Welcome to Week 4 of the fantasy hockey season. With only two teams scheduled to play four games for the week, this is more of a buy-low, sell-high themed piece with a few deep league adds sprinkled in. The goal here is to try and help owners replace Vladimir Tarasenko and Mikko Rantanen. Both right wingers and both extremely difficult to replace.

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While it’s possible Rantanen may return in a couple weeks, the news isn’t as good for Tarasenko as the Blues announced he’ll require surgery on his left shoulder and he’ll be re-evaluated in five months.  Certainly replacing him is easier said than done, unless you play in a shallow league. Even still, the loss of Tarasenko has likely created a huge hole on the right side of your fantasy hockey team.

The requests to get this waiver wire article up Sunday morning to help better set your week have been heard. With 12 teams scheduled to pay four games in Week 5 (Nov. 4 – Nov. 11), you can bet on several four-game streams to consider.

In the meantime, make sure to check out the Four Stacked Lines podcast with Eric Young and myself on Friday’s. We try and help you finish your week strong with weekend streams, and we set you up for the following week with four-game streams. On Tuesday’s we are joined by some of your favorite hockey writers here at The Athletic. Most recently, we were fortunate enough to have Alison Lukan join us as she shared insight on her Columbus Blue Jackets as well as some advice for those in need of production in net.

It’s easy enough to say pick up this guy and pick up that guy, but who you dropping? @TheEricYoung and I are here to try and help. https://t.co/qeVMqyuNPa

— Chris Meaney (@chrismeaney) October 26, 2019

Honestly, the best way to replace super star forwards, is by streaming or buying low on struggling players, so let’s get into it.

Four-game streams

Calgary Flames (Tue @ CAR, Thu @ NAS, Sat @ CBJ, Sun @ WAS)

• Mikael Backlund, C — He only has two goals and four points, but 24 FOW in his past three games. He’s also put at least two pucks on goal in six straight games.
• Noah Hanifin, D — 60-plus hits, blocks and shots.
• Cam Talbot, G — Decent weekend stream vs CBJ or WAS.

Vancouver Canucks (Mon vs. FLA, Wed @ LA, Fri @ ANA, Sat @ SJ)

• Tanner Pearson, LW — Pearson’s 29 shots rank second on the Canucks, behind Bo Horvat.
• Micheal Ferland, LW/RW — Ferland’s 27 hits are nine more than the next closest (Alexander Edler).
• Brandon Sutter, C — Logs a ton of time on ice, but a face-off stream only.
• Thatcher Demko, G — Demko has won two of his three starts and makes for a good stream against either the Ducks or Sharks.

Two games 

You could drop these guys if you have a streamers mentality or play in shallow leagues.

Make sure they’re owned

• Bo Horvat, C (VAN) — Horvat was high in the rankings and with six points in his past three games, his ownership should finally creep into the 60 percent mark.
• Brock Nelson, C (NYI) — 10 points in 10 games. Career high 25 goals and 53 points last season.
• Paul Stastny, C (VGK) — Still producing and still available.
• Ryan Getzlaf, C (ANH) — Has lost a step but still a very solid fantasy player: 5 goals, 2 PPG, 27 hits, 31 shots and 97 face-off wins. He had 48 points in 67 games last season and 61 in 56 the year before — 50 points are within reach.
• Nick Schmaltz, C/LW/RW (ARI) — 11 points in 10 games and 25 in 27 with Arizona dating back to last season. Multiple eligibility is nice.
• Jonathan Drouin, C/LW (MON) — Five goals and 10 points in 11 games. Back to playing with Max Domi. Looks motivated.
• James van Riemsdyk LW (PHI) — EY and I said it was only a matter of time before JVR found the back of the net. Three goals in his last three games and ranks inside the Top 10 LW in shots on goal (39). Top 20 overall in 5v5 shots (27). Also, while we’re at it… JVR has scored at least 27 goals in five of his past six seasons and at least 30 twice.
• Travis Konecny, RW (PHI) — Back-to-back seasons with 24 goals and six already this season, yet nobody wants to own him.
• Andreas Johnsson, LW/RW (TOR) — You take the bad with the good and the upside is there playing with Auston Matthews.
• Tyler Bertuzzi, LW/RW (DET) — The Red Wings have been juggling lines, but I don’t think it matters to Bertuzzi.
• Kevin Hayes, C (PHI) — Another Flyer. I treat the entire Top 6 in Philly the same as I treat the Top 6 in Dallas. There are plenty of players on these two teams who are either available via the trade or waiver wire. Hayes has three goals and six points over a four-game point streak.
• Kevin Labanc, LW/RW (SJ) — Goals in three straight, and five on the season. Playing a career high 16:49 minutes per game.
• Neal Pionk, D (WPG) — Piling up statistics, including 23 minutes per game.

Let’s dig deeper

• Lars Eller, C (WAS) — 10 points while playing a career-high 16:48 per game. Ranks eighth in face-off wins.
• Jordan Staal, C (CAR) — Staal logs a bit more ice than Eller and he’ll throw his body around more.
• Joel Armia, RW — Armia has six goals with three coming on the power play. He’s skating with Domi and Drouin, which has resulted in a career high 17:03 of ice time. He has a combined 50 shots and hits: 2.7 SPG  and 2.9 HPG. Armia is the first person I’d go searching for if I were a Tarasenko owner.
• Ryan Strome, C/RW — Strome has five points over a four-game point steak. His 21:49 minutes on ice in his latest contest was the most he’s played this season, and he’s logged at least 17:47 in four straight games. He won’t put up zeros in the FOW or HIT categories either. He’s also been skating alongside Artemi Panarin, plus, the injury to Mika Zibanejad could mean even more ice time.
• Brandon Tanev, LW/RW (PIT) — He won’t score often, but it’s an added bonus to the 49 hits you just acquired.
• Calle Jarnkrok, LW/RW (NAS) — Jarnkork is getting a chance to play on the top line with some injuries in Nashville. He has goals in back-to-back games and nine points this season. He played a season-high 19:09 minutes in his latest game.
• J.T. Compher, C/RW (COL) — Logged 20:38 minutes in Colorado’s latest game as he filled in on the top line for Rantanen. He may not stick, but he has five points in his past five games.
• Tony DeAngelo, D (NYR) — There’s no question the Rangers are going to allow plenty of goals this season, but they are also going to score a few too. DeAngelo has three goals and six points in his past three games, with two of them coming on the power play.

Buy-low

• Artemi Panarin, LW
• Taylor Hall, LW
• Blake Wheeler, RW
• Sebastian Aho, C
• Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW
• Joe Pavelski, C/RW
• Tyler Seguin, C
• Alexander Radulov, RW
• Timo Meier, LW/RW
• P.K. Subban, D
• John Klingberg, D
• Sergei Bobrovsky, G

Sell-high

• Victor Olofsson, LW/RW
• James Neal, LW/RW
• Anze Kopitar, C 
• Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW
• Ryan Johansen, C
• John Carlson, D (not a must, but what could you get?)
• Jake Muzzin, D
• Carter Hutton, G
• Connor Hellebuyck, G

Getting close to drop territory 

Quick Hits In Net

• Carter Hart has been the most dropped player as of Monday (Oct. 28), which is a bit much to think about, but it should be noted that Brian Elliott has won three straight games. Elliott should be added if you need help in goal.
• Henrik Lundqvist — who I’d have a hard time owning — is dealing with an upper-body injury. Alexandar Georgiev may blow up those ratios, but Ottawa and Detroit coming up this week.
• MacKenzie Blackwood was lit up in his latest game, so we could see the Devils go back to Cory Schneider who has the higher ceiling of the two.
• Jake Allen is not even good enough to get the second of a back-to-back. Good news for Jordan Binnington owners.
• The Coyotes are going back to Darcy Kuemper despite Antti Raanta winning Arizona’s last game. It’s a duo I’d rock, though.

(Top photo: Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images)

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