Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Picks

Week 3 (Oct 20–26) is where off-nights shine.
The slate leans heavy on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday — so the teams that play Monday/Wednesday/Friday get you clean, conflict-free starts.

If you manage adds around M/W/F and stash smart into next week, one roster spot can still net 4–5 extra man-games.

How We Pick Waiver Adds

Our process is unchanged:

Target teams with four games in Week 3.
Prioritize off-night windows — this week that’s Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
Use the Rankings page with GTW + per-game toggle to surface the best roles you can actually start.
Use the Optimizer late-week to prep your early Week 4 move.

Heavy slates (Tue/Thu/Sat) clog benches. Off-nights convert bench spots into production.

Teams to Target in Week 3

Confirmed 4-game teams (15):
Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montréal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, Utah Mammoth, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets.

Below are the best schedule shapes for streaming value.

🧲 True Off-Night Monsters (3+ off-nights)

Calgary Flames — Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
Buffalo Sabres — Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

Calgary is the premier schedule this week and the only team with the clean M/W/F/Sun cadence.
Buffalo mirrors the off-night core (M/W/F) and swaps Sunday for Saturday.

🛠️ Hybrid Schedules (2 off-nights)

Minnesota Wild — Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday
Montréal Canadiens — Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
New Jersey Devils — Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
Winnipeg Jets — Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday

These still give you two clean windows to squeeze extra starts; just watch Thu/Sat clashes.

🧱 High-Volume, Heavy-Night Slates (≤1 off-night)

Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Nashville, Utah, Vancouver — Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
San Jose — Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday
Seattle — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

These teams play plenty, but Tue/Thu/Sat will compete with your starters. Stream here only if your lineup has room on heavy nights.

Suggested Streamer Profiles (Role-Based)

We’re still early, so roles > names for predictability and availability:

Hits/Blocks Defensemen — Bank per-game peripherals on off-nights to swing HIT/BLK.
Net-front/PP2 Forwards — Cheap access to PP touches; a single PPG on a light night can flip PPP.
Volume Shooter Wingers — Even 2–3 SOG/GP compounds to 8–12 SOG over four games.
Faceoff Specialists (C) — Target Mon/Wed/Fri to grab free FW without bench conflicts.

👉 On Rankings, filter by position + team + GTW, flip the per-game toggle, and prioritize M/W/F starters first.

Week 3 Schedule Breakdown

Mon, Oct 20 → 5 games (light, off-night)
Tue, Oct 21 → 10 games (heavy)
Wed, Oct 22 → 3 games (light, off-night)
Thu, Oct 23 → 12 games (heavy)
Fri, Oct 24 → 4 games (light, off-night)
Sat, Oct 25 → 13 games (very heavy)
Sun, Oct 26 → 8 games (moderate)

👉 Translation: Monday/Wednesday/Friday are your premium streaming windows.
Focus your moves there; only add Tue/Thu/Sat skaters if you have confirmed lineup space.

Why This Works

It’s man-games math:

A skater at 3 SOG + 2 HIT per game yields 12 SOG + 8 HIT in a 4-game week.
Off-night starts keep that production active instead of sitting on your bench.
Chain your schedule: early-week ➜ mid-week ➜ late-week ➜ next-week stash.

Teams to Avoid

Some schedules just don’t offer enough opportunity.
We’re fading teams with two games, or three games that land only on Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday (the heaviest nights):

Chicago Blackhawks — Thu, Sun (only 2 GP)
Anaheim Ducks — Tue, Thu, Sat
Boston Bruins — Tue, Thu, Sat
Florida Panthers — Tue, Thu, Sat
New York Islanders — Tue, Thu, Sat
Ottawa Senators — Tue, Thu, Sat
Pittsburgh Penguins — Tue, Thu, Sat
St. Louis Blues — Tue, Thu, Sat

These slates are likely to sit on your bench. Pivot to any 4-game, off-night team instead.

Looking Ahead to Week 4 (Oct 27–Nov 2)

If you have a move left Sunday night (Oct 26), stash into early Week 4:

Monday, Oct 27: Ottawa vs Boston and Pittsburgh vs St. Louis (clean, low-volume night).
Wednesday, Oct 29: Columbus vs Toronto (another light night to target).

Use that last Week 3 move to grab a skater from those games and roll straight into early Week 4 production.

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Final Thoughts

Start with Calgary (M/W/F/Sun) and Buffalo (M/W/F/Sat) for the best off-night leverage.
Supplement with Minnesota, Montréal, New Jersey, Winnipeg if you need flexible fits.
Avoid low-volume 2-game teams and T/Th/Sat-only 3-gamers that will sit on your bench.
Always use GTW + per-game to find roles that maximize peripheral averages and total man-games.

👉 Head to Rankings to filter by team, position, and GTW, and subscribe to the Newsletter for a fresh waiver breakdown every Monday.