I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a new year (and decade). As hockey fans, we really are blessed to have an abundance of great young talent just beginning to make their mark in the NHL. So many of the current superstars are quite young, and pretty much every team has a legitimate all-star on their roster – some teams have several and it definitely wasn’t always that way. You can find fault with the way any professional sports league is run, but I honestly can’t remember the NHL being more fun to follow than it currently is.

As for who’s hot and who’s not, here are the teams with seven or more wins in their last 10 games:

• Toronto, Pittsburgh, St. Louis – all with eight wins

Teams with three or fewer wins include:

• Detroit, Edmonton, San Jose – all with two wins

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some waiver options this week.

Check out today’s Breakaway NHL contest from FanDuel

Center

Dylan Strome (CHI): 28% Owned
Strome has bounced around a bit on a shaky Chicago squad but has consistently played top-six minutes (almost 17 minutes per game). With 27 points in 36 games, Strome is the second-highest scorer (point per game) on the Blackhawks and should continue to be a prominent top-six forward. He has an excellent +4 rating on a team that is -16 and is still only 22 years of age.

Ryan Johansen (NSH): 38% Owned
Nashville just cannot get any momentum going this year, although they are eighth in offense to date with 131 goals. Johansen is on pace for a 54 point season (if he played 82 games), which is a bit off his typical pace. He’s hit 60 points or more five times and you would expect that type of production to continue, given his talent and the productive players on the Predator’s top two lines. He may just need to find some chemistry with his linemates, but he’s worth stashing for a few weeks.

Left Wing

Tyler Bertuzzi (DET): 47% Owned
I think most people would be shocked to see that Bertuzzi is the leading point producer in Detroit, but the Red Wings are being rewarded for allowing him to develop at his own pace. With 137 AHL games under his belt, he understood Detroit’s system and was used to playing against men before being thrust in an NHL lineup. While +/- will be an issue for any Red Wing, Bertuzzi averages roughly two shots and one hit per game and has put up 30 points in 40 games this year.

Kevin Labanc (SJ): 22% Owned
Labanc has a lot riding on this season, as he is an RFA next year and can cash in with a strong showing. Not much has gone right for the Sharks this season, and Labanc only has 19 points in 40 games. It appeared that he was called out recently by his coach, so it will be interesting to see if he’s one of those players that responds well to a challenge. He is currently listed on the top line with excellent linemates in Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, so he has a great opportunity to reclaim last year’s scoring touch (56 points).

Right Wing

Alex Killorn (TB): 49% Owned
After running away with the President’s Trophy last year, the Lightning suffered a shocking loss in the first round of the playoffs, and are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Nobody seems to be panicking in Tampa Bay and this is when you often see coaches lean on the players they trust. Enter Killorn, who always seemed to be a favorite of Jon Cooper. When Steven Stamkos only plays five seconds longer per game, you know the coach is your fan and Killorn should continue to fill his second-line role. With 31 points in 35 games, Killorn appears to be a solid play each week.

Brandon Tanev (PIT): 27% Owned
Tanev is a hitting machine with an impressive 144 to date (in 38 games), so this recommendation relies on that being part of your scoring system. He has been all over the lineup but the Penguins are a quietly deep team, so they will typically have someone talented with him on the ice. He is seventh on the team in scoring and is averaging 14:34 of ice time per night.

Defense

Ryan Suter (MIN): 55% Owned
At 34 years of age, Suter just keeps ticking for the Wild. He is the second-leading scorer on the team with 28 points and looks to be a lock for another 40+ point season (would be his eighth). He is typically good for one hit and upwards of two shots per game. He’s always been a workhorse and this year is no different as he’s logging over 25 minutes per game.

Colton Parayko (STL): 51% Owned
After hitting 33 points or more his first three seasons, Parayko is pretty much on pace to match his output of 28 points from last season. He is a guy that can certainly rack up the hits and shots (176 and 127 respectively last season), and his +/- should typically be solid on a strong Blues squad. At worst, he’s a solid depth guy.

Goal

Pavel Francouz (COL): 40% Owned
Francouz is a 29-year-old Czech goalie that took a long and winding road to reach the NHL. His stats in his KHL career are amazing – 1.73 GAA and .945 save percentage (I wish you could capitalize numbers). While he’s considered the backup in Colorado, Philipp Grubauer was a backup himself until last season. Francouz has only played five fewer games than Grubauer and his stats this year (11-3-1, 2.41 GAA and .927 save percentage) are much better than the current number one goalie. Colorado is a great young team, and Francouz could be a breakout star if he takes over this job.

Sleeper

Warren Foegele (CAR): 2% Owned
Foegele has caught fire recently with seven points in his last seven games. He had two goals and an assist in his last game against Washington and now finds himself on the top line. He should be an easy pickup with almost no ownership and can be a solid contributor if he can keep a top-six role on a talented Hurricane squad.

Check out today’s Breakaway NHL contest from FanDuel

Sheldon Curtis is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Sheldon, check out his archive and follow him @sheldon_curtis.