Shark Week - Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

Analyzing the best streaming options, schedule advantages, and advanced metrics.

By Jeff Stacks · January 3, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

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. But if you’re sick of having to set an alarm to get a player before your fellow Fantasy Hockey Managers do, try the Fantasy Roundup Automated Waiver Tool.

It allows you to add every player mentioned in this article on a schedule, so you can forget about having to set an alarm when you want to make a claim.

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

Now you’re all logged in, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! Hoping my readers had a safe and happy Holiday season, and I know you’re excited to get back into the action for Week 14. There are teams with “perfect” schedules this week, namely the Washington Capitals and the Utah Mammoth. However, I decided to go against the grain a bit with my picks, as I found some underrated gems lining up with Macklin Celebrini on the San Jose Sharks.

Before we take a dip into the Shark pool, we have to address last year’s Week 13’s results. Let’s take a look.

WEEK 13 ROUNDUP

WEEK 14 PREVIEW

This week’s preview is going to be a bit different from past articles. There are other teams with better schedules, but my favourite team in Week 14 is the San Jose Sharks. To do that I would be amiss not to address the Olympian in the room – Macklin Celebrini.

Macklin Celebrini has very quickly become my favourite player to watch in the NHL. Living in Ontario it’s more difficult to catch Sharks’ games, but I’ve made it a mission to catch them as much as I can. Celebrini has created must-watch TV out in southern California.

Don’t get me wrong, watching Connor Bedard put the city of Chicago on his back before his unfortunate injury was also exciting. He was neck-and-neck with Celebrini in points before he went down. Bedard is no slouch, but with Macklin, there’s something particularly special with the way he is handling his sophomore season.

I’m sure I don’t need to relay the stats to my readers, but I’m going to anyway.

22 goals. 40 assists. 62 points in just 40 games played. His point total is more than the next two point producers on the Sharks, combined. He has contributed to over 50% of all Sharks goals this season. Need I remind you he’s only 19 years old?!?

He is currently on pace for 127 points over a full season. On pace for 100 points in 65 games played, which would tie Sidney Crosby as the second fastest teenaged NHL player to hit that point total in that span. The only faster player was Wayne Gretzky.

Celebrini is putting up an historic season. On top of all the accolades he’s hit already this season, he was also just announced to be joining the Canadian Olympic team in Milan, Italy. Oh, did I mention he’s the youngest player ever to wear the gilded Leaf?

Below I’ll display what I’m talking about. The following are Celebrini’s underlying metrics over the past 10 games. Obviously the on-ice numbers aren’t the most promising, but I assure you to focus on his individual count numbers. 6th in ixG. 2nd in iCF and iSCF, only behind Captain of Team Canada, Connor McDavid.

Macklin Celebrini

I could go on and on about this kid. The power of his skating combined with his vision emulates Nathan MacKinnon. His faceoff prowess and defensive positioning reminds me of Sidney Crosby. His silky mitts and passing ability are reminiscent of Connor McDavid. Macklin Celebrini is the whole package, and the San Jose Sharks are blessed to have him on their roster.

With all that said, obviously you won’t be able to pick up Celebrini on the waiver wire. So, why am I mentioning him?

I’m telling you, right now, this second, to go to your waiver wire and get whatever players you can that play with Mack. The San Jose Sharks as a team are surprisingly low-rostered on the Yahoo platform, which made them a great option to pick from despite other teams having better schedules. I’ll be highlighting them in the Waiver Whiplash section.

WAIVER WHIPLASH

William Eklund

William Eklund has been one of my favourite players to watch this season. Starting the season with Celebrini at even strength and on the first powerplay unit, he was moved off the top line to help the middle six Sharks' players contribute offensively after a bad 3-8 record in October.

Since Celebrini's buddy Will Smith went down with injury in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 13, 2025, Eklund was moved up to the first line to play with the young phenom. Tallying seven points in the eight games since Smith's injury, Eklund has performed well in his heavier role, but I believe he has much more to give.

In those eight games, Eklund has been shooting the lights out with 29 shots recorded in those outings. This has led to a spike in his individual underlying numbers, showing he does have a play-driving ability with and without the teenaged superstar.

As his underlying numbers show, his on-ice numbers the past five games have been positive, but also a bit pedestrian. When comparing with the average OISH% and very low PDO, to me this is attributing to William being unlucky, despite solid production. His individual metrics is where he shines.

While having an average PDO, Eklund is ranked 23rd in iCF, tied with the likes of Sam Reinhart, Alex Ovechkin, Alex DeBrincat, Matt Boldy, and Nikita Kucherov. His 6th ranking in ixG and iSCF is decidedly elite, being just behind his linemate Celebrini, as well as Zach Hyman and Jason Robertson.

With the news that Smith is still considered week-to-week with what has been speculated to be a separated shoulder, William Eklund is a must-add player in just about every league format that counts goals, assists, powerplay points and shots on goal.

Dmitry Orlov

My Defenceman pick this week is more of a mixed bag, as I'll be focusing on two playing for the San Jose Sharks. I ultimately chose Dmitry Orlov, but keep an eye out for the Sharks' PP1 deployment. John Klingberg was originally my pick as he was playing on PP1 with Celebrini, but was announced as injured in the afternoon of January 2, 2026.

Dmitry Orlov is the more 'defensive' Defenceman on the Sharks' blueline. He and Klingberg have made for a surprisingly good pair, especially considering Klingberg was deemed a negative asset by both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers in recent years.

Despite the defensive view of Orlov, he is on-pace to hit a career-high in point totals at 41 over an 82 game schedule. Orlov and Klingberg have gone back and forth between the powerplay units, with Orlov mostly taking the quarterback duties when Klingberg goes out with Injury.

Sitting at a combined 10 goals and 26 assists, Orlov and Klingberg have cemented themselves as the veteran top pair on the Sharks while the organization allows for sheltered development of their young star in Sam Dickinson.

Their underlying metrics show quite the stark contrast in On-Ice and Individual metrics. I’m going to show the two with per minute rates over the past five games among all Defencemen playing over 50 minutes. Comparing apples to apples is always the fairest approach.

Orlov’s advanced stats are on the lower range and are not showing very well individually, whereas Klingberg has much more point upside when driving play. Klingberg is my preferred choice, but I strongly implore you to review the Sharks’ line combinations and powerplay unit deployments before pulling the trigger on either player.

John Klingberg

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. Even the great Connor Hellebuyck, widely regarded as the best goalie in the NHL – and possibly the world – has had games this season where he performed at a below average level. There are also stories of rookies setting the world on fire. Jesper Wallstedt is a perfect example of this. Prior to this season, Wallstedt played a whopping five NHL games in the past three years. In those games he posted a record of 2-3-0, and put up a Sv% of 0.876, well-below league average. This year, Wallstedt came out of nowhere and began to dominate the league. In 16 games he has a record of 11-2-3, boasting a GAA of 2.21, a Sv% of 0.928 and FOUR shutouts. Unbelievable performance for the 23-year old rookie. Those numbers should put him in both the Calder and the Vezina conversations. Smaller sample size, sure, but in Fantasy Hockey, you grab good goalies when you can get them. This type of change in performance is virtually unexplainable. In terms of advanced stats and underlying metrics, the current landscape can show how a goalie is performing relative to their peers, but there has not been much advancement in the idea of future indicators of performance. 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.

Alex Nedeljkovic

Alex Nedeljkovic continues my theme of stacking Sharks' players in Week 14. While the clear backup to the younger Russian Yaroslav Askarov, San Jose has two back-to-back games this week, which all but guarantees an even split between the two netminders – barring health, of course.

Nedejlkovic has become somewhat of a journeyman in his NHL career. Highly touted as a rookie and putting up good numbers in the AHL, he's never been able to find his footing in the NHL. Always behind the likes of Cam Ward in Carolina, Thomas Greiss in Detroit, Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, and now Askarov in San Jose, Nedejlkovic has been established as a career-backup in the big 2026.

Those types of roles can always change, but I don’t expect his to while he’s a Shark. San Jose General Manager Mike Grier acquired Ned from the Penguins on July 1, 2025 to be Askarov’s understudy.

Since then, he’s put up numbers that can really only be described as below-average. Playing 17 games and having a record of 5-7-2 is not optimistic, but he can absolutely provide a win or two in the right circumstances, and I surmise he’ll have a good chance at that in Week 14.

Projected to face the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights on the light night Wednesday and Sunday, respectively, these are two teams that have been struggling to score of late.

I’m not guaranteeing wins here, but particularly with the Kings game, I would start Nedejlkovic. The Kings are 1-4 over their last five, and scoring an average of just 2.8 goals per game. With the Sharks scoring an entire goal more than the Kings on average in the same frame, I would not bet against the young upstarts.

As mentioned in articles previously, I can provide the underlying metrics for Nedejlkovic but again, do not expect these numbers to reflect future performance.

If you need to stream a goalie, Nedejlkovic is an interesting spot-stream if you’re looking to bet on a high-scoring win against the Kings. I would drop him after that Wednesday game and look to one of Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins for their projected Sunday games.

BANGER BEASTS

Alex Laferriere

For banger leagues, Week 14 has several options. You can look at Jack McBain again, as he was great again in Week 13 with a limited schedule, so he should perform very well in a week with four off-nights. I've already written about McBain twice, so go check out my write-ups on him from Week 10 and Week 11.

This week I wanted to highlight a player that is definitely a viable banger, but also has point production opportunity with his deployment. That player is Alex Laferriere.

Over his past five games, Laferriere has potted three goals as well as put up elite shot and hit generation for the Los Angeles Kings, totalling 20 shots and 17 hits. Along with his recent PP1 promotion, Laferriere has to be rostered in all bangers formats in Week 14 where the Kings have three off-nights before Saturday.

When doing research for this article, Laferriere's advanced stats over the past five games made me raise my eyebrows. His On-Ice metrics are average compared to his peers, but I felt his individual numbers looked especially notable.

Laferriere is tied in iCF with this article's cover player William Eklund. His OISH% is also incredibly low, indicating he should put up points in both goals and assists, assuming he keeps his PP1 deployment.

Mix the promising scoring stats with an average of 3.4 hits per game, and I would argue Laferriere is the best player I've featured in this section so far, and its not close. He should be rostered in the vast majority of bangers formats assuming he stays on L1 and PP1.

DEEPER DARLINGS

Igor Chernyshov

I get it. Chernyshov is not rostered under 10% like my previous Deeper Darling pickup recommendations. You know what though? This is my article and I do what I want!

Joking aside, when I first was doing research for the Week 14 article, Chernyshov was rostered at 9%. His roster percentage has since spiked to 16% within days. As mentioned before, that is the Macklin effect.

Chernyshov has played just seven games total in the NHL. He spent the majority of this season with the AHL affiliate of the Sharks, the San Jose Barracuda. In that time, Chernyshov put up 11 goals, 12 assists for 23 points in 25 games in the minors. When Will Smith went down with his injury, Chernyshov was clearly GM Mike Grier's preferred callup.

When he joined the big squad on December 16, 2025, the 6'3" Russian winger made an immediate impact. Stapled to the top line with Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund, Chernyshov has accumulated three goals and five assists for eight points in just seven games.

His advanced numbers don't seem to be the most sustainable, however. Being 4th in OISH% and 62nd in PDO is extremely concerning, but if he continues to ride shotgun with Celebrini and Eklund, you should roster him starting on Tuesday if he's available. If there is any indication he takes a spot on PP1, try to snag him before Tuesday if possible.

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 and sync your league. Do your sleep a favor; work smarter, not harder, and get that edge over your league mates.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that Fantasy Roundup has recently introduced a Streaming Planner in addition to the Automated Waiver Tool. This allows you to assess the best schedules and free agents in any given week. It can also review your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and will recommend players that could help you address any areas of improvement. Go check it out!

The Reddit community r/fantasyhockey has been great in getting views to these articles. Big shoutout to that rabid fanbase that loves getting the edge over their fantasy manager counterparts. Hope to keep providing you with solid picks in the future, but if my picks didn’t work out for you, I want to hear about it in the comment section below.

Research has begun for my upcoming piece titled "Quinn to the Wild". There I'll break down the Minnesota Wild's blockbuster acquisition of Quinn Hughes and what it means for fantasy hockey as a whole. I’ll dive into team impact, point projection and potential ripple effects around the league.

Following that write-up, I’m going to divert my attention to digging into the Olympic teams and how the selected players – and snubs – could perform when the NHL comes back from Milan.

Looking forward to more engagement moving into 2026 and hope all my readers had a safe and happy New Years’ celebration.

Good luck, and stay stacking!