Hi everyone! I'm Eli Feldman, the sheriff in town for this week's edition of the Wild West. As we approach the Christmas break, this time of gratitude serves as a natural opportunity to acknowledge some key contributors who have so far this season elevated fantasy hockey teams to new levels. Of course, many usual suspects who dominated wanted lists on draft day continue to produce consistently. But equally critical in the pursuit fantasy hockey glory is the crop of waiver wire talent who prove their weight in gold over the course of the season.

Without further ado, here is a look at some of the diamonds in the rough across the Western Conference for the 2024-2025 fantasy hockey season thus far.

Stats listed are up to and including Saturday's games.

Goals: Ivan Barbashev (12% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: 167.9)

Despite limited opportunities to play on Vegas' formidable top power-play unit, Ivan Barbashev has been lighting the lamp so far this season. Following several major off-season departures (including the franchise's all-time leading scorer, Jonathan Marchessault), the Golden Knights entered the 2024-2025 season with a thin and unproven group of wingers relative to previous iterations.

Aside from netting 26 goals in 2021-2022, Barbashev has never reached the 20-goal milestone in his nine-year career. Regarded as more of an all-around, physical player, Barbashev's offensive outlook entering this year was murky – and so too was his viability in most standard fantasy hockey leagues.

Although question marks surrounded his point producing abilities, Barbashev entered this year with a "golden" opportunity to play meaningful even strength minutes alongside franchise cornerstone Jack Eichel.

After Barbashev arrived in Vegas at the 2023 trade deadline, the Barbashev-Eichel tandem seemed to click immediately.  Vegas seemed poised to roll the dice once again this season by entrusting the pair to drive its forward group.

And boy have they ever.

Barbashev has scored an astounding 15 goals in just 31 games so far this year, already tied for his fourth highest single-season total. Incredibly, 14 of his 15 goals have come at even strength, and Barby is currently on pace for a whopping 40 goals this season. To put Barby's goal scoring prowess into perspective, only 17 players across the entire NHL scored 40+ goals last season.

Before we hand Barbashev the Rocket, it is important to note that his unsustainable 29.4% shooting percentage suggests that a slump may be looming. However, so long as Barbashev is glued to a real-life Batman at even strength, there's no reason Barby can't continue to produce like Robin. (Note: Barbashev is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury.)  

Assists: Mikael Granlund (7% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: 170.9)

After selecting rookie phenom Macklin Celebrini first overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, it remained to be seen how the Sharks would deploy Mikael Granlund this season. With a proven track record for versatility, Granlund was capable of filling a top-6 role, either alongside Celebrini or elsewhere in San Jose's lineup.

Given widespread anticipation of yet another trying season for the Sharks, it is not surprising that Granlund went undrafted in over 90% of Yahoo leagues. It stood to reason that any offensive contributions by Granlund would be offset (if not outweighed) by another dreadful +/- rating (Granlund had a +/- rating of -23 last year).

Safe to say, passing up on Granlund has left many managers with nasty scars.

Granlund has picked up right where he left off during the final quarter of the 2023-2024 season, during which he plucked 19 apples in 21 games. With 21 helpers in 34 games this season (along with a respectable +/- rating of 0), the 13-year veteran is currently on pace for 50 assists this year, making him a premiere playmaker and one of the waiver wire additions of the year to this point.

Power-play Points: Conor Garland (2% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: 178.5)

Prior to this season, Conor Garland was not necessarily known for his powerplay productivity, never totalling more than 12 PPP in a single campaign. Although Garland recorded four of his five powerplay points in 2023-2024 during the final quarter of the season, the off-season acquisition of talented winger Jake DeBrusk cast doubt on Garland's ability to solidify a spot this season on Vancouver's star-studded top power-play unit.

But like other aspects of the Canucks' season thus far, Garland's impressive power-play production has been surprising. A reported disconnect between JT Miller and Elias Pettersson caused head coach Rick Tocchet to temporarily place Miller and Pettersson on different power-play units. But even when Miller and Pettersson were back on the top power play together on Saturday, Garland remained there.   

Garland's 3:15 PPTOI is good for a 66.1% share of Vancouver's tenth-ranked power play. The diminutive, crafty forward has compiled nine powerplay points so far this season, equalling the power-play output of Matt Boldy, Nik Ehlers, and other Western Conference stars. If Garland can maintain this deployment, he should have no problem breezing by his current single-season PPP total that he set two seasons ago.

Shots on Goal: Ross Colton (0% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: N/A)

Before fracturing his foot in late-October, Ross Colton was making an early case for 2024-2025 fantasy hockey pickup of the year. With Valeri Nichushkin suspended and Artturi Lehkonen on the shelf to start the campaign, Colton had an enviable opportunity to join Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen atop Colorado's forward depth chart. Colton made the most of his opportunity, scoring eight goals in ten games to begin the campaign while averaging an impressive 3.7 SOG per game.

Colton's shot total has tailed off since his return from injury, as he's averaging just 1.5 SOG per game since rejoining the team. Remarkably, though, Colton is still averaging 2.7 SOG per game on the year, easily surpassing his previous career high of 2.0 SOG per game and making him an solid source of SOG so far this fantasy season.

Colton is currently manning the bumper position on Colorado's dreaded top power-play unit. If Colton can maintain this deployment, there's no reason to doubt his ability to continue putting rubber on (and in) the net on a consistent basis.

Plus/Minus: Jake Middleton (0% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: N/A)

Overlooked in virtually all fantasy drafts, Jake Middleton has emerged as a multi-cat stud this season. Along with surprising offensive production, Middleton's +/- rating of +22 is tied with teammate Kirill Kaprizov for tops in the league.

Middleton is currently stuck on LTIR after taking an Evan Bouchard point shot off the hand last week, but he should continue serving as a fantastic source of +/- whenever he returns to game action.

Penalty Minutes: Jack McBain (0% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: N/A)

Much like Martin Pospisil, Jack McBain made a name for himself in banger league fantasy circles late last season, posting gawdy hit and PIM totals as the Coyotes wrapped up their time in Mullet Arena and the desert.

McBain has always played with an edge to his game, accumulating at least 0.75 PIM per game since breaking into the league full time in 2022-2023. However, McBain has taken his nastiness to a new level this year, posting an astounding 1.34 PIM per game so far this season. That's a lot of time in the sin bin.

McBain's intriguing blend of grit with a modest dash of offense makes him a viable option in banger leagues and worthy of consideration among banger league pundits across the globe.

Hits: Kiefer Sherwood (0% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: N/A)

There are fantasy hockey surprises, fantasy hockey revelations, and Kiefer Sherwood.

Less than a calendar year removed from former teammate Jeremy Lauzon setting the single-season hits record with 383, Kiefer is not only looking to set a new precedent – he's looking to blow Lauzon's total out of the water. Kiefer Sherwood is currently pacing for nearly 500 hits (!!!), a total that could obliterate the current record by 100.

Along with positing otherworldly hit totals, Kiefer is set to breeze by his career high offensive output by nearly 20 points. Sherwood has also worked his way to increased ice time this season, even spending time on Vancouver's top line.

In the highly unlikely scenario that Kiefer's still on your banger league waiver wire and you're considering picking him up…I Sherwood.

Blocks: Ian Cole (0% Drafted on Yahoo; ADP: N/A)

Ian Cole has played his way into banger league fantasy relevance this season by eating plenty of pucks. The journeyman defenceman is currently among the league leaders in blocked shots, averaging nearly three blocked shots per game. Since Utah has a high number of off-days remaining (18), Cole will likely remain a viable source of blocks for fantasy managers looking to maximize games played, provided he stays healthy and continues to put his body between shooters and goaltenders.

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That's all for this week. Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and best of luck to all!