Hello and welcome back to Geek of the Week! In this week's article, I am going to examine three players whose ownership is far too low on Yahoo leagues. I'll dive into their underlying numbers to inform on my expectations for them moving forward. These are all players you should heavily consider picking up if they are available. They can be considered waiver-wire options, but should be more long-term holds.

The statistics mentioned do not include Sunday's games.

Rickard Rakell – 39% owned

Rakell has only played nine games since returning from injury, but he's collected nine points. He is averaging 5.9 shot attempts per game, only hitting the net with 2.78 SOG per game. With only 47% of his shot attempts hitting the net, there is room for his SOG numbers to increase as he regresses toward the 53-60% rate he's seen in previous seasons.

Although he's only averaging 0.67 hits per game since his return, he has a history of hitting more. Before his injury he was hitting over 1 hit per game and he averaged 1.72 last season. Expect his hit numbers to increase as he finds his groove. The only downside at the moment is that he is stuck on the second power-play unit. Even with this role, he can put up 35 points, 9 power play points, 132 SOG, and 50 hits in his final 44 games. That should be good enough to be a top 80-100 fantasy player in most leagues.

Dakota Joshua – 24% owned

Joshua is fifth in the league in hits, averaging three per game. He is surprisingly averaging a point per game over the last two weeks. This is obviously not sustainable for a bottom 6 player (though he finds himself in more of a middle-six role of late), but he has offensive potential to accompany his great hits and PIM coverage. Another boost is his plus-minus. Of all players averaging 3+ hits per game, he is the only one with a plus rating.

An 82-game pace of 40 points and 250 hits is realistic for Joshua the rest of the way. If his recent hot streak earns him more ice-time or even a shot on the power play, there is room for more potential. If your league counts hits, you should grab Joshua. He has the potential to become as valuable as Tom Wilson; he just needs a shot at better deployment.

Morgan Geekie – 10% owned

How can I write a Geek of The Week article without mentioning Morgan Geekie! Geekie is playing on Line 1 with David Pastrnak and is on the top power play in Boston. In the last month, he's picked up six goals and six assists in 13 games, with four of those points coming on the power play. His SOG are up above 2.5 per game in that time and he even provides some hit coverage with one hit per game. He's fully taking advantage of his great deployment alongside superstars and should be picked up immediately and held at least until his deployment changes.

Honorable Mentions

Brock Faber (24% owned), Joel Farabee (21% owned), Yegor Sharangovich (32% owned), Thomas Chabot (66% owned), Jonathan Drouin (22% owned)

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