With injuries across the league and numerous COVID cases coming up daily it seems, we are always going to be scouring the waiver wire to try and make up our missed games. As we are now on the stretch run of the season and pushing for the playoffs in head-to-head leagues, we cannot afford to leave any games on the table. We are going to focus on players that have been playing great over the last two weeks whether that is a new role at even strength or a bump in power play time. These players are all available in more than 60 percent of Yahoo leagues.

All stats have been taken from NaturalStatTrick, MoneyPuck or the NHL.

Alex Wennberg (13 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

Over the last two weeks, Alex Wennberg has five goals playing as the second-line center with Jonathan Huberdeau and Patric Hornqvist. He only has 10 shots, so this is an incredibly efficient shooting percentage that is far from sustainable. This line has a 53.78 Corsi For Percentage (CF%) at even strength this season, so even with the unsustainable shooting by Wennberg, the line has been generating opportunities. In addition, Wennberg is playing on the top power-play unit so given the opportunities, a 13 percent ownership on Yahoo seems way under what it should be.

Eeli Tolvanen (39 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

Eeli Tolvanen just sneaks under 40 percent ownership on Yahoo and it feels like his hype has been out there heading into every season and it is finally paying off. Due to some injuries, Tolvanen has slowly moved up the lineup. As the Nashville Predators started to see more injuries, suddenly Tolvanen was playing on the top line at even strength with Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson. Additionally, Tolvanen has secured a spot — for the time being — on the top power-play unit. The aforementioned line has only been together for 53:39 at even strength, but produced a favourable 53.41 CF%. As long as the Predators are hurting, I expect them to keep this line together.

Jason Robertson (33 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

Jason Robertson is quietly having an incredible rookie season. Although he did play three games in the NHL last season, this is his true rookie campaign and he’s been producing with 24 points in 31 games which puts him fourth on the team in points. However, since March 1st, Robertson actually leads the Dallas Stars in points with 18 — four more than Hintz. This former 2nd round pick has played most of the season with Roope Hintz and one of Denis Gurianov or Joe Pavelski at even strength. He’s receiving modest power play time with at 2:24 per game which sits sixth among the Stars forwards and seems to be getting better as the year progresses.

Jared McCann (21 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

Evgeni Malkin played his last game on March 16th, since then Jared McCann has taken over second-line center duties. The numbers are not anything crazy, but four goals and seven points in those eight games are certainly better than you would expect from McCann. Additionally, he has fired off 24 shots and spent time on the top power-play unit. McCann’s 24 shots in these games make up 46 percent of his shots despite being just 32 percent of his games, so there might be some increased confidence with the increased responsibility both at even strength and on the power play.

Frank Vatrano (19 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

This is a player that never seems to get the opportunity that I feel he should. Even in Florida he has been up and down the lineup, never really being able to solidify himself in the top-six. However, even with his limited ice time, Vatrano has been able to produce. While his 19 points in 39 games are not great, he has fired off 114 shots which is good for third on the team in just 14:00 of ice-time per game, ninth among forwards. He has spent a bit of time on the top line with Aleksander Barkov, but mostly he sits on the third line with some power play time on the second unit.

Dmitry Orlov (11 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

It was an abysmal start to the season for Dmitry Orlov who put up just one point in his first 16 games through January and February. However, things have picked up in March and April as he has nine points in his 17 games. All of his fantasy production has gone up and he has become a multi-category contributon: in the first 16 games, he had 23 hits, 13 blocks and 20 shots; the following 17 games he has 34 hits, 24 blocks and 28 shots. Confidence goes a long way and Orlov is playing with that now. The ice time has remained about the same throughout the season.

Brandon Montour (2 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

Here is another player that has had a much better recent two months compared to the start of the season. Brandon Montour started the season with three points, 14 hits, 22 blocks, 28 shots and a minus-eight rating through the first 17 games. In the next 18 games we see a bit of an uptick in production with nine points, 19 hits, 26 blocks, 37 shots and just a minus-four rating. The Buffalo Sabres have been horrendous so it is a bit surprising that he is only minus-12

Jake Oettinger (31 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

At just 22 years old, this former first-round pick has really looked great and is competing with, if not overtaking, Anton Khudobin for the starting gig in Dallas. He has a solid .918 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average while compiling a 6-4-6 record. Dallas may end up on the outside looking in for the playoffs as they sit five points out, despite having three games in hand due to their early season COVID issues. They are going to go with the goalie that they feel gives them the best chance to win and right now that is Jake Oettinger seems like he’ll be that guy as he’s the goalie of the future here.

Cal Petersen (29 percent Rostered on Yahoo)

Speaking of goalies overtaking their veteran counterpart, Cal Petersen has been tremendous this season despite his 7-9-4 record. He has a modest 2.57 goals against average but a sparkling .923 save percentage on the 26th place team in the entire league. Furthermore, Petersen is seventh with a 6.3 goals saved above expectation. which is incredible. He is definitely the future of the Los Angeles Kings organization between the pipes and he is already garnering more starts than Jonathan Quick.