It is the beginning of the season for fantasy hockey and there is plenty of room to make additions. If players are doing well and are available, there is no time to sit and wait because they are likely going to be added. Defensemen are harder to come by in drafts and harder to find on the waiver wire, so when someone is shining through, go out and grab him. These are three who should catch your eye early.
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Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Defensemen to Target for Week 2
Zeev Buium, Minnesota Wild
Zeev Buium might have been drafted in deeper leagues, but there’s a chance that he could still be available for you to jump on. As a rookie with no NHL regular-season experience coming into the season, he hopped right in on the top power play ahead of Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon, which makes sense given Buium’s skill set.
The Minnesota Wild have been, what you can call, power-play merchants through three games. All three of Buium’s points (one goal, two assists) have come on the power play. He has also averaged 21 minutes of ice time per game and six minutes of power play time per game. The man advantage minutes shouldn’t be as extreme moving forward, but there will be plenty of chances to produce.
The Wild still have two more games this week against the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, a game against the New York Rangers next Monday, and four total games next week as well.
Dmitry Orlov, San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks have had plenty of offense despite losing and allowing lots of goals. For fantasy hockey purposes, we worry about the offense. That seemed like it would be a problem coming into the season, but someone like Dmitry Orlov has taken advantage and put up three assists through two games.
Orlov is on the top pairing and playing nearly 22 minutes per game so far. The veteran is also on the second power-play unit, but has a power-play point. He will continue to log a lot of big minutes as the young Sharks forwards keep filling the back of the net. Orlov is seen more as a streaming option with two more games this week against the Utah Mammoth and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers
Travis Sanehim is in a similar position to Orlov. Sanheim is on the top pairing and the second power-play unit, recording a goal and two assists so far (none of the power play). The Flyers are more promising this season than the Sharks, so I’d recommend Sanheim if you’re looking for defensive production as well as blocked shots.
He is averaging over 27 minutes per game. The Flyers are also deeper and better than the Sharks. Philadelphia has matchups against the Winnipeg Jets, Wild, and Seattle Kraken before we take a look at more streaming options on defense next week.
Also, check out the top forwards you should add from your fantasy hockey waiver wire.
Defensive options should get better a little bit further into the season when we’ve had a little more time to properly analyze players and roles on teams. Until then, these are some solid early-season options.
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