Almost three weeks in, it's time for brutal honesty about your squad(s) performance. By now it should be clear and concise who's rewarding your faith and who's not. We'll go through a few of my 2023-24 Fantasy Hockey Week 4 Waiver Wire plays.
Hopefully, you're operating at or above .500 in your league(s). If not, no worries, there are still twenty plus weeks to turn it around before most fantasy playoffs begin.
Again I'm going with lower ownership plays but that shouldn't deter you from consideration if they make sense. Some of these players are severely under-owned in my opinion.
No more sympathy, cutting ties with dead weight must begin.
2023-24 Fantasy Hockey Week 4 Waiver Wire
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Sean Couturier, C, Philadelphia Flyers (21% owned)
Two injury-riddled years have made the former Selke Trophy winner an almost forgotten commodity. Prior to this, the QMJHL product was a consistent, very near-point-per-game player.
The pivot looks to be back at 100% in his return this campaign. Centering the top line at even strength as well as the top powerplay, it's rather absurd he's owned in just over a fifth of leagues.
The Flyers are the optimal team to play this week with four games on the docket and two slated for off nights.
Sam Bennett, C, Florida Panthers (23% owned)
Hop on board now with ownership far beneath where it should be. Florida will see several favorable matchups in the next two weeks which bodes well for his return. He was a game-time decision Saturday so he's very close to joining the fold.
Expect him to be reunited with Matthew Tkachuk on the second line right from the start. A rare combination of point-scoring capability and grit. You can't afford not to have him on your squad if available.
Kasperi Kapanen, RW, St. Louis Blues (1% owned)
This is a pure speculation add. It's fueled by the Blues being one of the teams with two off-night games this week.
St. Louis is seemingly where once promising players go to fade into the sunset. Nonetheless, they need offense so the Finnish winger is seeing top-six deployment along with PP2. Give him an extremely short leash and cut ties after this week barring an offensive explosion.
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Alec Martinez, D, Vegas Golden Knights (10% owned)
The block god is active again.
The best option possible across the entire league in this category warrants more ownership if you ask me. Four games this week give him plenty of opportunities to eat vulcanized rubber.
Drops
Ivan Barbashev, C/LW, Vegas Golden Knights
The one Knight experiencing a Stanley Cup hangover. The best trade deadline acquisition last season came into this campaign with great expectations, fresh off signing a five-year, $25 million contract.
Playing with Jack Eichel routinely should make getting points easy. It's been anything but for the Russian with two goals and no assists since opening night.
Advanced analytics say he's experiencing bad luck. Until said luck changes he can't take up roster space.
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Dawson Mercer, C/RW, New Jersey Devils
Too many mouths to feed in New Jersey meant someone would suffer. Relegated to third-line duty with no points, you should've already moved on. Keep tabs on him as the season progresses but you need production here and now.
This is a great example of where I'd rather have a top-six player on a mediocre team over a contender depth piece.
Connor Brown, RW, Edmonton Oilers
Like Jonathan Drouin who I discussed last week, a reunion with his former junior hockey running mate, Connor McDavid, has not panned out.
Brown is another player with no points through seven games, you can go ahead and cut bait.
Hopefully, these 2023-24 Fantasy Hockey Week 4 Waiver Wire plays are beneficial to you. Comment below if they're not!
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