Three Hot Skaters (Likely) on Waivers to Target (Nov. 7-10)
In my first post to focus on skaters on this blog, I am going to look at three skaters who are producing and could be available in most fantasy players' leagues. All three skaters are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues, as of November 7th.
Let's look at three skaters I will cover in this post, all hailing from teams in the Pacific Division.
Alex Laferriere, RW, LAK (48% rostered)
The 23-year-old winger has been one of the hottest skaters in fantasy recently, with six points in his last five games. He has scored four goals over that timespan, including a two-goal effort against Chicago on November 2nd, and one goal efforts against Vegas on October 30th, and in San Jose on October 29th.
For the season over 14 games, Laferriere has netted eight goals and collected five assists, good for 13 points total. The Kings third-line winger has also been a nice source of shots (24.2% S%) and hits (24) for managers who roster him in banger leagues (i.e., leagues that count hits and blocks).
As one can see in the player card, it does seem like Laferriere is over-performing by a considerable margin. All his goals have come in 5x5 situations but his xGF in those situations is only 8.58. Furthermore, when looking at his player deployment chart, Laferriere is taking advantage of inferior opposing third lines, while getting a lot of opportunities in the offensive zone.
While he is only averaging 15:38 TOI this season, he is getting first power play line duties, which boost his value in mixed leagues, even 12-team ones. With Laferriere in that PP1 group, the Kings have scored six goals and have a +/- of +6 in 36:47 of ice time.
Thus, it's hard to see the sophomore winger being taken off anytime soon.
Being on the power play with proved studs like Kopitar and Fiala shows the faith that head coach Jim Hiller has in Laferriere, who has taken a major step forward after only averaging 0.28 P/G a season ago.
William Karlsson, C, VEG (36% rostered)
Karlsson got off to a late start to the season, as he missed the first eight game due to an undisclosed injury. Since returning though, he's been on an absolute tear for a Vegas team that is tied for first place in the Pacific division with 19 points (they are tied with the Kings).
In five games, Karlsson has two goals and four assists. He's been a shots-generating machine on the third line for Vegas, as evidenced by his 2.40 SOG/G and 16.7% S% marks. Then again, the 31-year-old Swede has always been a solid shot-maker, as he averaged 2.50 SOG/G and a 17.1% S% a season ago.
The PTS/60 and PDO suggest that Karlsson is on a serious heater, but could be due for some regression once he gets a few more games under his belt. His 2.44 GF/G is lower than the four goals he has scored this year, and his quality of competition on the Vegas player deployment chart is even more concerning than Laferriere's.
Even though Karlsson's numbers so far feel a bit fluky, he's had a habit of over-performing in his career, especially with the Golden Knights.
Last year, he scored 54 goals in 5x5 situations but only had an xGF in 5x5 situations of 40. So it's possible that this may be who Karlsson simply is, which makes him a must-roster for teams looking for shots and points at the center or utility positions.
Fabian Zetterlund, RW, SJS (20% rostered)
It's tough to recommend a Shark, especially with them tied for last place in the Pacific Division with the Ducks, as of November 7th. However, the Sharks are trending in the right direction, with four wins in their last five games after going winless in their first nine games of the 2024-2025 season.
Zetterlund has collected seven points in his last six games, with two assists in his last game against Columbus on November 5th. He did get blanked on November 2nd against Vancouver, but he had an assist against the Blackhawks on Halloween, and three goals in two games against the Kings and Utah on October 29th and 28th, respectively.
Fantasy hockey managers should notice a trend: when Zetterlund puts up points recently, the Sharks win.
The return of super prospect Macklin Celebrini mixes up the lines a bit for the Sharks. Zetterlund primarily played on the second line with center Alexander Wennberg and left winger Danil Gushchin. However, the return of Celebrini pushes William Eklund to the second line and Gushchin to the AHL.
In their first game together as a line, it seemed like Zetterlund meshed with the group, as they produced a SF% of 44.4%, the second-best mark of any San Jose even-strength line for the night.
I am curious to see how the two San Jose Swedes will mesh with each other, especially since Eklund has collected nine points in 13 games a primary first-liner for the Sharks. Zetterlund has commanded a lot of shots with a 20.7% S% and 2.1 SOG/G, much higher than Eklund's 8.0% S% and 1.9 SOG/G marks this season.
Based on those shot numbers, the gap could shrink a bit between the two Swedish wingers, but I still see Zetterlund as the primary shot maker and point-creator (0.71 PTS/G) for the San Jose second line, even with Eklund recently joining.
That makes him worth holding on for now and one of the few Sharks worth rostering in Yahoo fantasy leagues, whether it's in points or category-based scoring formats.
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