Walk the Waiver Line - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

Analyzing the best streaming options, schedule advantages, and advanced metrics in Week 13.

By Jeff Stacks · December 28, 2025 · Updated October 12, 2026

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. 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 welcome everyone back for Week 13 as the NHL roars out of the holiday break with a massive slate of games. With the Carolina Hurricanes leading the way with the best schedule this week, use this article as your guideline to maximize your Fantasy Hockey rosters. Let's hit the ice running into the New Year!

WEEK 12 ROUNDUP

WEEK 13 PREVIEW

Week 13, like Week 12, is a bit unorthodox. Tuesday, Friday and Sunday are the Light nights, with Thursday being a lighter Heavy night. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday are all very Heavy, and it may be tough to roster streaming options on those nights. 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 Week 13. 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.* I adjusted the roster percentage last week, and decided I would keep the same strategy this week for the first three waiver add options. Picking players rostered under 40% opened up the streaming options considerably and I will be keeping that threshold moving forward. The third section I’ve labeled “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) mentioned previously. 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). Advanced stats are provided courtesy of Natural Stattrick and Money Puck.

My preferred strategy is to start the week with a streamer from a Monday-Tuesday team (Carolina, Florida, or Vancouver) for early volume. Drop them mid-week, and you can pivot to a player from a three-game squad between Thursday and Sunday (like Carolina again, Chicago, Montreal, or Pittsburgh) for the weekend push. That setup should net you upwards of five extra games with just two moves. Stay flexible with your streaming slots and monitor ownership trends. This method should help rack up solid production this week.

WAIVER WHIPLASH

Ryan O'Reilly

My Forward pick for this week is Ryan O'Reilly of the Nashville Predators. O'Reilly has been absolutely rolling recently, and deserves a close look with the Preds' strong four-game schedule in Week 13.

O'Reilly has been one of the hottest Centres in the league over the past five games. After an incredibly poor start for the Predators, they've gone 7-3 over their past 10, and O'Reilly has been pivotal in contributing to that streak.

Racking up one goal, seven assists, two powerplay points, 11 shots and 36 faceoff wins in his past five games, he's an elite playmaker and is currently slotted on the top line and PP1 unit alongside Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos.

O'Reilly's underlying metrics back up the surge. While his OISH% is high, it makes sense with his linemates in Forsberg and Stamkos also being on fire. Surprisingly, these numbers seem to be sustainable with O'Reilly ranking in the top 100 in the Individual metrics I measure for the purpose of these weekly Waiver articles.

He's not a big hitter, but the points, shots, and PPP upside more than compensate, particularly on a Nashville team that seems to be finding its groove after an awful campaign in 2024-2025.

If he's still available on your waiver wire prioritize adding O'Reilly this week. His recent production combined with the Predators' favourable schedule makes him a high-end target with potential to be held long-term.

Sean Walker

My Defenceman pick for this week is Sean Walker of the Carolina Hurricanes. Right now in his NHL career, Walker is a steady blueliner who is quietly putting together strong underlying numbers and benefits from excellent deployment on a contending team.

Walker has been a reliable top-four Defenceman for Carolina this season. Consistently logging solid minutes alongside recent Canes' add K'Andre Miller on the top pair, Coach Brind'Amour has also granted him occasional deployment on the second power-play unit. In a five-game week, that kind of role gives him plenty of opportunity to contribute in multiple categories, even if the points haven't been up to expectations yet.

Over his last five games, Walker has notched one assist, 12 shots, 10 hits and six blocks. The lone assist may seem concerning, but the peripheral stats are exactly what you want from a streaming defenseman.

Where Walker really shines is in his Individual advanced metrics, which heavily implies upcoming positive regression. 5th in iCF, 4th in ixG and 28th in iSCF says to me his point production could explode, as he's consistently driving play but not getting rewarded on the scoresheet yet.

With Carolina's five-game schedule this week Walker is perfectly positioned to pop, assuming his Coach continues to trust him with lots of good deployment. The volume of games combined with his top-pair minutes, PP2 assignment and individual metrics makes him a prime peripheral streamer. He could be for point production as well, if his puck luck can even out with his advanced stats.

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. 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.

Jacob Fowler

My Goalie pick for this week is rookie Jacob Fowler of the Montreal Canadiens. Fowler is a 21-year old netminder who's been a boon for the Habs since he was called up from their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket on December 11, 2025 for their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fowler's numbers line up well with the Canadiens' strong four-game, two light night schedule.

Fowler burst onto the NHL scene with a scorching start to the season. Only five games under his belt, he has helped the Habs stay in the win column with some stellar performances. Over his last five games, he's had three wins while posting a 2.40 GAA, a 0.918 SV% and a shutout. Fowler has shown the Montreal brass he is capable of stealing games on any given night.

Projected to start at least two out of four games in Week 13, Fowler is a great volume stream that could turn into a longer-term option for you if he performs well.

As mentioned last week, I can provide the underlying metrics for him but again, do not expect these numbers to reflect future performance.

If you need to stream a goalie, Fowler is a priority add while he's still rostered under 30%. His recent performances make him an amazing Goalie stream as the Canadiens push for a playoff spot. Grab him and ride the hot hand!

BANGER BEASTS

A.J. Greer

My banger-league waiver pick for this week is AJ Greer of the Florida Panthers. Greer is an enforcer reminiscent of a nostalgic age in the NHL, but he's here right now, and he's built to rack up the categories you need in hits and PIM leagues.

Greer is the kind of player who makes opponents think twice every shift. He throws his body around with zero hesitation. Over his last five games he's delivered exactly what banger managers want, amassing one goal, one assist, two PIMs, nine shots and 11 hits. His 93 hits in 36 games puts him on a nasty pace of 211 hits over a full season. Not shy about dropping the gloves or taking penalties, Greer is the Panthers' attack dog under the tutelage of Coach Paul Maurice.

While he's primarily a fourth-line energy player averaging 11:25 this season, Greer brings potential multi-cat value without hurting you elsewhere. Florida is known for their demanding physical play style, which makes Greer consistently ranking as the team leader in hit intriguing given the Panthers' great schedule.

Greer is a low-owned, high-impact option in Week 13. Don't sleep on him and add this classic enforcer to your team to watch the hits pile up.

DEEPER DARLINGS

Luke Evangelista

My deep league target for Week 13 is Luke Evangelista of the Nashville Predators. Evangelista is a low-owned winger who's quietly posted some of the best underlying numbers in the league over the past five games. He is particularly useful next week with a four-game schedule.

Evangelista has flown under the radar for much of the season, but his recent play has sparked my interest. Over his last five games, he's contributed a respectable one goal, one assist, one powerplay point and 15 shots. That shot volume jumps out at me to indicate he has much more to come.

Where Evangelista truly stands out is in his advanced metrics. Playing with linemates Michael Bunting and Erik Haula, it is Luke that seems to be primarily driving that line. Being in the top 10 among all Forwards in SF% and SCF% is a strong signal to roster this guy, especially with elite PP1 deployment playing with the aforementioned Forsberg, Stamkos and cover boy O'Reilly.

Still widely available in most leagues, Evangelista is a textbook low-risk, high-reward add for deep-league Fantasy Hockey Managers. With Nashville's great four-game week, he's primed for a potential elite stretch, especially while Jonathan Marchessault is out with injury.

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.

A quick shout-out to everyone who read my "Fire Sale" article that dropped on December 23rd. That was a little Christmas gift to my reader community, and I wanted to thank all who checked it out. It performed incredibly well, even if it stirred up some spicy debate and controversial takes over on Reddit. I love the passion, so please keep the discussion going!

Next up, keep an eye out for my upcoming piece titled "Quinn to the Wild", where 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. As we head deeper into the season, this massive trade needs to be addressed before the NHL next goes on break for the Olympic Games.

Also, I want to hear from you! Fantasy Roundup has recently added a comment section below the articles to make sure we can hear YOUR voice. How did your Week 12 adds perform? Did you use any of my suggestions from last week’s article? How did they perform for you? Fantasy Roundup wants your thoughts, rants, and anything else that comes to mind.

Otherwise, I wish you all a safe and happy New Year leading into Week 13, and hope you win your matchups.

Good luck, and stay stacking!