Showtime - Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups

Analyzing the best streaming options, schedule advantages, and advanced metrics in Week 8 of the Fantasy Hockey season.

By Jeff Stacks · November 14, 2026 · Updated November 15, 2026

Short on time? Here are my Week 8 picks. The full breakdown on each player is further down the article, if you want an expanded take.

- FORWARD - Patrick Kane (CHI / RW / PP1 / 24%)

- DEFENCEMAN - Sam Rinzel (CHI / D / PP1 / 8%)

- GOALIE - Alex Lyon (BUF / G / 19%), on the nights he gets the start

- BANGER - Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (DET / LW/RW / PP2 / 27%)

- DEEPER DARLING - T.J. Hughes (COL / RW / PP1 / 2%)

Light Nights in Week 8 are Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. Monday has just two games on it, and there is no hockey at all on Friday. Montreal and Vancouver each play four times with two 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. 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! Welcome to Week 8. Let's start with a few news items.

Remember that popcorn I had ready for the awkward reunion?

It went stale very quickly. Connor Hellebuyck didn't play a second in Winnipeg on Tuesday. New Jersey started Jake Allen, and Jets fans booed Hellebuyck anyway. There were "Coward" chants during warmups. A "signed in pencil" chant to open the third period. Then Dawson Mercer, the forward who went to Winnipeg in the trade, scored twice against his old team, including the winner, because of course he did. The Jets won 4-2 and ended the Devils' five-game winning streak. Mercer scored two more in Dallas on Thursday, so that's four goals in two games for a guy sitting at 12 points on the season. Hellebuyck went back in the net at home against Washington on Thursday and stopped 26 of 28. He's 6-0-0 as a Devil, and apparently undefeated in buildings where nobody is jeering at him.

Speaking of soap operas, Nikita Kucherov is handling his trade request extremely well. He scored a hat trick and added an assist in Buffalo on Wednesday in an 8-3 win. Since the news broke on October 30th, he has four goals and nine assists in seven games. If this is what an unhappy Kucherov looks like, Tampa should keep him miserable.

That Buffalo game matters for this article too, so hold that thought.

My Stacks' Picks cover player this week is "Showtime" Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. He's back this season in the jersey he won three Cups in. On Thursday he returned from an upper-body injury that cost him three games, and Chicago beat Buffalo 3-2 in overtime to snap a six-game losing skid. I'll have more on Kane in the Forward section.

Showtime is my Forward pick, and his powerplay quarterback Sam Rinzel is my Defenceman pick. The goalie in the other net on Thursday was Alex Lyon, making his season debut for the Sabres after missing the first 18 games with a shoulder injury. He's my Goalie pick. Three of my five picks were in the same building on Thursday night, and I promise I didn't plan it that way.

The schedule this week is the strangest one I've seen all season. There are only three Light Nights, with zero games on Friday. Monday has two games on it. Who is making these schedules?

I'll be honest with you, the teams with the best schedules don't have much sitting on waivers, so I leaned on deployment and underlying numbers more than usual. I'll explain how to work around it in the Super Schedules section.

Every stat in this article comes from each player's last five games, all situations, powered by my model and website Stacked Analytics at 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.

Time to find out whether Vegas took all my chips.

WEEK 7 ROUNDUP

WEEK 8 PREVIEW

Week 8 runs from Monday, November 16, 2026 to Sunday, November 22, 2026. There are 47 games in total, and they are spread out in the weirdest way possible.

Monday (2 games), Wednesday (3 games) and Sunday (5 games) are the Light Nights. Tuesday (11 games), Thursday (12 games) and Saturday (14 games) are heavy. Friday has no games at all, so go outside or something.

Saturday is the heaviest night of the week with 28 teams in action, so don't bother trying to squeeze a streamer into your lineup that night. Monday is the opposite. Only Montreal, the Rangers, Vancouver and Utah play. If you have anyone from those four teams, they're walking straight into your lineup.

Back-to-backs are stacked at the end of the week. Boston goes Tuesday and Wednesday. Montreal and Colorado both play Wednesday and Thursday. Seven teams close with a Saturday-Sunday: Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Vancouver. Chicago visits Vancouver on Sunday with both teams on the second half. Edmonton and St. Louis are in the same spot. Expect backups in net on Sunday.

Yahoo rostered percentages are still moving. All the percentages in this article were pulled on November 14, 2026, so double-check their availability 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. There's one exception this week. Alex Lyon has played one game this season, so his card uses all of last season with that start blended in.

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 (2 games) - Montreal, NY Rangers, Utah, Vancouver

- WED (3 games) - Boston, Colorado, Detroit, Montreal, New Jersey, Utah

- SUN (5 games) - Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Vancouver

Longtime readers will remember Week 4, when Colorado had the best schedule in the league and almost nobody worth adding. This week is the same problem with four teams. Most of the Canadiens worth rostering are long gone, and Vancouver is 3-17-1. Utah's best options are mostly taken, and the Rangers only play twice. So my plan this week is built around volume. Chicago and Buffalo both play four times and both finish on Sunday's Light Night, and that's where three of my five picks come from.

If you want to chase the Light Nights anyway, a Canuck covers Monday and Sunday, and a Canadien covers Monday and Wednesday. One of each gets you all three nights with two adds. I have a Canuck in the Banger section and a couple of Canadiens in the Deeper Darlings Honourable Mentions in case you want to dig into the bargain bin.

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

- MON - Paul Cotter

- WED - Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, T.J. Hughes

- SUN - Patrick Kane, Sam Rinzel, Alex Lyon (if he gets the start), Kris Letang, Paul Cotter, Taylor Hall

Sunday is the night to circle. Chicago is in Vancouver, which puts both of my Blackhawks and Cotter on the same ice. Buffalo is in Tampa Bay that night too. Six of my ten names play on Sunday. Wednesday is thinner, but Brandsegg-Nygard and Hughes will both slot easily into your lineup with only six teams playing. If you're using the Fantasy Roundup Automated Waiver Tool, queue the whole week now and let us handle the timing for you.

Sixteen teams have zero Light Nights in Week 8. Florida, Nashville, San Jose and Seattle are the worst of the bunch with just two games each, both on heavy nights. If you grabbed a Predator or a Shark on my advice last week, thank him for his service and move him out for one of the options below.

WAIVER WHIPLASH

Patrick Kane

It's Showtime in Chicago again.

Patrick Kane is my favourite Forward add for Week 8, and my cover player. He's been an Honourable Mention in this article twice before, in Weeks 10 and 15 last season, when he was a Red Wing sitting at 37% and 38% rostered. This is his first time as a headliner. He had 16 goals and 41 assists in 67 games for Detroit last season, with 19 of those points on the powerplay. Now he's back with the team that drafted him first overall in 2007.

Kane has a goal and eight assists through 16 games, playing 18:03 a night. He left the Colorado game on November 2nd with an upper-body injury and missed the next three. He came back on Thursday against Buffalo, played 17:39 and put four shots on net. That was Chicago's first win in seven games. I'm not saying those two things are related, but I'm not ruling it out either.

The deployment is why he's here. Kane is on Chicago's top powerplay unit with Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Roman Kantserov and Sam Rinzel. He works one flank and Bedard works the other. At even strength, he took warmups with Anton Frondell and Andrew Mangiapane on Thursday, then spent most of the night beside Nazar and Oliver Moore. Nazar scored twice in that game, so I doubt Jeff Blashill is in a hurry to change up that line.

His on-ice numbers are the best part of his card. Among all forwards over their last five games, Chicago ranks 9th in SF/60 with Kane on the ice, in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. His CF/60 (28th) and SCF/60 (31st) are Elite too. The Blackhawks are 5-13-1, but they pile up shots when Kane's out there. His xA1/60 of 0.92 ranks 87th, in the High tier, so he's setting up good looks for his linemates as well.

The points haven't matched his underlying metrics. He has two assists in his last five games, and his OISH% of 5.71 sits in the Low tier. His PDO of 0.927 is Low too, indicating some positive regression should be coming his way. Chicago is scoring on fewer than six percent of its shots with Kane on the ice, and that number should come up. When it does, a playmaker on a top unit with Bedard is the guy I want to be holding.

The schedule gives him plenty of chances. Chicago plays four times in Week 8. Toronto visits on Tuesday and Columbus comes in on Thursday, which happens to be Kane's 38th birthday. Expect a big game from him that night.

The Blackhawks then go to Calgary on Saturday and Vancouver on Sunday's Light Night. The Canucks are 3-17-1, so that should be a nice way to end the week.

One caution. He's 37 for another few days and he just came off IR, so watch the morning skate reports. If he misses a practice, be ready with my backup pick.

If you'd rather take the hotter hand, look at Victor Olofsson. Yes, him again. He was my Deeper Darlings pick and my cover player last week at 7% rostered, and you already read what he did to Utah on Wednesday. He has six goals and four assists in eight games this season. He's still on Vegas' third line with Tomas Hertl, with Ivan Barbashev on the other wing, while also on the top powerplay unit with Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Hertl.

His card is ridiculous. Among all forwards over their last five games, Olofsson ranks 10th in Shots/60 and 12th in xGF/60, and his ixG/60 ranks 17th. Nine of the eleven stats on his card are in the Elite tier. The reason he's the backup is the schedule. Vegas plays three times in Week 8 and none of them are Light Nights. Dallas visits on Tuesday and again on Thursday, and the Golden Knights are in Winnipeg on Saturday. His OISH% of 21.21 and his PDO of 1.076 also tell me he's been running hot, but not so hot to expect a catastrophic fall from grace. If your league is shallow enough that you can start him on heavy nights, he's the better player right now. If you need the Light Night, stick with Kane.

Sam Rinzel

Somebody has to pass Kane and Bedard the puck. As long as the first powerplay unit doesn't switch up by Tuesday, that should be Sam Rinzel.

Rinzel is my Defenceman pick for Week 8. He was an Honourable Mention in Week 22 last season, as a second-unit guy at 8% rostered. He's still 8% rostered, but his role is a lot better now.

Chicago has been searching for a powerplay quarterback all season. In late October the top unit was five forwards. Artyom Levshunov ran it for a few games while Kane and Bowen Byram were hurt. At practice on Tuesday, Rinzel got the keys. He kept them on Thursday against Buffalo, running the point on a unit with Bedard, Kane, Nazar and Kantserov.

He had two assists in that game. One of them was a point shot that Nazar tipped in to tie it 2-2 in the third period. He also took two minor penalties, so it was an eventful night.

The ice time is the part I like most. Rinzel played 11:39 in Boston on Halloween. In the five games since, he's gone 16:32, 18:33, 20:50, 21:23 and 21:53. Blashill is giving him more every single night. He has four assists and nine shots over those five games, and none of the assists came on the powerplay. That tells me there's another level here once the top unit starts clicking.

His numbers are solid across the board. Among all defencemen over their last five games, Rinzel ranks 46th in xA1/60 and 52nd in Shots/60, both in the High tier. His IPP of 66.70 ranks 36th, High again, so he's been in on two out of every three goals Chicago scores while he's on the ice. Eight of the eleven stats on his card are in the High tier. Nothing jumps off the page as Elite yet, but he's a 22-year-old first-round pick whose role just changed this week, and his card hasn't caught up.

He's on the third pair at 5v5, and he spent most of Thursday beside Alex Vlasic. He has a goal and six assists through 18 games.

The schedule is the same as Kane's. Chicago has four games in Week 8, finishing in Vancouver on Sunday's Light Night. You don't often find a PP1 defenceman playing 21 minutes a night at 8% rostered.

The risk is Byram. He's on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, but is apparently close to returning. When he comes back, Blashill might hand him the top unit. Keep an eye on the Blackhawks' powerplay units at practice. If Rinzel drops to the second unit, he drops off your roster too.

If you'd rather go with a safer veteran, Kris Letang in Pittsburgh is the pick. This is his sixth time in my articles. He was an Honourable Mention in Weeks 18, 21 and 23 last season and again in Week 2 this year, and he was my backup in Week 3. He's always the bridesmaid. Letang has a goal and three assists in his last five games, with a powerplay goal in Anaheim last Sunday and two assists in Los Angeles the night before.

Among all defencemen over their last five games, his xA1/60 of 0.75 ranks 11th and his xGF/60 of 4.30 ranks 17th, both in the Elite tier. He also throws the body, with a Hits/60 that ranks 56th. He's on the second powerplay unit with Evgeni Malkin, Egor Chinakhov, Justin Brazeau and Hendrix Lapierre, behind Erik Karlsson on the top unit, and he's playing 20 minutes a night on a pair with Declan Carlile. Pittsburgh plays three times in Week 8, but their first game is on Thursday. St. Louis visits that night, then the Penguins go to Nashville on Saturday and Dallas on Sunday's Light Night.

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.

Alex Lyon

The Lyon roars again.

Alex Lyon is my Goalie pick for Week 8. Longtime readers will remember him from Week 18 last season, when he was my Goalie pick and that week's cover player. He was on a 10-game winning streak back then, and he finished the year 20-10-4 with a 0.906 SV% and three shutouts. He saved 7.76 goals above expected for a Buffalo team that badly needed it.

This season has been a different story. Lyon missed the first 18 games with a left shoulder injury. He told reporters last week he was "frothing at the mouth" to get back in. The Sabres activated him on Thursday and he started that night in Chicago, stopping 22 of 25 in a 3-2 overtime loss. It wasn't a masterpiece, but for a guy who hadn't played a real game since the spring, there were some pretty promising indicators, especially with how poorly Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has played this season.

Now, back to that Tampa Bay game I told you to remember. On Wednesday, UPL gave up five goals on 14 shots and got the hook. Colten Ellis came in and allowed three more on the next eight shots. The two of them combined for a 0.636 SV% in an 8-3 loss on home ice, and the crowd gave Luukkonen a Bronx cheer on his way out. Ellis has lost his last two starts as well. Lindy Ruff put Lyon in the next night.

Buffalo is carrying three goalies right now, and I can't tell you how Ruff is going to split them. What I can tell you is that the door is wide open. Lyon was the best of the three last season. If he strings together a couple of good starts, I think he takes this net and keeps it, a la Devin Cooley this season.

A quick note on his stat card. One game tells you nothing, so this week his card covers all of last season with Thursday's start blended in. That's a sample of 37 games. Across them, Lyon is 20-10-5 with a 2.77 GAA and a 0.905 SV%. His GSAx/60 of 0.20 ranks 20th and his SV% ranks 19th, both in the Stacked Analytics High tier against last season's goalies. His high-danger numbers sit in the Mid tier, so he should be expected to stop what he should, plus a little more as a bonus.

Buffalo plays four times in Week 8, all on the road. The Sabres are in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Washington on Thursday. They close with a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back in Florida and the Light Night in Tampa Bay. With a back-to-back on the weekend, two starts is a reasonable floor if he plays well. Buffalo also visits Dallas this Saturday to close out Week 7, so you may get a look at him before you have to decide.

Check who's in the starter's net at the Sabres' morning skate before every game. The Buffalo beat reporters are very good about posting it. If Lyon isn't getting the starts, pivot to the backup below.

If you'd rather have a goalie with a job already, take a look at Cam Talbot in Columbus. He and Lyon shared a crease in Detroit two seasons ago, and Talbot won it. I called him one of my favourite underrated goalies in my Week 10 article last season, and he showed up in my Honourable Mentions six times that year. He's 39 years old now and still doing it.

Talbot is 5-3-0 with a 0.906 SV% this season. Columbus has seven wins, and Talbot snagged five of them. Over his last five starts he's 4-1-0 with a 0.930 SV%. His GSAx/60 of 1.08 ranks 5th among all goalies over their last five games and his SV% ranks 7th, both in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. He held Vegas and Dallas to one goal each in that stretch. Jet Greaves has lost his last five starts, so Talbot should keep getting the bigger share of the net.

The catch is the schedule. Columbus plays three times in Week 8 and none of them are Light Nights. The Blue Jackets visit the Islanders on Tuesday, Chicago on Thursday and Toronto on Saturday. If he starts in Chicago, he'll be staring down Kane and Rinzel on that powerplay, which would make for an awkward night in my leagues.

BANGER BEASTS

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard

I can't pronounce it either, but I can count the hits.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is my Banger Beasts pick for Week 8, and this is his first appearance in my article series. Detroit took the Norwegian winger 15th overall in 2024. He got a 14-game look last season and threw 43 hits during that span. This year he's doing it every damn night.

Brandsegg-Nygard has 94 hits in 20 games. That's second in the entire NHL behind only Kiefer Sherwood, and it works out to almost five hits a game. He threw 10 in St. Louis on Tuesday. Someone may want to test this guy.

In his last five games he has 24 hits, and his Hits/60 of 19.41 ranks 21st among all forwards, in the Elite tier.

Here's what separates him from every other banger I've recommended this season. Rempe played six minutes a night on a fourth line. Brandsegg-Nygard is on Detroit's top line with Lucas Raymond and Andrew Copp playing 15:33 a night. As an added bonus, he's on the second powerplay unit with J.T. Compher, Justin Faulk, Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur.

He has three goals and seven assists on the season, with 14 PIMs. The points have dried up lately, with none in his last five games, but his ixG/60 sits in the High tier over that stretch. That shows me he's still getting looks from good spots. Riding shotgun with Raymond, a few of those should start going in.

Now the bad news. Detroit only plays twice in Week 8. Boston visits on Wednesday's Light Night, when only six teams are in action, and the Islanders come to town on Saturday. At his pace that's eight to ten hits, with potential at a point or two from the top line. The Red Wings also play in Tampa Bay this Saturday to close out Week 7, so if you add him today you get a bonus game.

Two games is thin, I know. If you need more volume, my backup pick has twice as many.

If you want four games, look at Paul Cotter in Vancouver. Cotter threw 192 hits in 79 games for New Jersey last season. As a Canuck he has 66 hits in 20 games, along with eight points and 27 PIMs. His Hits/60 of 15.51 ranks 39th among all forwards over his last five games, in the Elite tier. He has 17 hits in those five games and picked up 15 PIMs in one night against Anaheim.

He's on Vancouver's second powerplay unit with Marco Rossi, Filip Chytil, Linus Karlsson and Zeev Buium, and he played on the third line with Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimaki against the Rangers on Friday. The Canucks have the best banger schedule of the week. They're in Utah on Monday's two-game Light Night, then Seattle on Thursday, before a home back-to-back against Minnesota on Saturday and Chicago on Sunday's Light Night.

DEEPER DARLINGS

T.J. Hughes

No, still not that Hughes. Yes, I'm doing this a third time.

T.J. Hughes is my Deeper Darlings pick for Week 8. He was my pick in this section in Weeks 3 and 4, when he was a rookie with four NHL games to his name. Back then he was on Colorado's third line and I was begging you to trust a tiny sample. We're 20 games in now, and the important numbers haven't changed.

He's still on the Avalanche's top powerplay unit with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas and Nazem Kadri. He's been on that unit for over a month now, beside two of the best players alive. At even strength he's moved up to the second line with Brock Nelson and Jaden Schwartz. He's somehow less rostered now than he was in October, at 2%.

Hughes has two goals and seven assists through 20 games, with 45 shots on net. He has assists in three of his last four games, and two of those came on the powerplay. In his last five he has three assists and 12 shots. He also threw 10 hits, which is a nice little bonus for banger leagues.

His on-ice numbers look like they belong to a more prolific player. Among all forwards over their last five games, Hughes ranks 23rd in CF/60 and 33rd in SF/60, and his xGF/60 of 4.98 ranks 37th. Every one of those is in the Stacked Analytics Elite tier. His Shots/60 (70th) and xA1/60 (61st) are both High.

Now for the part I love. His OISH% over the last five games is 3.57, in the Low tier. Colorado is generating an Elite rate of expected goals with him on the ice and scoring on fewer than four percent of the shots. On a team with MacKinnon and Makar, I can't see that lasting and do expect him to pop-off fairly soon.

The schedule is probably the primary reason he's 2% rostered. Colorado only plays twice in Week 8, and the two games are a back-to-back. The Avalanche are in Utah on Wednesday's Light Night and host Anaheim on Thursday. He also plays in Montreal this Saturday to close out Week 7. This is a short-term rental. If you have a spare add and a hole in your lineup on Wednesday, a PP1 winger for Colorado is about as good as it gets in a deep league.

One small note. He didn't record a shot on net in Toronto or Ottawa this week, after putting up 15 in the four games before that. I'm not worried yet, but that's definitely something to keep your eye on.

If you'd rather have a third game, take a look at Taylor Hall in Carolina. He's been an Honourable Mention three times, in Week 15 last season and Weeks 1 and 3 this year. Hall had 18 goals and 30 assists for the Hurricanes last season. This year he's been in and out of the lineup with an injury, so his last five games are spread across a month. He has three goals and three assists in 11 games.

The underlying numbers have been screaming at me since he returned from injury. Among all forwards over their last five games, Hall ranks 12th in SCF/60 and 15th in iSCF/60, and his Shots/60 of 10.78 ranks 46th, all in the Elite tier. His PDO of 0.875 is among the lowest of any forward in the league, so the bounces have been going against him. He has 11 shots and one assist in those five games.

Hall is on Carolina's fourth line with Mark Jankowski and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and he's on the second powerplay unit with Seth Jarvis and Logan Stankoven. The Hurricanes play three times in Week 8. Montreal visits on Thursday and Edmonton on Saturday, then Carolina goes to New York on Sunday's Light Night. The fourth-line minutes are a risk, but a former Hart Trophy winner generating chances like this at 9% rostered is worth a look.

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 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 8 Roundup, and we'll find out whether Showtime still sells tickets or whether I get booed out of the building like Hellebuyck. 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!