When it comes to peripherals and fantasy hockey leagues, it’s always the same players who are sought-after commodities and seem to get all the hype. However, it’s always a smart move to see if other players can offer the same type of peripherals but may still be available on the waiver wire.

For this list, we will look at shots, hits, PIM and blocked shots as our grit categories. The value of the listed players will change depending on how many of these categories are included in your league settings, but this should be a good baseline.

To figure out who some of the top players were, I downloaded the peripheral categories from Frozen Tools into an Excel spreadsheet. I then used the spreadsheet to add up every player's PIM, shots, hits and blocked shots to get an overall total for each player. Going into Sunday’s action, Radko Gudas was tops, while Brady Tkachuk was second and Jacob Trouba was third.

However, this would also give the players who have played more games higher numbers, so I also divided the overall total with the number of games played to get a better sense of each player. Eliminating those whose numbers were skewed as they hadn’t played many games, the top three were Tkachuk, Darnell Nurse and Gudas.

Below are 10 players who are underrated when it comes to their contributions in peripherals. Eight of the players are owned in less than 30 per cent of Yahoo leagues, and five of them in less than 10 per cent.

Just a quick note, for this list, I’m only looking at those that can contribute in at least two categories. Nicolas Deslauriers may lead the league in hits and be near the top of the overall total, but he doesn’t help anywhere else.

10. Mario Ferraro

Ferraro’s 10 points are a bit of a surprise, but we’re focusing on peripherals, and while most of his numbers are down this season, he’s still contributing across the board. His 0.9 shots and 0.24 PIM per game are the lowest of his three-year career. His 2.08 hits per game are also down but are still impressive. But his 2.92 blocked shots per game is more than one more per game than last season. On the whole, he has six PIM, 22 shots, 52 hits and 73 blocked shots in 25 games.

9. Brandon Duhaime

The Wild rookie winger has been doing everything he can to stay in the lineup. He started by averaging a point every two games, but he’s cooled down there lately with one point in his last six games. Despite averaging fewer than 11 minutes per night, Duhaime has 44 PIM, 41 shots and 56 hits in 24 games, so he’s contributing among all three categories.

8. Tanner Jeannot

One thing you want to look for when deciding whether to pluck a player off a waiver wire is how his ice time is handled. One of the great things about Jeannot is how his ice time has been increasing as the season moves along. In his first 10 games, he averaged 13:46 per night, but in 14 games since, he’s averaging 15:50 per night. In 24 games, he is at 29 PIM, 38 shots and 70 hits. Expect the latter two to increase if he continues to see more ice time.

7. Liam O’Brien

O’Brien has never been able to stick around for a full season, as the 27-year-old’s career high for games in a season is 13 back in 2013-14. This year, he is already at 18, and even though an average of nine minutes a night isn’t anything to be excited about, it’s a career high. The NHL fights leader is rewarding fantasy general managers with 48 PIM and 54 hits in those 18 games. You want to be a bit wary as it would be easy for him to lose his spot in the lineup, but he could be worth a streaming option if need be. 

6. Martin Fehervary

The 22-year-old rookie defenseman may not be wowing people with his offense, but he’s been sneaky good at peripherals. In his first 25 games with the Capitals, he has 68 hits and 39 blocked shots. That puts him on pace for 223 hits and 127 blocked shots. He’s second among rookies in hits and third in blocked shots before Sunday’s games. He’s only had two games where he has failed to register a hit, and has seven games where he’s had at least four hits. He’s averaging 20:36 a night in his last six games.

5. Jacob Middleton

Unlike most others on this list, Middleton won’t wow you in any one peripheral, but does contribute in every one of these four categories. The 25-year-old Sharks defenseman is in his fourth season but is technically a rookie as he hasn’t played enough games. In 18 contests this season, he has 33 PIM, 28 shots, 30 hits and 28 blocked shots. That puts him on pace for at least 120 in each category.

4. Esa Lindell

A few years ago, Lindell had 32 points in a campaign, and many fantasy general managers were optimistic that he would continue his upward trajectory when it came to points. However, as he’s regressed in that category, he’s become more productive in peripherals. In 21 games, he has 51 shots, 43 hits and 44 blocked shots. That puts him on pace for more than 170 in each category. His 2.4 shots-per-game average is the highest of anyone on this list.

3. Marcus Foligno

Foligno has always been an excellent player to have for peripherals, but he’s been giving you an extra boost this season. Look at his last five seasons since joining the Wild (all stats per game):

2017-18: 10:52 TOI, 0.94 PIM, 1.03 shots, 2.40 hits, 0.57 blocked shots

2018-19: 11:58 TOI, 0.67 PIM, 1.11 shots, 2.51 hits, 0.52 blocked shots

2019-20: 14:35 TOI, 0.51 PIM, 1.46 shots, 3.12 hits, 0.61 blocked shots

2020-21: 14:58 TOI, 1.26 PIM, 1.03 shots, 2.79 hits, 0.44 blocked shots

2021-22: 16:39 TOI, 1.92 PIM, 1.63 shots, 2.75 hits, 0.54 blocked shots

He’s on pace for career high in PIM and shots. And thanks to a career high in TOI and power-play ice time, he also has 16 points in 24 games, putting him on pace for his best season ever (his career high is 26 points).

2. Mackenzie Weegar

Odds are if you drafted Weegar in the preseason, you were hoping he could repeat his great finish to last season. While he has quietly been almost as good production wise (he’s on pace for 48 points, whereas last season he had an 82-game pace of 55), he’s been dynamite in peripherals. He’s the only player in the league with at least 50 blocked shots and 55 hits. In 24 games, he has 61 shots. That gives him a shot-per-game mark of 2.13, up from last year’s career high of 1.87. He also has 70 hits for 2.92 hits per game. That’s up significantly from last season’s 2.19, which was the first time in his career he averaged more than two hits per game. He’s also at 53 blocked shots, which equates to 2.21 per game, up significantly from last year’s 1.54 and crushing his career high of 1.61. He won’t be available on the waiver wire in your league, but maybe you can coax him away from another general manager for a bigger name who isn’t as strong in some other categories.

1. Garnet Hathaway

Hathaway has always been underrated in peripherals, but he should be on your radar as he looks close to setting career highs in a couple of categories. In his first 25 games, the Capitals winger has 16 PIM, 53 shots and 94 hits. That puts him on pace for 52 PIM, 174 shots and 308 hits. To put that in perspective, his 2.12 shots per game is almost double his average shot rate, and his top hits-per-game rate before this season was 3.2. He’s third in the league in hits and has more shots than everyone else in the top 20 for hits except for Brady Tkachuk. Hathaway has had 10 games so far this season with at least five hits.