Fantasy: Top 10 waiver wire pickups for Week 15

Every Monday during the season, NHL.com will provide the top 10 players to add off the fantasy waiver wire. Based on Yahoo transaction data and other factors including production, lineup and/or injury trends, we have identified appealing options at each position for fantasy owners in season-long leagues.

FORWARDS

Alex Kerfoot, LW, COL (9 percent owned):The Colorado Avalanche rookie scored his 11th goal and had one assist and one shot on goal against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Kerfoot has back-to-back multipoint games and eight points (two goals, six assists), three power-play assists and eight SOG in his past eight games. He is skating on the second line with forwards Nail Yakupov (LW/RW, 3 percent) and A.J. Greer (LW/RW, fewer than 1 percent) and second power-play unit. Kerfoot is sixth in rookie scoring with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 39 games and has 13 power-play points, third-most among rookies.
Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, DET (42 percent):The Detroit Red Wings forward was a hot commodity earlier in the season with 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in his first 19 games before a scoring drought of five points (three goals, two assists) in his next 17 games. Mantha is starting to find the offense again and has points in four of his past five games totaling two goals, three assists and 10 SOG in that span. He had a multipoint game (one goal, one assist) against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday and has rejoined Detroit's top-six, skating on the first line with forwards Henrik Zetterberg (C/LW, 47 percent) and Gustav Nyquist (C/LW/RW, 17 percent). Mantha leads the Red Wings with 2.53 points per 60 minutes.

Anthony Beauvillier, C/LW, NYI (7 percent):The New York Islanders forward is beginning to find his offensive form on the Islanders' second line with standout rookie center Mathew Barzal and right wing Jordan Eberle. Beauvillier has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past two games skating in place of left wing Andrew Ladd, who was placed on injured reserve by the Islanders on Jan. 14. Beauvillier had six points (three goals, three assists) in his first 28 games, but has emerged as a short-term fantasy target at least until Ladd returns to the lineup.
Mikko Koivu, C, MIN (27 percent):The Minnesota Wild center had a power-play assist against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, extending his point streak to four games. Koivu has four assists in the span and nine points (one goal, eight assists), two PPP and 17 SOG in his past 10 games. Koivu is a borderline top-100 fantasy forward in standard leagues (111th in Yahoo), but is ranked 78th over the past two weeks. He is centering their first line with forwards Jason Zucker (76th) and Mikael Granlund (104th). Koivu and Granlund each assisted on Zucker's power-play goal Sunday.

Mathieu Perreault, C/LW, WPG (21 percent): The Winnipeg Jets forward scored a power-play goal in their 4-1 loss against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Perrault has stepped up his offensive production since being moved back into Winnipeg's top six after the injury to center Mark Scheifele. Perrault has seven points (four goals, three assists), three PPP and 18 SOG in his past nine games. He is averaging 17:04 per game in that span, almost four minutes more than his season average (13:38). Perrault is skating on the second line with center Bryan Little (27 percent, 171st in Yahoo) and left wing Nikolaj Ehlers (55th) and on the second power-play unit with Little, Ehlers, forward Joel Armia (RW, 1 percent) and defenseman Tyler Myers (58 percent). The Jets are on their break this week and do not play again until Jan. 20 against the Calgary Flames.
Evgenii Dadonov, RW, FLA (17 percent): The Florida Panthers forward extended his point streak to four games with two goals in their 4-2 loss against the Flames on Friday. Dadonov scored one of his two goals on the power play and had eight SOG. He has five points (two goals, three assists), two PPP and 15 SOG in his past four games and is back skating on Florida's first line with left wing Jonathan Huberdeau (46th in Yahoo) and center Aleksander Barkov (61st). Dadonov has 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 35 games and is a potential second-half fantasy sleeper given his lineup placement. The Panthers have their break this week before a back-to-back set against the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators.

Others to consider: Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL (67 percent); Danton Heinen, C/LW/RW, BOS (42 percent); Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, CHI (34 percent); Micheal Ferland, LW/RW, CGY (36 percent); Paul Stastny, C, STL (26 percent); Kyle Okposo, RW, BUF (20 percent); Tanner Pearson, LW, LAK (10 percent)

DEFENSEMEN

Jakob Chychrun, ARI (2 percent): The Arizona Coyotes defenseman had one assist in their 6-5 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, giving him points in back-to-back games. After missing the first 29 games with a lower-body injury, Chychrun has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 16 games, including six assists in his past nine. Chychrun has strong category coverage with 19 blocked shots and 27 SOG in his past nine games and added value in hits leagues (14). Arizona plays three games this week and five in the next 10 days.
Thomas Hickey, NYI (less than 1 percent): The New York Islanders defenseman has been an unexpected source of fantasy production over his past four games. Hickey had a multipoint game (one goal, one assist) against the New York Rangers on Saturday after their five-day break, giving him four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games. Hickey has solid category coverage in that span with six blocked shots and eight SOG. The Islanders play four games this week, making Hickey a short-term pickup for teams with defensemen on their break and value option in the low-$3,000 range in DraftKings.

Hampus Lindholm, ANA (16 percent): The Anaheim Ducks play four games this week, making Lindholm a great target for fantasy owners in need of a defenseman. Lindholm has four assists in his past four games and solid category coverage with six SOG and five blocked shots. Lindholm has seven points (three goals, four assists) and is averaging more than 22:00 per game in his past 10 games. He is skating on the second defense pair with Josh Manson and is running the point on the second power-play unit.
Others to consider: Jared Spurgeon, MIN (51 percent); Darnell Nurse, EDM (32 percent); Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJS (31 percent); Jeff Petry, MTL (9 percent); Samuel Girard, COL (2 percent); Andrew MacDonald, PHI (fewer than 1 percent)

GOALTENDER

Tristan Jarry, PIT (34 percent):The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender won each of his starts this past weekend; he stopped 29 of 30 shots faced in a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and 26 of 28 in their 5-2 win against the New York Rangers on Sunday. Jarry continues to be one of the top backup goaltenders in the League and has stolen starts from Matt Murray. Jarry has won four of his past five starts and should continue to see playing time because of Pittsburgh's second-half schedule. Pittsburgh has four games in six days starting against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 17.

Others to consider: Carter Hutton, STL (42 percent); Aaron Dell, SJS (32 percent); Jonathan Bernier, COL (25 percent)
GAMES THIS WEEK:
MOST: SJS (5)
FEWEST: CHI, CBJ, CGY, EDM, MIN (1 each)