Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Picks – Week 23 (2026)

Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Picks – Week 23 (Mar 30–Apr 5, 2026)

Welcome to Playoff Week 3.

By now, the waiver wire isn’t really about chasing random four-game players.

It’s about finding games that actually fit into your lineup.

At this stage of the fantasy playoffs, every usable start matters. A team can have four or even five games, but if too many of them land on overloaded nights, the real value disappears fast. Don't be sentimental and hang on to a player that won't help you this week.

Playoff Rule #3 — Off-night games are king

In playoff matchups, the best streamer is often not the “best player.”

It’s the player whose games actually make your roster.

A three- or four-game schedule becomes extremely valuable when those games hit the light nights — especially this week, where the slate is sharply split between a few excellent stream nights and several crowded bench-clog spots.

The schedule reality (what actually matters)

There are 56 NHL games in Week 23.

Off-nights (maximum leverage)

These are the slates where streaming matters most:

Mon (Mar 30): 5 games
Wed (Apr 1): 3 games
Fri (Apr 3): 2 games

These are the nights where your streamer can give you the biggest edge.

Heavy nights (bench-clog risk)

Tue (Mar 31): 10 games
Thu (Apr 2): 14 games
Sat (Apr 4): 15 games

Sunday is playable, but not truly light:

Sun (Apr 5): 7 games

That means the real leverage this week comes from Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with Sunday acting as a useful secondary tiebreaker.

The only thing we’re chasing: startable volume

Tier 0 — The week-winning schedule edge

St. Louis Blues (STL) — 4 games, best schedule on the board

STL schedule

Mon @ SJS
Wed @ LAK
Fri @ ANA
Sun @ COL

This is the cleanest streaming schedule of the week.

St. Louis gets all three true off-nights — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — plus a Sunday game that is still usable in many formats. That gives the Blues the best possible combination of volume and lineup fit.

If you are choosing one team to attack on waivers this week, it starts here.

St. Louis Player Targets

Jordan Kyrou (RW)
Kyrou is averaging 0.6 points per game with over 2.5 shots per night, making him one of the better offensive streamers from St. Louis this week, especially with their elite schedule.

Colton Parayko (D)
Parayko is a strong peripheral option, averaging over a shot and a hit per game, while standing out in blocks with almost 2.5 per night, giving him excellent category coverage from the blue line.

Jimmy Snuggerud (RW)
Snuggerud has been hot lately, averaging almost 0.7 points per game with over 2 shots and over a hit per night, making him a high-upside streaming option.

Jake Neighbours (LW/RW)
Neighbours is averaging just under 0.5 points per game with over a shot and just shy of 2.5 hits per night, giving him strong value in multi-category formats.

Tier 1 — Strong four-game teams

Anaheim Ducks (ANA)

ANA schedule

Mon vs TOR
Wed @ SJS
Fri vs STL
Sat vs CGY

Anaheim is one of the strongest teams to target this week because they hit all three primary off-nights before closing on a brutal Saturday. Even if that last game is harder to use, the Monday-Wednesday-Friday structure gives them elite streaming value.

Anaheim Player Targets

Troy Terry (RW)
Terry is averaging a point per game this season with almost 2.5 shots per night, making him one of the top offensive options available in many leagues.

Beckett Sennecke (RW)
Sennecke is averaging 0.75 points per game with almost 2.5 shots and over a hit per night, offering strong upside across multiple categories.

Mikael Granlund (C/LW/RW)
Granlund is averaging over 0.6 points per game with just shy of 2 shots per night, making him a reliable offensive contributor.

Radko Gudas (D)
Gudas remains an elite banger option, averaging almost a penalty minute per game with over a shot, 3 hits, and over 1.5 blocks per night.

Colorado Avalanche (COL)

COL schedule

Mon vs CGY
Wed vs VAN
Sat @ DAL
Sun vs STL

Colorado doesn’t get the Friday edge, but Monday + Wednesday + Sunday is still excellent. That gives them three highly playable games, which is enough to make them one of the best teams to stream from this week.

Colorado Player Targets

Valeri Nichushkin (LW/RW)
Nichushkin is averaging almost 0.7 points per game with over 2 shots per night, making him a strong middle-tier offensive streamer.

Artturi Lehkonen (C/LW) (currently out at time of writing)
Lehkonen is averaging 0.7 points per game with just shy of 2.5 shots per night. If he returns during the week, he becomes an immediate high-value add.

Josh Manson (D)
Manson is averaging over 0.4 points per game with over a penalty minute, 1.5 shots, over 2 hits, and over a block per night, making him one of the better category defensemen available.

Gabriel Landeskog (LW/RW) (currently out at time of writing)
Landeskog is averaging over 0.6 points per game with over 2 shots and almost 1.5 hits per night, and can see top power-play usage.

Ross Colton (C/LW)
Colton is averaging over 0.3 points per game with over 2 shots and 2 hits per night, giving him sneaky multi-category value.

New York Islanders (NYI)

NYI schedule

Mon vs PIT
Tue @ BUF
Fri vs PHI
Sat @ CAR

The Islanders only hit two true off-nights, but those games come on Monday and Friday, which are two of the best stream spots of the week. The Tuesday and Saturday games are much harder to use, but the overall structure is still good enough to keep New York firmly in the target zone.

New York Islanders Player Targets

Emil Heineman (LW/RW)
Heineman is averaging 0.4 points per game with over 2 shots and over 3 hits per night, making him a strong banger-league option.

Brayden Schenn (C/LW)
Schenn is averaging just under 0.5 points per game with almost a penalty minute, just shy of 1.5 shots, and over 2 hits per night. He has also been deployed on the top power play since arriving in New York.

Anders Lee (LW)
Lee is averaging 0.5 points per game with just shy of 2.5 shots and over a hit per night, giving him solid scoring and peripheral value.

Tony DeAngelo (D)
DeAngelo is averaging almost 0.5 points per game with just shy of 2 shots and just under a block per night, making him a strong offensive defense option.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau (C/RW)
Pageau is averaging 0.5 points per game with over a shot and over 1.5 hits per night. He also leads the league in shorthanded points, making him especially valuable in leagues that count that category.

Ryan Pulock (D)
Pulock is averaging just under 0.4 points per game with over a shot and just shy of 2 blocks per night, giving him steady defensive value.

Marc Gatcomb (RW)
Gatcomb is a banger-league specialist, averaging over a shot and well over 4 hits per game, making him an elite hits streamer.

Tier 2 — Volume with imperfections

Pittsburgh Penguins (PIT) — 5 games, but not a perfect stream profile

PIT schedule

Mon @ NYI
Tue vs DET
Thu @ TBL
Sat vs FLA
Sun vs FLA

Five games always deserves attention, especially in the playoffs.

But this is a good reminder that raw volume is not everything.

Pittsburgh gets only one true off-night on Monday, then runs into a difficult Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday structure before finishing Sunday. The fifth game still matters, and managers chasing pure total games may still want exposure here, but this is not as clean a streaming setup as it first appears.

Pittsburgh Player Targets

Rickard Rakell (C/LW/RW)
Rakell is skating on the top line and top power play, averaging over 0.7 points per game, over 2.5 shots, and almost 1.5 hits per night, making him one of the best overall adds this week.

Anthony Mantha (LW/RW)
Mantha is averaging just under 0.8 points per game with just shy of 2 shots per night, giving him strong offensive streaming value.

Kris Letang (D)
Letang is averaging over 0.4 points per game with over 1.5 shots, and just under 1.5 hits and blocks per night, making him a well-rounded defense option.

Connor Clifton (D)
Clifton is a banger specialist, averaging over a penalty minute per game with just shy of 4 hits and over 1.7 blocks per night, making him extremely valuable in physical formats.

Deep-league watch list

San Jose Sharks (SJS)

SJS schedule

Mon vs STL
Wed vs ANA
Thu vs TOR
Sat vs NSH

San Jose gets the valuable Monday-Wednesday combo, which is enough to matter in deeper leagues. The downside is that the final two games fall on heavy nights, so this is more of a deeper-format target than a primary stream team.

Vancouver Canucks (VAN)

VAN schedule

Mon @ VGK
Wed @ COL
Thu @ MIN
Sat vs UTA

Vancouver opens with a very useful Monday-Wednesday start, but Thursday and Saturday are difficult nights to use. Like San Jose, this is more of a schedule to cherry-pick from in deeper formats rather than a premium streaming target.

Week 23 priority list

If you are streaming for playoff survival this week, this is the order I would prioritize the schedules:

St. Louis Blues
Anaheim Ducks
Colorado Avalanche
New York Islanders
Pittsburgh Penguins

If you need deeper options after that, San Jose and Vancouver are the next places to look.

The schedule takeaway

This week is not about blindly chasing the most games.

It is about attacking the teams that actually play when your lineup has room.

St. Louis has the best schedule of the week.
Anaheim is right behind them with a near-ideal off-night setup.
Colorado offers a very strong four-game path.
The Islanders are a solid secondary target.
Pittsburgh brings five-game volume, but with more lineup risk than the raw total suggests.

If you stream the right schedule this week, you can absolutely steal a playoff matchup.

Playoff Preview Reminder

If your playoffs are still rolling, make sure you also read the full playoff breakdown here:

https://www.4thlinefantasy.com/blog/fantasy-hockey-playoff-preview-2026

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