Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire: Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers Suspended, with Kaapo Kakko and Pavel Dorofeyev as Streamer Options

Are you a McDavid holder, or are you still battling injuries and looking for a streamer? Maybe you are a Canucks fan and have Myers. While not as big of a blow as losing McDavid, there are a couple players I want to discuss with you today that are decent potential adds in the short term, but first let’s go over the elephants in the room.

Three-Day Suspensions

Connor McDavid has had enough! The Edmonton Oilers have had a very up-and-down season. They were in absolute crisis mode to start the year, and McDavid wasn’t even the best Connor McSomeone in the league - that title was held by Connor McMichael of the Washington Capitals.

McDavid is the undisputed best player in the league, and is not being defended by either his team or the referees. While it’s great to see him maybe pick up some hits for his peripherals, not at the cost of a three-game suspension for some retaliatory cross checking towards Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland.

McDavid has 20 goals, 45 assists, 20 powerplay points, and 131 shots on goal in 43 games played. These are elite franchise numbers, and as I mentioned before, these numbers are despite a start that was colder than a Saskatchewan winter. 

He is a cornerstone piece to be missing on your fantasy team, and for a dumb reason. I would be upset to lose him to a suspension, which he is not not going to appeal. Either the refs need to protect the league's star players, or his teammates need to ensure it stops happening. Is it time for enforcers to make a comeback?

Tyler Myers of the Vancouver Canucks also was suspended for three games, during the same game! It was a rough one, to say the least. Oilers’ Evan Bouchard was caught by Myers in the head with a cross check.

Myers has 11 goals, 20 assists, and 10 powerplay points in 45 games. He also has 99 shots on goal, 28 hits, and 27 blocked shots. He is on pace for a career 50-point season, but is still nowhere near the loss McDavid to your roster would be.

Ironically enough, both McDavid and Myers will still be on suspension for their next game against each other scheduled for Thursday night. Coincidence? I think not. Well played, player safety.

Summon the Kakko

Kaapo Kakko of the Seattle Kraken was mentioned in my article earlier this month just after he was traded from the New York Rangers. The Rangers notoriously stifled the second overall pick from 2019 and did not afford him to play his game, or reward him with ice time. 

So what happens when he plays on a team who will give him what he needs to thrive? Well he surges, and the Rangers look like they blundered another young player, of course!

This seriously needs a break down, so let’s compare how he did in 30 games with the Rangers, and exactly half of the games at 15 with the Kraken.

Rangers stats: four goals, 10 assists, two powerplay points and his average ice time per game was only 13 minutes.

Kraken stats (and keep in mind, this is over half of the amount of games): four goals, 10 assists, two powerply points, and his average ice time per game went up nearly four minutes per game at 17 minutes.

On the season, he has also racked up 43 hits. Do we see some similarities here? If you have a keen eye, you will note more ice time, and he has literally doubled his production. He is getting picked up fast, so don’t sleep on Kakko to have a breakout back half of the season in his new home of Seattle.

Also of note, he’s been rewarded with top forward line minutes, and is seeing time on the second powerplay unit with Shane Wright, who is also finally seeing some NHL ice time.

Bet on Dorofeyev

Pavel Dorofeyev is another surging player with a ton of weekly adds, who is on a hot streak you might want to ride. The Vegas Golden Knights’ winger has had a pretty up-and-down season, but has proven that given the ice time he can produce.

Dorofeyev has the ability to move up and down the lineup, but has suffered greatly with production when he has limited ice time. Currently he is on the second forward line, but remains on the top powerplay unit. Lately he has been seeing an increase in ice time, and Brett Howden is considered day to day, which helps Dorofeyev.

In 47 games, Dorofeyev has 20 goals, 10 assists, and 10 powerplay points. He’s also put 138 shots on goal. Prior to January 7, he was getting around 14 minutes of ice time per game, but now he's been hovering between 19-20 minutes. He also scored a hat trick on January 14, and has nine points in the past five games.

Closing Thoughts

Suspensions happen. When it’s a star player for an entire matchup, it hurts. Upon McDavid’s return, I would look for him to explode in production. McDavid plays with high emotion, and this will be enough to spark him before the four nations cup.

Kakko is poised to have the season of his career, and since his move to the Kraken has shown he has the ability to produce at an elite level. Summon the Kraken? No, summon Kakko! Grab him while he’s available if someone hasn’t in your league. He might end up being more than a streamer if his deployment and production continues.

Dorofeyev is streaky. He’s hot right now and you should ride this until you can’t. He is on a winning team, and as long as he’s getting decent deployment, he will continue to be a viable option. If he cools off, drop him immediately and pick up a hotter hand.