The fantasy hockey season will be here before you know it, and it’s never too early to start putting some research into the upcoming season.
We will extensively cover fantasy hockey leading up to your draft and of course, throughout the season as well. Our rankings will be released in due time. However, I thought it would be prudent to go ahead and start our fantasy hockey coverage with the real game-changer of your fantasy success: sleepers.
Through the season, the waiver wire will go a long way towards your success, and we will be there to provide that advice. However, for now, identifying sleeper picks that you can nab in the mid-to-late rounds of your draft is of monumental importance.
There isn’t really much criteria here. I will be targeting young, under-the-radar players who will be making big fantasy impacts sooner rather than later. While they are young suggestions, I’m not identifying dynasty players that will take a year or two to develop. I am looking for young players that could make a big impact on your fantasy team from day one this year. These players are mostly unestablished NHLers at this point, which in turn will have them off the fantasy radar of the vast majority of owners this season.
With that in mind, let’s go ahead and identify 10 young fantasy hockey sleepers that you need to keep in mind come draft day, in no particular order.
*Ages are as of opening night for the 2018-19 season, October 3rd, 2018.
C/RW Jack Roslovic (WPG) – Age 21
2017-18: 31 GP | 5 G | 9 A | 14 PTS | +5 | 0 STSPTS | 38 SOG – Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Roslovic got his first taste of NHL hockey with the Jets in the second half of last season, and he responded nicely with a near half point-per-game clip. Needless to say, I am expecting a jump in that rate in year two.
A former first-round pick from the 2015 draft, Roslovic tallied 15 goals and 35 points in 32 games with the Jets’ AHL team prior to his call up, most of which was done as a 20-year-old.
While Roslovic will fight for power play time to begin the season, he logged an average of 1:10 on the power play in his 31 games last season, so it stands to reason he will get a shot on the man advantage, at least on the second unit.
With a nice start to the season, it’s entirely possible that Roslovic could take the wing spot on the top power play unit vacated by Paul Stastny. Such a promotion would be a monumental increase to his fantasy value, especially on a Jets power play that ranked fifth with a 23.4% clip last season.
RW Ondrej Kase (ANA) – Age 22
2017-18: 66 GP | 20 G | 18 A | 38 PTS | +18 | 3 STPTS | 146 SOG – Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
You wouldn’t think a 22-year-old 20-goal scorer from last season would qualify as a sleeper, but Kase’s name is often absent from conversations around budding young stars in this league. My bet is he slides into at least the middle rounds of your draft, but don’t let him slide much further.
The Ducks are aging up front with their core of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler all 33 years old or older, and Kesler may not even be healthy enough to play this season. Opportunities are going to arise for players that need to provide secondary scoring, which is where Kase comes in.
Projected to skate as a third line right winger, I don’t think he will be there long. That said, the line of Nick Ritchie, Adam Henrique and Kase could certainly be viewed as the second line over the trio of Andrew Cogliano, Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg. He averaged a healthy 2.2 shots per game last season, and his down-to-earth 13.7% shooting percentage indicates he deserved every bit of those 20 goals.
Kase is a perfect dynasty league draft, but is also more than a worthwhile sleeper pick in any fantasy hockey draft this fall.
LW Valentin Zykov (CAR) – Age 23
2017-18: 63 GP | 33 G | 21 A | 54 PTS | -13 | 112 SOG | 17 PPG – Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Zykov is a former second-round pick from the 2013 draft by the Los Angeles Kings, and he produced well in his 10-game stint with the Hurricanes last season. Zykov scored four goals and added three assists for seven points in those 10 games while firing 18 shots on goal.
Clearly his 33 goals in 63 AHL games last season is a nice sight to see for prospective fantasy owners. While those goals came with a huge 29.5% shooting percentage and 17 came on the power play, there is a big reason why Zykov should be on your fantasy radar this season, and that is his opportunity on the Canes’ top line.
Skating to the left of Aho at both 5v5 and on the top power play unit is going to provide Zykov with a world of offensive opportunities. Don’t let him slide too far in the draft before scooping him up.
D Jakob Chychrun (ARI) – Age 20
2017-18: 50 GP | 4 G | 10 A | 14 PTS | +2 | 102 SOG | 4 STPTS – Arizona Coyotes (NHL)
At just 20 years of age, Chychrun is a real nice draft in dynasty leagues, however I am thinking he makes an under-the-radar impact out of the gates this season for the rebuilding Coyotes.
First, I expect Arizona’s young offense to produce at a better clip than the 2.51 goals per game they scored last year (30th). Second, With Oliver Ekman-Larsson the only established offensive defenseman on this team, Chychrun should skate alongside the star blueliners on the Coyotes’ top power play unit, a group I believe will also improve next year.
Chychrun projects to be a second-pair blueliner on the club this season, so an increase in his 20:15 of average ice time per game is most certainly in the cards.
Let’s not forget that Chychrun posted seven goals and 20 points in 68 games mostly as an 18-year-old in his rookie season two years ago. While that may not sound game-changing, you have to understand how tough this league is on young defensemen. The fact he produced 20 points as an 18-year-old defenseman on a weak Coyotes offense speaks loudly about his offensive abilities.
C Tyson Jost (COL) – Age 20
2017-18: 65 GP | 12 G | 10 A | 22 PTS | -10 | 113 SOG | 8 STPTS – Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Despite marching their way from a last-place finish two years ago to a Stanley Cup Playoff berth last season, this is largely a young, developing Avalanche team, with Jost set to take on a big role.
Yost recorded a decent 12 goals in those 65 games as a rookie last season, the majority of which was played as a 19-year-old. While I don’t mind his production so far, there are a couple of reasons why Jost should be on your fantasy radar.
First, he’s going to log second line center minutes over a full season for this club, and I am therefore expecting an uptick in his 14:38 of average ice time from a year ago. Second, and most importantly, Jost is going to start the season on the Avalanche’s top power unit, alongside superstar Nate MacKinnon and the rest of the elite Avs’ top line as well as one of the game’s premier offensive blueliners in Tyson Barrie. Jost caught on with that unit last year and bagged five power play goals and three power play helpers.
He’s set for a big role, so target Jost in your fantasy drafts.
RW Valeri Nichushkin (DAL) – Age 23
2017-18: 50 GP | 16 G | 11 A | 27 PTS | +11 | 115 SOG | 2 PPG | 2 SHG – CSKA Moscow (KHL)
After playing two seasons in the NHL, Nichushkin returned to his native Russia where he played the last two seasons, but he’s back with the Stars and set to take on a big-time role for a team in desperate need of secondary scoring.
A former 10th overall pick by the Stars in 2013, Nichushkin scored 14 goals and 34 points in 79 games while posting a +20 rating as an 18-year-old in the 2013-14 season. That’s an excellent glimpse of his skill level, although his numbers from last season in the KHL aren’t eye-popping.
He comes from a power forward mould and I would say he hits the 20-goal plateau while contributing big-time in the special teams points category. Nichushkin may not fall as far in drafts as others on this list, so I wouldn’t wait too long before snatching the returning Russian.
RW Ty Rattie (EDM) – Age 25
2017-18: 53 GP | 21 G | 22 A | 43 PTS | -15 | 157 SOG | 8 PPG – Bakersfield Condors (AHL)
While Rattie enjoyed some solid production in the AHL, it’s important to note right off the bat that he notched five goals and nine points in 14 games in his NHL stint after his promotion.
Of course, Rattie becomes an extremely attractive name once we find him to the right of Connor McDavid on the Oilers’ depth chart. He skated with McDavid after his NHL promotion last season, and those nine points in 14 games puts him on a 53-point pace over the course of a full 82-game season. I would venture a guess that puts Rattie closer or above the 60-point plateau with a full season skating alongside number 97.
Rattie’s presence on the top line allows the Oilers to lengthen their forward depth and create a real solid top six with Leon Draisaitl and fellow youngster Jesse Puljujarvi on the second line.
Anyone skating next to McDavid is valuable, but Rattie becomes one of the top under-25 sleepers as a result.
RW Timo Meier (SJ) – Age 21
2017-18: 81 GP | 21 G | 15 A | 36 PTS | +2 | 210 SOG | 4 STPTS – San Jose Sharks (NHL)
Meier’s ‘sleeper’ status was comprised some by his 21-goal output from last season, but I think he is in for a big increase in production this season, so I would jump at the chance to draft this kid earlier than anyone else on this list.
Meier spent the majority of last season skating on a line alongside Chris Tierney, who despite scoring 17 goals, is a checking center by trade. This season, he is more likely to skate on the Sharks’ second line alongside star center Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. Hertl and Couture were the Sharks’ best players in the postseason last year, and Meier is going to be a big beneficiary of that chemistry on the right side.
If your league counts shots on goal, you’re also going to want to draft him relatively early. Even in his three-goal, six-point effort in 34 games two years ago, Meier threw 85 pucks on net, good for 2.5 per game. Last year, that figure increased to 2.6 shots per game.
While his 21 goals might have grabbed some attention in the fantasy circles, I think Meier gives the 30-goal mark a real good run this year due to his promotion up the lineup.
RW – Kasperi Kapanen (TOR) – Age 22
2017-18: 28 GP | 12 G | 12 A | 24 PTS | +8 | 68 SOG | 5 PPG | 1 SHG – Toronto Marlies (AHL)
Kapanen is going to get the first full NHL season of his promising career under his belt this season, and I think it’s going to be a productive one as part of a dangerous Maple Leafs offense.
After a strong showing in the AHL, Kapanen was brought up and scored seven goals across 38 regular season games with the big club, which projects as 15 goals across an 82-game season. This becomes particularly impressive when we factor in the fact Kapanen largely saw fourth line minutes (11:15 per game) and almost zero power play time.
He is also going to see solid power play time. The Maple Leafs are likely to spread their power play time out regularly evenly between the two units this season, with Tavares centering one unit and Auston Matthews the other. While Kapanen is currently projected to skate on the Matthews unit, we aren’t going to guess anything at this point. What we do know is he is going to play on a very talented power play unit this year in Toronto.
Kapanen makes for a real sneaky pick with video-game speed, which works just perfectly in today’s NHL.
LW Andreas Johnsson (TOR) – Age 23
2017-18: 54 GP | 26 G | 28 A | 54 PTS| +16 | 132 SOG |8 PPG – Toronto Marlies (AHL)
You now have a choice between two young Maple Leafs forwards as Andreas Johnsson projects as a real nice young sleeper pick in fantasy drafts this season.
Johnsson was an absolute force for the Leafs’ AHL affiliate this season with that point-per-game regular season clip before racking up a whopping 10 goals and 24 points in 16 playoff contests while leading the Marlies to a Calder Cup championship and taking home playoff MVP honors in the process.
Before he accomplished that, Johnsson skated with the Maple Leafs for their final nine regular season games and in their seven-game first-round loss to the Bruins. The 23-year-old Swede scored two goals and added assist in those nine regular season contests before scoring a goal and adding an assist in the playoffs.
Johnsson is going to crack the big club out of camp and he too will skate with Kadri on the team’s third line, obviously with Kapanen on the right side.
Like Kapanen, Johnsson is going to be skating with a 30-goal scorer down the middle and a very talented young winger on the other side. Also like Kapanen, Johnsson should see legit power play time this year, likely on the John Tavares line to start, which is the de facto number one unit as it also contains elite playmaker Mitch Marner. The Maple Leafs finished the year with the league’s second best power play at 24.9% with much of the damage coming from the Marner unit.
Nickhushkin is a DUD~~~~!!!!!!!