January 7 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Pickups: Jason Zucker and Matthew Knies Get Hats Off for Hat Tricks

This week I have two potential productive adds off of your waiver wire that are likely available for streaming. Jump quick, because according to FantasySP, both forwards have a +10 and +8 add rate, respectively.

What do Jason Zucker and Matthew Knies have in common? Both have had a hat trick and are surging from success. While Zucker of the Buffalo Sabres and Knies of the Toronto Maple Leafs had great games, we’ll go over why one might be a short term add while the other may be more of a long-term gamble that may pay off.

Comparing Zucker and Knies Over Past Week

Zucker: three games played, five goals, one assist, three powerplay points, 11 shots on goal, six hits, two blocks.

Knies: four games played, four goals, one assist, 15 shots on goal, 12 hits, two blocks.

Zucker's Pros and Cons

Let’s start with Zucker and why he is a great candidate for a short-term streamer. The Sabres broke their 13-game losing streak, and better yet, in the past six, they are 4-2. That said, they are and will continue to be a bottom dweller team.

The Sabres’ recent success has been a resurgence in Zucker’s productivity, and his record coincides with the team record in that he has points in six out of seven of his last games, including his hat trick on January 2. 

Zucker is poised to eclipse 50 points should his productivity sustain. He is also on the top forward line alongside Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens right now, and this comes with its own benefits. Thompson is an elite player, and like Knies, just being on the ice with that level of talent will bolster his numbers.

He also has the benefit of seeing first powerplay unit time. This contributed to his fantasy value last week with three powerplay points. It does seem though that Zucker’s success is tied to that of how the team performs, so watch out for another slide causing Zucker’s numbers (as well as his +/-) to tank.

One last quick consideration are his peripherals. They are average at best. On the season he is averaging just shy of two shots per game, and one hit per game.

Knies' Pros and Cons

Knies has a big influx of increased roster adds too, but he might be a longer-term depth player or an IR substitute. Unlike Zucker, Knies is on the Maple Leafs, who lead their division and despite spotty games played from Matthews and an injured netminder in Anthony Stolarz, they have continued to see success.

Again, what makes Knies a great streaming option, but makes him stand out more than Zucker are his linemates. This guy is playing on the wing with Auston Matthews, who is the defending Rocket Richard trophy winner up the middle. On the other wing is Mitch Marner, who is a perennial point per game player and one of the best playmakers in the league. Marner has been just shy of 100 points three times already, but is on pace to SMASH 100 points this year.

Could you ask for better linemates in the league? Probably not. The caveat is that Matthews has been plagued with injuries this year and has already missed 15 games already, and obviously when he is not in the lineup, everyone's point production suffers. 

Unfortunately, Knies is the most impacted player by the missing Matthews, but the good news is he's back (for now). His injury lingers, but this did not slow him down in his first game back where Knies had a goal, and Matthews had two assists.

Knies started the year on the first powerplay unit, but as of late has solidified his position on the second unit. While this isn’t as much of a powerhouse as the first unit, it does have Max Domi and Bobby McMann on it, who are a part of the notorious “remedy line” who have been absolutely red hot and continue to see huge success and productivity on the Maple Leafs’ third line.

As long as Matthews is in the lineup, and Knies sees powerplay time, he should be an easy pickup and a potential hold. Further, his peripherals are better than Zucker (albeit still not great, so when he isn’t putting up points you should have low expectations) as this season Knies has racked up twice the hits, averaging just over two per game, and is nearly on par with Zucker’s shots per game.

The Hildebeast

Notable mention goes to Toronto's goaltender Dennis Hildeby. He does have a ton of adds, but don’t be fooled as he could be a trap. Keep in mind that this week the Maple Leafs do not have a back to back, and generally they are only rotating goalies on back to back nights. I would look to see Joseph Woll get all of the starts this week.

Hildeby’s last game was solid and is noteworthy as it saw him put up 30 saves, have two goals against, resulting in a .938 save % which was good enough to bring home the win.

Also with regard to Hildeby being anything more than a short-term streamer, he is also sharing the load of the backup role with netminder Matt Murray. The duo have been swapping back and forth between the NHL and the AHL, and continue to rotate starts in the minors, too.

While Hildeby may have the edge over Murray, he is not a mainstay for the NHL at this time and will only be called upon so long as Stolarz is out of action, and he is likely to return to the lineup in as little as two weeks.

If you are desperate, and think the Maple Leafs will sit Woll to rest him and have not exceeded your weekly adds, then sure give Hildeby a pickup. I wouldn’t bank on it, but his last start he did have some solid numbers which did show some promise. Still, I would consider picking him up as risky business. One win from an AHL goalie should not be enough to sway you to pick him up over other options.

Bonus Hidden Gem is Ducks' LaCombe

One last notable mention goes to Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

A quick recap of his stats in the last week running concurrent to the Ducks four wins in their last five are as follows: four games played, two goals, one assist, one powerplay point, 10 shots on goal, three hits, four blocks.

Not terrible for a defenseman on the Ducks. He is getting first unit powerplay time, and playing alongside captain Radko Gudas. He has similar stats last week to Zucker, but again on a bottom feeder team, his success will live and die with the Ducks as he is not established enough to hold his own. He still might be worth a look in deeper leagues, though.