One of the biggest traps newer fantasy general managers fall into is to not take advantage of the waiver wire. 

I’m in one roto league where the GM in last place has only used two moves all season. It’s almost like he’s allergic to the waiver wire.

While I wouldn’t recommend this GM drop struggling players like the now-injured Tage Thompson, there’s no reason he should still have Jason Zucker, Conor Garland and Max Domi taking up roster spots. 

Of course, the waiver wire can be a tricky system to navigate. Yahoo’s recommendations can often be ignored (it suggested Sunday night that I drop Mason McTavish for Ross Colton), so you need to ensure you look at different scenarios. Who has produced over the past seven days, 14 days and 30 days versus the whole season? This will help give a bigger picture of how a player is performing recently, and dismisses any slow starts that could be forcing a player’s numbers to be too low.

It’s also a good idea to look at upcoming schedules if you’re in a head-to-head league. A player on the third or fourth line who plays four games this week is probably a better pickup than the better player who will only see one game this week. Using the Schedule Planner on Frozen Tools, for example, you can see that eight teams play four times this week, but Ottawa only plays once. 

It also helps to look at who your fellow general managers have been dropping. Earlier this year, a fellow general manager dropped Sebastian Aho on a Sunday to pick up someone who could help him win the week in a shallow head-to-head league. I snagged Aho, and he has been excellent for me (12 points in his last 10 games). Sometimes fellow GMs make rash decisions, and you can benefit from that. 

Below are 10 players who are on the waiver wire in at least two-thirds of Yahoo leagues heading into Sunday’s action. The nice thing about these players is that you pick them up when they are hot and drop them as soon as they cool off. 

To cover deeper leagues, I’m also including a few players who are available in 98% of Yahoo leagues, as well as a couple of players who may only provide a boost in one or two categories. 

10. Michael Pezzetta, 1% owned

He doesn’t play every game, and he’s not going to get a lot of offense, but if you’re in a deep league and you need some hits, Pezzetta is the guy you turn to. He has only one game where he failed to pick up a hit, and has at least four hits in seven of his 14 games. On the season, he has 47 hits in 14 contests. That average of 3.36 hits per game is fourth in the league. Sure, he may be a one-trick pony in fantasy, but it’s an awesome trick.

9. Nikita Okhotiuk, 0% owned

Okhotiuk was part of the Timo Meier deal last year, but started this season on the IR. While he played a few games in the AHL to get into game shape, he has now played in the Sharks’ last eight games. He’s never going to be known as an offensive threat, but he’s someone who can help in peripherals if you need a boost. In those eight games, he has three assists, 12 PIM, 16 hits and 18 blocked shots. He’s already had two games with five hits, and a game with eight blocked shots. The 22-year-old rookie is averaging 19:31 per night and is getting some shorthanded time, which helps boost those blocked shots.  

8. Martin Pospisil, 2% owned

Many may be focusing on rookie Connor Zary (who is also criminally under-owned at 3%), but don’t sleep on Pospisil. The 23-year-old had six points in six games in the AHL before he was called up, and has continued to produce once he got to the NHL. In seven games with the Flames, he has three goals and five points, to go along with 21 shots and 22 hits, even though he is only averaging 12:42 per night. It’s also important to note that those points did not come in one or two games that are skewing the numbers; he has picked up a point in five of his seven games. He has at least two shots in six of seven games, and a hit in every contest so far. 

7. Nicholas Paul, 29 % owned

Paul is on a bit of a cold streak, with only one point in his last five games. However, you have to love his usage this year, and it should be a matter of time before he snaps the slump. At five-on-five, he is playing mostly with Steven Stamkos on the second line. Paul is also on the top power-play unit, where he has picked up five points, four of which have been goals. He hasn’t been that great when it comes to peripherals, but he is providing an extra boost in faceoffs, as he has a career-high of almost seven faceoff wins per contest, and has five games with at least 10 faceoff wins. His minus-seven is awful, but that will be rectified once Andrei Vasilevskiy is back from injury. Currently, Eric Cernak and Michael Eyssimont are the only Lightning players with at least five games played that are not negative in plus-minus.

6. Marco Rossi, 5% owned

Early this month, the decision was made to take Rossi off the third/fourth line and insert him on the top line alongside Kirill Kaprizov. Some fantasy leagues may have been slow in picking up the news, considering he’s still unowned in so many leagues. After a slow start to the season when he had just one point in his first five games, he now has eight points in his last 11. He’s also on the top power-play unit, although he has yet to pick up a man-advantage point. He’s shooting the puck more frequently than last season, only going two games without a shot this season. 

5. Erik Gustafsson, 31% owned

You may have been a little late on this one, depending on your fellow general managers. Adam Fox was injured on November 2 against Carolina, promoting Gustafsson as the Rangers’ top offensive defenseman. In the five games since then, Gustafsson has seven points (two on the power-play) to go with a plus-two, eight shots, two hits and six blocked shots. Fox is not eligible to get back into the lineup until November 29, meaning we have about 10 days left of value from Gustafsson. He has even more value this week, as the Rangers play four games. 

4. Tyler Seguin, 26% owned

On the season, he has 12 points in 16 games, a 62-point pace. That’s borderline rosterable, depending on the depth of your league and the settings. His shot rate is down, and he doesn’t contribute much in peripheral categories. However, the Stars’ forward is on a bit of a hot streak, with six points in his last three games, which makes him a streamer option at worst. One of the extra advantages of Seguin is that in Yahoo leagues, he has dual eligibility, so he can slot in as a right winger. This is a great benefit for leagues that count faceoffs, as he has 73 faceoff wins already this season.

3. Sean Couturier, 27% owned

The Flyers’ center has struggled with injuries throughout his career, but he’s worth a shot this year. Last year was a write-off, as he was limited to six goals and 17 points in 29 games, a 48-point pace. He’s close to passing those marks already, with four goals and 13 points in 16 games, a 67-point pace. His shot rate is down (only 1.9 per game where he is normally around 2.7), but he’s averaging 19:12 per game while remaining on the top power-play unit (although Philly splits it pretty evenly between the two lines). He’s extra valuable in leagues that count faceoffs. His 10 faceoff wins per game were 16th going into Sunday’s action. 

2. Ryan Strome, 31% owned

He’s pointless in his last four games, but still has 14 points in 17 games on the season. While we all thought Trevor Zegras was the face of the franchise, this season it’s been Mason McTavish that has led the Ducks. Frank Vatrano and Strome have been the beneficiaries, but Strome is the Rodney Dangerfield of the trio, where he doesn’t get any respect. McTavish is owned in 82% of Yahoo leagues, Vatrano in 87%, and Strome in only 31%. As a downside, Anaheim splits their power-play units pretty evenly, but Strome only has two points with the man advantage. 

1. Connor Ingram, 22% owned

At this point of the season, it will be almost impossible to find a number-one goalie on the waiver wire. However, Ingram is almost on the cusp of being that number-one guy. Arizona is rotating starts between Ingram and Karel Vejmelka, but Ingram has been the best of the two. He is 5-0 in his last five starts, and overall is 6-1 with a 2.75 GAA and a 0.918 SV%. Vejmelka is 2-6-2 with a 3.18 GAA and a 0.901 SV% and is winless in his last seven games, while allowing at least four goals in five of those games. How much longer will the coaching staff keep alternating starts when one goalie is consistently winning and the other is consistently losing? Don’t be surprised to see Ingram start to steal some more starts soon.