Under the wire: Rookie sleeper watch

There’s a good chance the better rookies on your waiver wire were scooped up weeks ago. Fortunately, there are still a few young guns who are very available. Here are three up-and-comers who should be garnering more fantasy attention.

Colin White, Senators (0.5 per cent owned)

Expectations for White were high heading into the season and he’s done little to disappoint. Through 30 games, he’s recorded eight goals and 19 points while mostly playing in between Matt Duchene and Mark Stone. A recent injury to Duchene has resulted in White’s promotion to the Sens’ new top line alongside Stone and Brady Tkachuk. He’s also a member of the top power play and the frequency of his playing time in a large offensive role is more than enough reason to take a flier on him.

Miro Heiskanen, Stars (3 per cent owned)

There’s a certain risk that comes with taking a defenceman as a top-five pick in the draft, but the Stars took Heiskanen with the third-overall pick in 2017 and haven’t looked back. The 19-year-old averages exactly 23 minutes of ice time per game and has five goals and 15 points through his first 28 games. He’s also been featured on the first power-play unit alongside Alex Radulov, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn for most of the season. The recent emergence of rookie rearguard Gavin Bayreuther has seen Heiskanen dropped down to the second power-play unit in order to create balance, but that experiment is likely not permanent. The Stars’ usual No.1 defenceman, John Klingberg, is also still recovering from hand surgery and won’t be back until Christmas at the earliest. There’s little reason to avoid taking a chance on the young Finn.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Canadiens (2 per cent owned)

The Habs have been a huge surprise this season and 18-year-old Kotkaniemi has certainly been a part of that success. He was taken third overall this past June and shocked everyone by making the roster at such a young age. He’s only on the third line, but that could potentially be an advantage depending on how the opposition should choose to match up against the Habs on a nightly basis. He’s also featured on a very potent top power-play unit, although it’s encouraging to see 13 of his 15 points have come at even strength. The Habs may keep him out of the top six for the remainder of the season in order to protect his development, but he already plays a fairly consistent role, offensively speaking, and should be a safe player to add going forward.