The waiver wire is a great place to find players each week who will help your fantasy hockey team in the short term and the long term. You have likely already taken advantage of this through the first 17 weeks of fantasy. Despite that, there will still be strong options on the waiver wire at forward that we will look at again for this week. Even if it is only for a few games, these players are worth adding to help your team out. This is the place where you can find great options to take advantage of before anyone else does.
Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Forwards to Consider for Week 18
Shane Pinto, Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have been trying to turn things around, and it has started with the three-game win streak that they are on. Playing a big part in that is Shane Pinto who is recently back from serving his 41-game suspension to start the season. When healthy, the Senators have enough good forwards to fill the top three lines and more, so Pinto has more than enough strong players to play with every shift.
He is currently on a line with Ridly Greig and Vladimir Tarasenko and they are playing very well. Not only do the Senators have a very easy schedule with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks, and Chicago Blackhawks coming up, but Pinto is earning himself many more minutes quickly for the team. He has averaged over 19:30 over his past two games and has put up two goals, five points, nine shots, three hits, and two blocked shots. He isn’t doing everything, but he is doing quite a lot. As a young player, he has lots of potential and this could continue this season.
Dylan Strome, Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are very thin down the middle with both Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov out of the lineup, which means Dylan Strome is going to continue to get a heavy workload. The Capitals aren’t the best team this season, but as far as the players on the team go, Strome has been one of the best. He sits one back of the team lead in points (35) and leads the team in goals (20).
Offensive productivity is the big part that Strome will contribute to your fantasy team, but Strome also shoots a fair bit and will block shots given the chance. The Capitals have a horrible 14.8 power-play percentage, so not much is expected of them there, although Alex Ovechkin, Strome’s full-time linemate, is heating up goals-wise, so Strome will benefit a lot more from that. The Capitals have an early game in the week and then just one later on, but moving forward after that, the team will play a regular schedule and Strome will play a big part in any success.
Jake Neighbours, St. Louis Blues
Jake Neighbours has been somewhat streaky this season, but when he’s on, he contributes a lot, especially in fantasy. This young St. Louis Blues winger is gritty and will cover a lot of categories and get you a good amount of points. When he isn’t scoring, he is still getting penalty minutes, shooting, hitting, and blocking shots.
In just his last two games, Neighbours has scored three goals and four points, a fight, three points on the power play, six shots, two hits, and two blocks. The Blues play three games this week against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and the Nashville Predators. These aren’t the easiest opponents, but it could be worse. Neighbours has been moved up to the top six and is producing on the power play, so the opportunity is there as long as he keeps playing well. He’s worth it for right now at least.
Related: Fantasy Hockey Week 18 Goalie Streams – 02/12/24
Players that may seem like great waiver wire pickups could fade quickly, while others could turn out to be great for a long time. These three players appear to be strong options in Week 18 of the fantasy hockey season among those who should be available. Take advantage before it is too late and make sure to check in with us next week for more strong options.