Arseny Gritsyuk, Jack Quinn and Artyom Levshunov Lead the NHL Waiver Wire After Thursday's Overtime-Heavy Slate

Thursday's 11-game NHL slate sent seven games past regulation and a handful of breakout lines from players still sitting on plenty of waiver wires. Arseny Gritsyuk scored again in New Jersey's 7-1 rout of the Rangers, Jack Quinn piled up four points and a fight in Buffalo's comeback overtime win in Toronto, and Artyom Levshunov ended Chicago's game against Winnipeg in overtime on a feed from Connor Bedard.

Add Danila Yurov in Minnesota and a defensive injury in Seattle, and there is enough here to justify a claim or two before the weekend. This list skips the obvious names (Brady Tkachuk, Matt Boldy, Mark Stone and Luke Hughes all had huge nights but should not be available) and focuses on players who can still be added in most 12-team leagues.

Thursday's Waiver Lines at a Glance

Arseny Gritsyuk, Devils

Gritsyuk is the priority add. The second-year winger, who finished his rookie season with 31 points in 66 games, scored at 4:39 of the second period on Thursday as part of New Jersey's four-goal burst in just over five minutes. Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton assisted, and that first assist is the part that matters: pregame projections had Gritsyuk skating on the top line with Hughes and Jesper Bratt, with a role on the second power-play unit.

That is the most valuable deployment a waiver-level winger can have. He has three points, two of them goals, in his last four games, and New Jersey just put up seven on its rival. As long as he stays next to Hughes, he belongs on rosters in 12-team leagues, and he is a strong streamer in shallower formats.

Jack Quinn, Sabres

Quinn delivered the best fantasy line of the night outside the hat-trick crowd: two goals, two assists and a fight for a Gordie Howe hat trick, as Buffalo erased a 4-2 third-period deficit for the third time this season. He tied the game about a minute after Auston Matthews opened the scoring, and the four points matched his career high. His coach called it the best game he had seen from him.

The caution is consistency. Quinn has been a streaky producer through his career, and one big night does not change his role overnight. But Buffalo is 4-3-1 and scoring in bunches late in games, and Quinn has drawn preseason praise for a middle-six role. In leagues that count penalty minutes and hits alongside points, he is a worthwhile short-term add; in points-only leagues, he is a watch-list name until he strings together another multi-point game.

Artyom Levshunov, Blackhawks

Levshunov's overtime winner came 1:37 into the extra period, when he took a pass from Bedard, walked into the slot and beat Stuart Skinner. It was his first goal of the season and his first career game-winner. Bedard and Kane assisted on the play, with Kane's two assists on the night pushing him past Phil Housley for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.

The fantasy case is about proximity to Bedard. Chicago has won two straight since its franchise center returned, and Bedard scored his first goal of the season on the power play Thursday. Levshunov, a former second overall pick, has the offensive tools to become a power-play quarterback, and he worked the top-unit point during his first NHL stint in 2025. His current power-play usage has not been publicly broken down, so check Chicago's next lineup before committing. In dynasty and keeper leagues, he is an add now. In redraft, he is a speculative defenseman add in deeper leagues.

Danila Yurov and the Deeper Names

Yurov gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in Thursday's 5-4 win over St. Louis, scoring from the high slot off a pass from Maxim Shabanov. He also scored a power-play goal on Oct. 6 against Buffalo. The Wild have shuffled their lines after opening with Yurov near Kirill Kaprizov, and the top trio of Boldy, Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek has carried the scoring. Minnesota is 5-2-1 and missing seven veterans, including three top defensemen, which means extended minutes for younger forwards. Yurov is a deep-league add with a rising floor.

On the injury front, Seattle defenseman Brandon Montour left Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss in Tampa Bay with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Montour has been leading the Kraken in ice time at better than 24 minutes a night. If he misses Saturday's game in Florida, Cale Fleury is expected to enter the lineup, but there is no clear fantasy beneficiary on the Seattle blue line worth a claim yet. Managers who roster Montour should keep him on the bench until the Kraken provide an update.

The Verdexed Angle

Waiver priority should follow deployment. Gritsyuk is the clearest case because his linemates are already set, while Quinn and Levshunov are betting on single performances that still need confirmation. For DFS players, Gritsyuk stays cheap relative to his top-line role, which makes him a natural one-off with a New Jersey stack. Verdexed's full model card for every game lives at /nhl/predictions.

What's Next

Watch line rushes before Saturday's games. If Gritsyuk is still with Hughes and Bratt, he moves from add to start. If Levshunov gets top power-play time with Bedard, his value jumps in every format. And if Quinn's line stays together after Thursday's breakout, he graduates from streamer to roster-worthy. The most important waiver checkpoint of the week is not the box score; it is the next lineup card.