Week 4 of the Fantasy Hockey season has rolled around, and within fantasy leagues, contenders and pretenders start to become more clear.

Those at the top of the standings want to hold onto their coveted territory. Those at the bottom want to relinquish their title as league doormat. Either way, scouting the waiver wire is the best way to gain an advantage on your opponents.

In this week’s rendition of the waiver wire, we’ll take a look at how you can get a leg up on the competition.

2019-20 Fantasy Hockey Week 4 Waiver Wire

Eric Staal, C, Minnesota Wild (22% Owned)

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The veteran Minnesota Wild center started the season in a slump. He only contributed one assist to in the first seven games. Since then, the eldest Staal brother turned it around for those who stuck with him.

In the last six games, Staal has been on a tear, registering three goals and five helpers. In Minnesota, Stall is centering the top line with Jason Zucker and Mats Zuccarello– both of whom are quality playmakers. He’s also playing on the top power-play unit and during this run, he’s added two points on the PP.

Part of Staal’s recent offensive success is the fact that he has been getting the puck to the net on a more consistent basis. In the first seven games of the season, the former Hurricane posted only ten shots on goal. In the last six, he has recorded 15 SOG.

Staal is an important part of Minnesota’s offensive production but is even more important with regards to his peripheral stats. For leagues that count faceoff wins, the 35-year-old has averaged 6.6 per game on the season. He can get it done on the defensive side of the puck as well, with 14 hits in the 2019-20 campaign.

Get him into your lineup to bolster the depth of your centermen.

James van Riemsdyk, LW, Philadelphia Flyers (42% Owned)

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JVR is another veteran than started off the season stuck in the mud. He too has turned it around from an offensive production standpoint.

Now that he’s playing on Philadelphia’s top even-strength unit alongside Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, the towering winger has plenty of upside for fantasy owners.

The New Jersey native has three goals and three assists since going pointless in the first seven games. van Riemsdyk has scored all six of his points in three of the last four games, including a three-point performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It’s important to note that although his name didn’t make it on the stat sheet in the first seven games, van Riemsdyk was near the top of the league in terms of shots on goal during his drought (36 SOG in seven games). Producing points was simply a matter of time and patient fantasy owners are reaping the benefits.

Michal Kempny, D, Washington Capitals (5% Owned)

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A few weeks before the Stanley Cup playoffs began last season, Michal Kempny tore his hamstring and was out of hockey for over six months. He’s since recovered and has become one of the most intriguing blue-line options in fantasy hockey.

After a toiling six months of recovery, the Czech defenseman was welcomed back into the fold of the Washington Capitals. It took him less than 15 minutes to find the back of the net against the New York Rangers in his return.

Kempny has produced five points in six games since his return on Oct. 18, scoring three goals and adding a pair of assists. In the Capitals’ 6-5 shootout victory against the Vancouver Canucks, Kempny scored two goals while registering three SOG and a blocked shot. The 29-year-old blueliner has ten blocked shots so far this season.

Kempny is also no stranger to mixing it up physically, racking up ten PIMs. Last year, in 71 games before succumbing to injury, he had 60 penalty minutes.

Although he is unlikely to continue scoring at his current pace, Kempny’s exposure to goal-scoring defenseman John Carlson on Washington’s top pairing should give him an offensive boost. Also, anybody who’s on the ice with the likes of Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov is bound to pick up points strictly from being in the same vicinity.

If he continues to get time on the top defensive pairing, Kempny is a no-brainer for fantasy owners.

Anthony Duclair, LW, RW, Ottawa Senators (3% Owned)

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Playing on the top line of an NHL franchise must mean something. Even if it is the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators have started off the NHL season as the dumpster fire we all know and love, but there’s a silver lining for fantasy owners, and his name is Anthony Duclair.

After starting off the season at a snail’s pace in purgatory Ottawa, Duclair has shown why he was one of the most intriguing selections of the 2013 NHL Draft. Duclair has scored three goals and added an assist in his past three games.

Duclair has the talent to produce at the NHL level. His speed is elite, but for fantasy owners, putting pucks on net is what makes him valuable. Duclair’s 36 shots on goal leads the Senators and being the de facto go-to option in Ottawa bodes well for the 24-year-old’s fantasy value.

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Duclair is worth keeping an eye on in deep leagues, especially if he can take advantage of his time on the Senators’ power play.

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