This week's article is going to be centered around potential waiver wire additions that you can explore to help mitigate the damage of a big injury, to kickstart some production on a slumping team, and realistically some of the players on the waiver wire are potential trade chips.
What makes a player a good waiver wire pickup in my eyes is simple: plays a meaningful role in a primarily offensive based scheme, plays the special teams, has shown some flashes of skill throughout their NHL career, and players who either excel in a couple of key areas or are good across the board when it comes to production.

* The top row in the stat tables are the players current stats this year, and the bottom row is their career stats. The powerplay and shorthanded sections are for points in these respective areas. I know last season I was showing roster percentages for the players that I discuss, and I do plan on bringing that back, but I am not in any Yahoo leagues this season so for the time being I will not have their percentages listed for that platform. *

#1) Dylan Strome – C – Washington Capitals
Contract: $3.5M – 1 Year remaining (RFA this upcoming summer)
Roster Percentages: Fantrax – 61%, ESPN – 26%

Once Strome signed in Washington I figured it would have been a nice signing for their top-nine forward core, but after remembering the injuries that Nicklas Backstrom is facing it became clear that Strome would see some top-six minutes. He's off the races so far this season as he sits short of being at a point-per-game pace (67 points through an 82-game season). His role in the top-six seems solidified for now, the Capitals do like to rotate between their first line center and their second line center. So, there may be nights where he slots in on the second line, but there are times where he should see first line action too. Strome and his five powerplay points been a key piece to the Washington Capitals powerplay rate of 22% (tied for top 15 in the league). His faceoffs have seen a decline when you compare his numbers in prior years, but we're also only 11 games into the season and FO% often fluctuates as the players have such a small number of draws taken. In Chicago, Strome was often used in a more two-way type of role which was never going to benefit him as he is a big playmaker with a long reach. The Capitals seem to understand that a player with Strome's makeup needs to play an offense-based role to succeed, and with a 75.2 oZS% – they've seemed to get the message. Overall, the Capitals have a nice selection of forwards to play alongside of Strome. Some of them are currently injured, but he is being insulated well at this moment and he is worthy of being called on, if need be, in your league.

#2) Oliver Wahlstrom – RW – New York Islanders
Contract: $894K – 1 Year remaining (RFA this upcoming summer)
Roster Percentages: Fantrax – 48%, ESPN – 7.9%

The paradigm has seemingly shifted with the Islanders as they've swapped head coaches going into this season, their total goals-for-per game is sitting seventh best in the NHL currently with a solid 3.60 GF/G – last season the Islanders finished 23^rd in this rating with a 2.79 GF/G. A lot of that has to do with the way the Islanders are willing to shuffle their lines around to get the best fit. Wahlstrom has seen time on the top three lines this year. He has spent the most time alongside of Josh Bailey and Mathew Barzal (where I sort of expect him to find his home soon enough). Wahlstrom is very much a goal-heavy player as he possesses a lethal shot, and he isn't afraid to shoot the puck either. With an average of 12:39 minutes of playing time each night this season, he has managed to produce just over 2.5 shots per game, alongside 1.33 hits per game as well. The big knock that you can make against Wahlstrom is that he doesn't play on the team's top power-play unit, and that is the unit that is mainly out there for the Islanders. Wahlstrom is still 22 years old, there is still so much time for him to develop. If you're in some sort of keeper/dynasty-based league, I would recommend snagging him before it is too late. This is a different Islanders organization than what we've seen in years prior as they seem to be more of a modern-day team with the way they play the game now. This is a player who should benefit from this type of change.

#3) Jaden Schwartz – LW – Seattle Kraken
Contract: $5.5M – 4 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: Fantrax – 54%, ESPN – 32.2%

I honestly believe that Jaden Schwartz is one of those players that doesn't seem to receive as much recognition as he deserves. He is quietly just shy of a point-per-game pace so far this season while playing most of his minutes with an aging Jordan Eberle (who is still producing like a solid second line player) and a rookie in Matty Beniers (while a highlight-reel rookie, still a rookie at the end of the day). People fear Schwartz and his injury history as he has never played a full NHL season in his career – but when he is playing, he is a very reliable scoring option for your team. Seattle posted the fourth-worst GF/G last season with a 2.60 rating, while this year they're scoring at a rate of 3.45 GF/G (10^th best in the league at this moment). The fact of the matter is, Schwartz was brought in to be a leader for this young team, to help the young players like Beniers and Shane Wright develop into solid NHL players. I don't think the team success that they've been finding so far this season will stick through a full 82-games, but I do expect certain individual pieces on this team to stay somewhat consistent as the season ages on – Schwartz being one of them. There are a lot of options for Dave Hakstol and his Kraken to look at when setting their lines as they have a few options that can help compliment Schwartz's playstyle.

Realistically, there are a bunch of players that you could pick up in hope of helping you get closer to your league's championship, but these are some of the more seemingly reliable ones in terms of their placement in the lineup, quality of linemates around them, their own individual skill, the team composition, and many more factors as well.

If you're looking to discuss anything hockey with me, check out my Twitter account (@JamieMolloy_DH), as well as on the articles themselves!