NHL Pickups for Fantasy Managers: Columbus Goalie Cam Talbot, Minnesota's Maxim Shabanov and Flyers D Jamie Drysdale

Thursday is a good day to make your fantasy hockey moves. The weekend schedule is coming, rosters are shifting with injuries and line changes, and several players doing real damage are still sitting on the waiver wire in most leagues. Here are the adds worth your claim, drawn from this week's waiver reports at NHL.com and ESPN (both published Monday) and RotoWire's latest column (published last Friday). Ownership numbers differ by platform, so each one is labeled.

In Net: Cam Talbot Is the Name

If you need a goalie, start with Columbus veteran Cam Talbot, flagged by both NHL.com and ESPN this week. NHL.com credited him with five wins, a 2.44 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage, and listed him at just 12% rostered ^[1]. ESPN said Talbot appears to have taken over as the Blue Jackets' starter after wins over Dallas and Colorado, and he was still available in 93.2% of ESPN leagues ^[2].

Two more to watch. Vegas' Adin Hill is splitting starts with Carter Hart but has been strong in all but two of his nine appearances, ESPN reported ^[2]. And Edmonton's Devon Levi is back after two weeks out with a lower-body injury and is expected to start more often than Tristan Jarry, according to ESPN ^[2]. He is rostered in 62% of leagues on NHL.com's count, so check whether he was dropped in yours ^[1].

Forwards Getting Power-Play Minutes

Power-play time is the most reliable road to fantasy points, and these forwards are getting it.

Minnesota's Maxim Shabanov has scored six goals with one assist in seven games while skating on a scoring line with Danila Yurov and Nikita Trenin, and has recently worked onto the top power-play unit, ESPN reported. He was available in 86.2% of ESPN leagues ^[2]. RotoWire noted that seven of his 10 points have come on the first power-play unit ^[3].

Boston's Pavel Zacha has five goals and seven assists over his last 12 games, with six power-play points, while centering David Pastrnak on the top line and the top power play and averaging 19 minutes, 20 seconds a night, according to RotoWire ^[3].

San Jose's Kiefer Sherwood is the pick for leagues that count hits. RotoWire had him with seven points, 20 shots and 44 hits over eight games while playing top-six minutes and both special-teams units ^[3], and ESPN said he leads the NHL in hits ^[2].

Pittsburgh's Tommy Novak has 14 points, five of them on the power play, in 18 games and is skating on the top unit with Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson, NHL.com reported. He sits at 16% rostered ^[1].

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Vegas' Victor Olofsson has six points in six games and has a spot on a loaded top power play with Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl, according to NHL.com ^[1].

The New York Rangers' Tye Kartye has six goals and five assists over his last 12 games while playing on the second line and the power play alongside J.T. Miller, ESPN reported. He was available in 91.5% of ESPN leagues ^[2].

On the Blue Line

Philadelphia's Jamie Drysdale has nine points in his last eight games, plus-5, with power-play time, and ESPN named him its top streaming defenseman of the week ^[2].

Carolina's Alexander Nikishin had a goal and an assist in last Saturday's 9-2 rout of Chicago while playing on a pair with Shayne Gostisbehere and on the second power-play unit, according to NHL.com and ESPN ^[1][2].

Tampa Bay's Charle-Edouard D'Astous quarterbacks the Lightning's top power-play unit and was rostered in 37% of Yahoo leagues as of last week, RotoWire reported ^[3].

Abby's Take

The pattern this week is simple: chase opportunity, not name value. Talbot has the starter's crease, Shabanov and Novak have power-play seats next to stars, and Drysdale is producing from the back end. Those are the kinds of jobs that hold up for weeks, not nights.

Be patient with your stars and decisive with your bench. The last spot on your roster should always belong to the hottest player with the biggest role, and right now several of them are free.

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