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Fantasy – HBSL Sign-ups + Wild Cards (Part 1 of 3) |
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Be sure to sign up for the HockeyBuzz Super League while spots are still available!
http://fantasy.hockeybuzz.com
Make your team each week with the 73 million dollar salary cap. If you notice any players missing or salary cap hits that are not accurate please let me know, thanks.
Wild Cards:
In alphabetical order the first 10 teams will be included in today’s blog. (1 of 3)
If you love fantasy hockey, you shouldn’t have too much trouble drafting in the first few rounds. It’s the middle and later rounds where you select players that make the difference. For example, selecting Panarin in the draft last season, as well as scooping up both Ristolainen and Larkin off the wire helped me win one of my pools. These guys would have been considered wild cards last season, and I am hoping to point out a wild card from each team on forward and defense, it’s up to you to decide if that player is worth grabbing in your fantasy pool(s) or not.
Anaheim: Nick Ritchie + Hampus Lindholm
Ritchie only had 4 points last season in 33 games with the Ducks, not exactly booming in production. There is a good chance Ritchie starts the season with the hopes of him bursting out of his shell alongside Getzlaf and Perry, with extended time on Anaheim’s secondary power play unit. He’s now 20 years old and looks to be ready to take his game to the next level. Save for your last pick of the draft if it’s a deep one, if not, keep an eye on his production and grab him if he starts to take off.
My initial thoughts were with Shea Theodore, as I feel he will break into the NHL this season, but the numbers game could slow down his production due to Anaheim having such a solid defensive crop. Hampus Lindholm is who I feel is going to break out from his 28 points from last season. I could see him hitting the 40 points mark for the first time in his career as I feel he has passed Fowler on the Ducks depth chart.
Arizona: Dylan Strome + Michael Stone
Strome was drafted last year by the Coyotes at third overall; there was a chance he was going to make the team last season. After not making the team out of camp, Strome went back to the Erie Otters and tossed up 111 points in 56 games, and another 21 points in13 playoff games. I think Strome comes into the NHL this year and breaks out into the 35-40 point range playing second line minutes.
Stone had a breakout season last year, going from 18 points in 2014/15 to 36 points in 2015/16. He’s still a player who is very under the radar and you should consider picking him with one of your last defensemen selections as he will likely still be available. 35+ points is very attainable.
Boston: David Pastrnak + N/A
Sorry Bruins, your defense is what it is, Chara is slowing down and Krug is your main point getter. The rest of them are filler until some of your prospects ripen or you make a trade (Trouba?).
I thought I’d be typing in Vesey but the Bruins didn’t win the sweepstakes so Pastrnak is your guy. He only had 26 points last season in 51 games, but 15 of them were goals. Playing with Krecji and Spooner, Pastrnak should see an increase in ice time as well as the possibility of playing on the first power play unit with Bergeron and Marchand. 45-50 points for Pastrnak are certainly possible.
Buffalo: Sam Reinhart + Jake McCabe
Reinhart had 42 points last season, more than I thought he did to be honest. I still expect him to grow in terms of production, somewhere around the 55 point mark this season as he and Eichel continue to grow together. Eichel steals away the thunder right now in terms of fantasy vision when thinking about Buffalo, but Reinhart was a number two overall as well so don’t forget about him.
McCabe’s going to have to take away some power play time from Kulikov or Bogosian if his value wants to be increased in the fantasy world. Personally, I think he will pass Bogosian and that’s why I have him listed here. Expect McCabe to go from 14 points to 30+ points this season, of course, he must get that secondary power play slot to do so, keep an eye.
Calgary: Sam Bennett + N/A
The Flames have such great defenders in Brodie, Giordano and Hamilton that there isn’t a whole lot of room for growth in terms of fantasy production from the blue line.
Bennett is the guy I’m keying in on here, he had 36 points last season but showed signs that he is the real deal and that he will be a key contributor for the Flames going forward. Bennett simply needs some better wingers to play with and his production will soar upwards. I expect Bennett to scratch the 50 point mark this season, somewhere around there.
Carolina: Sebastian Aho + Noah Hanifin
Aho may be a rookie, but he looks to be dialing in for a very productive season as he’s penciled in to be on a line with Elias Lindholm and Teuvo Teravainen. My guess is the Canes will be running lines 1-3 quite evenly, and Aho should get his fair chance in terms of ice time and power play time (second pairing). 35 points seems quite possible, and would be a solid season for the rookie.
Hanifin coming into his sophomore season has high expectations. He should have no problem living up to them, as the Canes have improved their roster overall. With 22 point in his rookie year, I predict Hanifin gets into the 35 points range.
Chicago: Artem Anisimov + Brian Campbell
It may seem kind of odd picking Anisimov, but I feel this being his second year on the Hawks, he’s going to fit in that much better. The Panarin-Anisimov-Kane line was deadly last season. Anisimov hit 20 goals and 42 points, I expect him to build off last season and add another 10-15 points.
Brian Campbell just may start the season on the top pairing with Seabrook until Keith returns from injury. Either way you spin it the 37 year old Campbell is likely a shadow of his former self when he was on the Hawks back in 2010. But I could see his totals rising from last season (31) to 40 this year if everything goes well. Campbell hasn’t missed a single NHL game in 5 years, so you expect he will do some damage on a deadly Hawks offensive team.
Colorado: Mikko Rantanen + Erik Johnson
Colorado has an absolutely astonishing amount of forward talent. Mackinnon had 52 points last season and could easily hit 65 this year, I almost picked him. If it wasn’t for Rantanen being one of my calder favorites, I may have picked him. Rantanen played 9 games last season, he earned 0 points and was a -7. Not exactly a booming start for the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft. Mikko continued his season in the AHL, scoring 60 points in 52 games and is poised for a much better start to the 2016/16 season. I could see 35-40 points being in the mix if all goes well for Rantanen.
Erik Johnson produced 27 points last year, and if you ask me, he was quite mismanaged by Roy. He’s a top pairing defensemen and secondary on the power play (unit 2). 35 plus points should be easy for Johnson to achieve this season.
Columbus: Oliver Bjorkstrand + Zachary Werenski
Bjorkstrand will surely be the biggest breakout play for the Blue Jackets this upcoming season. Boone Jenner broke out last year with 49 points, and should be a player worth looking at. Bjorkstrand will be starting on the second line with Dubinsky and Foligno by the looks of things; he could even push onto the top line if Atkinson slows down at all beside Jenner and Saad. Bjorkstrand had 4 goals and 4 asissts in 12 games last season, he’s got a chance at rookie of the year, 40+ points could be had.
Werenski is still only 19 years old, but he has a very high ceiling. He only played 7 AHL games last year with the Lake Erie Monsters scoring one goal. But when the playoffs started, Werenski was much more productive, scoring 14 points in 17 games. He was selected in 2015 by Columbus at eighth overall; he’s going to be a dandy for Columbus.
Dallas: Jiri Hudler + Dan Hamhuis
Here are two players that are fresh to the Dallas Stars roster. Both players were brought in to patch up something that was missing. Hudler was brought in for some secondary scoring, something Nichucshkin was supposed to do but never could. Hamhuis fills in for Goligoski on the top pairing as well as the secondary power play.
Hudler struggled with Calgary last year but got his game back together when he joined Florida for 19 games, scoring 11 points in 19 games. I expect he’s able to build off that playing with Spezza and Hemsky as Dallas is quite an offensive team. Hudler I could see walking away with 55 points or so, and Hamhuis who’s been fighting off injuries the past two seasons should have no problems hitting the 30 point mark if he can stay healthy.
That concludes my first 10 teams; hopefully this helped with some middle to late round draft strategy.
Thanks for reading.
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