranks 99th, so he's setting up his linemates at a High rate on top of it.

The schedule is also great. Buffalo plays Wednesday against Ottawa, Friday against Columbus and Sunday against Vegas, every one of them at home and every one of them a Light Night. Three games on three nights when your bench is wide open. You won't have to bench anyone for him.

One caution. His OISH% over the last five games is 17.95, one of the highest of any forward in the league, and his PDO is 1.108. Buffalo has been finishing at a very hot rate while he's on the ice, and that will cool off. His own shot quality is what makes me comfortable with it. A 9th-ranked ixG/60 says he is generating chances, even if the overall percentages come back to earth.

If you'd rather stay in Calgary for the full four-for-four schedule, take a look at Matt Coronato. Coronato was my Week 1 Deeper Darlings pick at 7% rostered, and his coronation finally arrived on Friday night. He had a goal and three assists against Seattle, with two powerplay points, in the first four-point game by a Flame in over two years. He's up to three goals and 11 assists in 13 games, and over his last five he has a goal and eight assists. He's on Calgary's top line with Joel Farabee and Mikael Backlund, and he's still on PP1 with Frost, Farabee, Gridin and Parekh.

His xA1/60 of 1.08 ranks 37th among all forwards and his SF/60 of 36.17 ranks 60th. He's picked up a point on 90% of the goals scored while he's on the ice over his last five games. The catch is that he's passing more than shooting right now, with an ixG/60 down in the Low tier, and his PDO of 1.074 says the bounces have been kind. However, four Light Nights at 19% rostered makes that a very easy risk to take.

Zayne Parekh

Zayne's World 4: The Return of Zayne Parekh. It's Halloween, and like every good horror villain, he just keeps coming back for more.

Every slasher franchise follows the same script. The first movie scares everybody, the sequel disappoints, the third one gets weird, and by the fourth one you're not sure why you keep showing up. Then the monster walks through the door again and you realize you never actually saw him die. Friday the 13th called its fourth movie The Final Chapter and then made eight more. I'm not promising this is my final chapter on Parekh either.

Yes, this is the fourth time Parekh has been my Defenceman pick in six weeks. Week 1 at 39% rostered, Week 3 at 29%, Week 5 at 21%, and now Week 6 at 23%. Last week I promised you three Light Nights, and he gave you a powerplay goal and a powerplay assist in the first two games of the week. The production I've been warning you about since September has started creeping in. This week, the schedule leaves every door in the house unlocked.

Calgary has four games in Week 6. Monday in San Jose, Wednesday in Seattle, Friday at home against Anaheim and Sunday at home against Philadelphia. All four are Light Nights. No team in the league has more than three, and no other team has that many games without a single heavy night. For a PP1 defenceman at 23% rostered, you simply will not find a better schedule fit for Week 6.

Nothing about his deployment has changed, and that's a compliment. Parekh is still quarterbacking Calgary's top powerplay unit with Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Matt Coronato and Matvei Gridin. That unit just produced four powerplay points from Coronato and a powerplay goal from Frost in the last week, so it's been humming. Unfortunately, at 5v5 he's on the third pair with Kevin Bahl, averaging a little over 17 minutes a night.

The box score is still catching up. Parekh has just one goal and four assists through 13 games. In his last five games he has a goal, two assists and 11 shots on net.

The underlying numbers are the best they've been all season. Among all defencemen over their last five games, Parekh ranks 12th in SF/60, 12th in xGF/60, 15th in SCF/60 and 16th in CF/60, all in the Elite tier. Individually he ranks 3rd in iSCF/60, 9th in Shots/60 and 13th in ixG/60. He's third in the league in individual scoring chances for a defenceman. The Flames are tilting the ice every time Parekh jumps over the boards, and he's taking the best chances himself.

Last week his OISH% was 3.33, the 33rd lowest of any defenceman. It's up to 6.06 now, which is still the 77th lowest in the league and still well under where it should settle. When Calgary starts shooting league average with him on the ice, the assists should come in bunches, and I want you holding him when they do.

With Parekh, I've basically been the horror movie equivalent of the guy who keeps yelling "he's behind you" at the screen. Four Light Nights at 23% rostered is where I expect that jump scare to finally land.

If you'd rather hedge with a different team, take a look at Dmitry Orlov. Orlov is in the air in San Jose. Long-time readers will remember him as my Defenceman pick in Week 14 last season, and again in Weeks 23 and 24 during the fantasy playoffs. In Week 23, Orlov picked up four assists on Macklin Celebrini's powerplay unit. He finished the year with 37 points, 18 of them on the powerplay, along with 123 hits and 77 blocks in all 82 games. The Sharks have handed him the keys to their top powerplay unit again, this time with Celebrini, Will Smith, Ivar Stenberg and Mason Marchment. He has two goals and four assists through 14 games, and over his last five Orlov has a powerplay goal against Boston and a powerplay assist against Vancouver on Thursday. At 5v5 he's on the third pair with Nolan Allan, averaging around 17:36 a night.

His SF/60 of 33.86 ranks 20th among all defencemen, in the Elite tier, and his CF/60 (36th) and SCF/60 (65th) are both High. He also throws the body, with a Hits/60 that ranks 61st. San Jose plays Monday against Calgary, Wednesday in Los Angeles and Friday in Minnesota, all Light Nights, before a Saturday game in Dallas. Being a powerplay quarterback on a line with Celebrini at 19% rostered, Orlov is worth a look.

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. This week's voodoo starts in Calgary. With Devin Cooley on IR, Dustin Wolf has the net back by default. Wolf started Friday against Seattle and stopped 20 of 22 for the win, which is his best game in a month. Calgary recalled Arsenii Sergeev from the Wranglers, and he's expected to start tonight in Colorado on the back half of the back-to-back. Once this week starts, there are no back-to-backs for the Flames, so Wolf should get the bulk of those four Light Night starts. His last five games are still in the Low tier in every category I track, so this is a volume and schedule play over anything else. He's 26% rostered, and you should know the risk, but if Calgary keeps up their recent play, Wolf could bring in a massive reward. In New Jersey, Hellebuyck is 2-0-0 as a Devil, and Jake Allen is a backup. If Allen is still on your roster, you're wasting a spot. In Florida, Jacob Markstrom was back skating on Thursday with Paul Maurice saying he's "not far off", and he took part in the morning skate on Friday. He was ruled out 10 to 14 days on October 20th, and we're now at day 11. That timeline matters a lot for my Goalie pick, so read on.

Akira Schmid

Schmid happens.

Akira Schmid was an Honourable Mention in my Week 4 article at 16% rostered. He's 39% now and he's my Goalie pick for Week 6, with one giant asterisk attached. This pick only works if Jacob Markstrom is still out on Monday. Check the Panthers' morning skate reports before you lock him in.

Schmid's season numbers won't blow you away. He's 5-2-1 with a 0.888 SV%, and that includes a five-goal night in Ottawa on October 21st (insert The Scream meme here). Since then though, he's been a different goalie.

Schmid's won three straight, stopping 19 of 21 against Chicago, 24 of 25 against Winnipeg on Tuesday and 22 of 24 against Winnipeg again on Friday. He's 5-1-0 in his last six starts. The Panthers are 8-4-2 without Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, both of whom are still on IR, so the team in front of him has been very good.

His advanced numbers back it up. Over his last five games, Schmid ranks 9th among all goalies in HDGSAx/60 at 0.66 and 12th in GSAx/60 at 0.57, both in the Stacked Analytics High tier. His HDSV% of 0.857 ranks 16th, High again. He's saved 2.84 goals above expected over that stretch. The only Mid number on his card is his overall SV% of 0.897, and that's because of the Ottawa game.

Schmid's schedule in Week 6 was the primary reason I picked him. The Panthers play Monday at home against Detroit and Wednesday at home against Chicago, both Light Nights. They're then in Washington on Saturday and Boston on Sunday for a back-to-back. If Markstrom is still out, Schmid should get Monday, Wednesday and one half of the weekend, with Cooper Black (1% rostered) taking the other. Three starts, two of them on Light Nights, from a goalie who's playing the best hockey of his season.

If Markstrom comes back on Monday, forget everything I just said. Schmid becomes a backup who gets one half of the Saturday-Sunday back-to-back, probably the Washington half, and nobody should burn an add on that. Markstrom is 91% rostered and he's a solid 1A when healthy. Watch the Florida beat reporters on Monday morning. If Markstrom is in the starter's net at the skate, pivot to the backup below.

Last season Schmid went 16-10-6 with a 0.893 SV% in 34 games for Vegas. He's never been a star, but he's shown he can hold a net for a few weeks at a time. At 39% rostered with a Light Night schedule, I'll take that.

If you'd rather not wait on the Markstrom news, take a look at Alex Nedeljkovic in San Jose. Ned was my Goalie pick in Week 14 last season during Shark Week, when I called him a career backup. He was also my backup Goalie pick in Week 4 this year. He's 3-1-1 with a 0.903 SV% in five starts this season, so not too shabby. He hasn't started since October 24th in Boston when he gave up five, and Yaroslav Askarov has taken the net since. He's in play anyway because of the schedule. The Sharks have four games in Week 6 with a Friday-Saturday back-to-back in Minnesota and Dallas, so Nedeljkovic likely gets at least one of those. With four games in six nights, he could feasibly start two. Monday against Calgary, Wednesday in Los Angeles and Friday in Minnesota are all Light Nights.

His GSAx/60 of 0.89 ranks 8th among all goalies, in the Elite tier, and his SV% of 0.903 ranks 19th. He's saved 4.61 goals above expected across his five starts this season. His high-danger numbers are Mid, so he's been stopping what he should, but not much more. Askarov is 69% rostered and has been excellent, so he's not a viable waiver option for the majority of Yahoo leagues. At 11% rostered, Ned is the guy you could add on Thursday night when the Sharks' Friday starter is announced.

If you're feeling brave, Dustin Wolf is 26% rostered with four Light Nights and the Calgary crease to himself. I covered the risk in the Sidebar. Colten Ellis in Buffalo (5%) is 3-1-0 with a shutout against San Jose on Tuesday, but he gave up six in Anaheim on Thursday and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 64% rostered, so the starts are a coin flip there.

BANGER BEASTS

Adam Klapka

I'm running out of cheek jokes, but I'm not running out of reasons.

Adam Klapka is my Banger Beasts pick for the second week in a row, and the fourth time overall. Last week I said four games should mean 12 to 16 hits, and he blew that projection out of the water with 19 in four games, and he still has one left to play. When a guy beats my projection with a game to spare, he gets to keep his job.

This week, Klapka gets four Light Nights. Monday in San Jose, Wednesday in Seattle, Friday against Anaheim and Sunday against Philadelphia. Every one of those is a night when the other bangers on your roster are probably sitting on your bench doing nothing. Klapka will be out there running guys down like a very red Michael Myers.

In his last five games, Klapka has 23 hits, seven shots, two assists and five PIMs. That five was a fight with Curtis Douglas on Friday night, and those two were throwing bombs. His Hits/60 of 22.82 ranks 12th among all forwards, in the Elite tier. His iCF/60 of 16.86 ranks 79th, considered High, which is a ridiculously good number for a guy who most consider a fourth-line goon. He's getting 12 minutes a night over his last five, up from the ten and a half he averaged last season, and he's still the net-front presence on Calgary's second powerplay unit with Simon Nemec, Ryan Strome, Yegor Sharangovich and Aydar Suniev.

The scoring touch I talked about last week is still there. He has two goals and two assists through 13 games. His 5v5 line has changed slightly with Brennan Othmann day-to-day, so he's on the fourth line with Maxim Tsyplakov and Jonathan Castagna right now. Don't expect much from that trio at even strength. The hits and the powerplay time are why you're here.

Last year he threw 295 hits in 79 games, with 51 blocks and 112 PIMs. Four more games this week should mean another 16 to 20 hits, a couple of blocks, a few PIMs and a real chance at a point or two from the second unit. The same warning as always applies. He was a healthy scratch on a Monday Light Night back in March, and a Reddit reader burned an add on him that night, so check the Flames' warmup lines Monday afternoon before you lock him in. At 6% rostered, he's available almost everywhere.

If you need a Florida Man for the banger slot, look at Garnet Hathaway. He was my Banger Beasts pick in Week 17 last season as a Flyer and again in Week 4 this year as a Panther. Hathaway's continued to do what he always does. In his last five games Hathaway has 21 hits, seven blocks and six PIMs. His Hits/60 of 23.95 ranks 7th among all forwards and his Blocks/60 of 7.98 ranks 3rd, both Elite. He's on Florida's fourth line with Bokondji Imama and Cole Schwindt, and he kills penalties on the second unit, for about ten and a half minutes a night. He will not give you points. Do not expect any. His Shots/60 ranks 468th out of 479 forwards. Florida plays Monday, Wednesday and Sunday on Light Nights, plus Saturday in Washington. At 2% rostered, he's very available.

DEEPER DARLINGS

Trevor Connelly

Trevor Connelly is my Deeper Darlings pick for Week 6, and like Gritsyuk last week, I've been circling him for a while. He was my Deeper Darlings alternative in Week 3 at 1% rostered, when he was on Vegas' third line with Tomas Hertl. He put up three points in four games in the Week 4 Roundup, and he's been sitting on the top powerplay unit the entire time. He's 8% rostered now, which is still under the deep-league line.

The promotion is what pushed him from an alternative to a pick. On Friday night against New Jersey, Connelly moved up to the second line with William Karlsson and Mitch Marner, and he also took shifts with Jack Eichel and Marner. He's on PP1 with Marner, Eichel, Mark Stone and Hertl. Vegas is 9-5-1 and that powerplay unit has four of the best offensive players in the Western Conference on it. The 2024 first-round pick is the fifth guy, and he's just 20 years old.

He has four goals and five assists through 15 games, averaging around 14:06 a night. His last five games have been relatively quiet in the box score with two assists and six shots, but the underlying numbers tell me he's about to start screaming. Among all forwards over their last five games, Connelly ranks 49th in xGF/60, in the Elite tier, and his CF/60 (73rd) and SF/60 (57th) are both High. His xA1/60 of 1.03 ranks 51st. He's been consistently creating chances for his teammates, and now his linemates are Marner and Karlsson.

Now for the part I love. His OISH% over the last five games is 2.78, the 80th lowest of any forward in the league. Vegas has been generating an Elite rate of expected goals with him on the ice and burying almost none of them. That doesn't last on a team with this much finishing talent. His own Shots/60 is in the Low tier, so you're adding him for assists, and I expect the assists are coming.

Vegas plays four times in Week 6. Monday in Boston, Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Thursday in Detroit and Sunday in Buffalo. Two Light Nights, and the Monday-Tuesday back-to-back to open the week. For a top-powerplay winger on a second line with Mitch Marner, available in 92% of leagues, I'll take the four games and live with two of them being heavy.

If you'd rather stay in Buffalo with their three home Light Nights, why not hit your league mates with a Zucker Punch? I recommended Jason Zucker alongside Jack Quinn in Week 24 last season when both of their underlying numbers were humming, and here we are again. The 34-year-old scored 24 goals with 21 assists and 18 powerplay points in 62 games for the Sabres last season. He was injured to start the season, but was activated from IR on October 21st. Zucker scored a powerplay goal in his season debut against Philadelphia. In the five games since coming back, Zucker has nine shots on net, with six of them in San Jose on Tuesday. He's on Buffalo's third line with Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod, and on the second powerplay unit with Owen Power, Norris, McLeod and Josh Doan. Zucker's been averaging a little over 12 minutes a night.

The sample is tiny, so take the ranks with a grain of salt. But in those four games his Shots/60 of 10.96 ranks 33rd among all forwards, his ixG/60 of 1.58 ranks 23rd and his iSCF/60 of 14.61 ranks 12th, all in the Stacked Elite tier. Zucker loves shooting from high-danger spots, which I would expect to generate some points for your squad in a good week. The Sabres have been snakebitten recently with him on the ice, rocking a PDO of 0.875 that's among the lowest of any forward. This tells me the on-ice numbers have nowhere to go but up. A 24-goal scorer with three home Light Nights at 4% rostered is a deep-league treat.

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 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 6 Roundup, and we'll find out whether the flow state carried us through or whether I need an intervention about the Calgary Flames. 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.

To all my readers, Happy Halloween!

Good luck, and stay stacking!