With less than two weeks until the regular season starts, injuries are piling up! If you have already done your Fantasy drafts, well, I hope for your sake you didn’t have one of the players who got hurt already. Don’t fret, just prepare to put them on the IR for now; and look for a sleeper pick until they are healthy. Some kids will come out of pre-season on fire and continue that for the first month of regular season then come back to reality. I have provided my top three Fantasy forwards and top Fantasy defenseman for each team in the Eastern Conference. On top of that, I’ve added a sleeper/breakout player from each team; hopefully this will help you prepare for your upcoming Fantasy draft(s).
Boston Bruins
1) David Kejci 2) Patrice Bergeron 3) Milan Lucic Top D – Zdeno Chara Sleeper – Reilly Smith – There is a huge opportunity for Reilly Smith to produce big points on Boston’s top line, or second line depending how things pan out. With Iginla out, that leaves a spot open for Smith to continue where he left off last year. You can expect him to repeat his performance from last year with 50-55 points. Keep in mind; he is still an RFA and Boston likely has to make a trade before signing Smith and Krug.
Buffalo Sabres 1) Cody Hodgson 2) Matt Moulson 3) Chris Stewart Top D – Tyler Myers Sleeper – Sam Reinhart – With Buffalo in rebuild mode you can expect Reinhart to make the squad out of camp. As long as he does, there is no doubt in my mind they will give him top 6 minutes…no point having him on the Sabres if not. With that being said, he will likely have Chris Stewart on his right wing and likely Ennis on the left. Buffalo will stuggle this year, but Reinhart may be one of the bright spots, I predict 45-50 points for the rookie.
Carolina Hurricanes 1) Eric Staal 2) Jeff Skinner 3) Alexander Semin Top D – Andrej Sekera Sleeper – Elias Lindholm – With recent injury to Jordan Staal you can be sure that Lindholm is going to be counted on for production and more ice time. Lindholm was already being watched closely by the fantasy gods, but now he is certainly on the radar for a breakout season. Elias produced 21 points while playing 58 games last year for a struggling Carolina team; expect a big boost in points for Lindholm this season as he is a highly skilled player. Don’t count on a lot of penalty minutes or a good +-, but 45 points is certainly in the realm of possibility for the young Swede.
Columbus Blue Jackets 1) Ryan Johanson* not signed 2) Scott Hartnell 3) Brandon Dubinsky/Nathan Horton *hurt Top D – James Wisniewski Sleeper – Boone Jenner (hurt) *Cam Atkinson – Well, there is two guys here I feel who could break out. Jenner is hurt right now but this kid has incredible work ethic. I would hold off on drafting him, but keep an eye on him when he returns, if he heats up, grab him as a free agent. As for Atkinson, he is the opposite in terms of size…but has all the skills you need to produce points, and lots of them. I can see Atkinson surprising a lot of people with a 50-55 point season and quite possibly hitting the 30 goal mark. I don’t think he will be on very many people’s radar, so try to scoop him up towards the end of your Fantasy draft.
Detroit Red Wings 1) Pavel Datysuk 2) Henrik Zetterberg 3) Gustav Nyquist Top D – Nick Kronwall Sleeper – Thomas Tatar – Last year Tatar played all over the place for the Red Wings. They were injured from top to bottom throughout the season. He had a variety of line mates, but seemed to gel well with the younger players, but don’t count him out for playing with one of the big dogs in Datsyuk or Zetterberg. With that in mind, Datsyuk is hurt and will be out for the first 2-3 weeks of regular season as of now. It’s hard to say who Tatar will play with, but he will produce without a doubt; I expect about 45 points for Tatar this season.
Florida Panthers 1) Jonathan Huberdeau 2) Aleksander Barkov 3) Jussi Jokinen Top D – Brian Campbell Sleeper – Nick Bjugstad – Last year Nick scored 16 goals in 76 games, and had 22 helpers. Not a bad rookie season for a rebuilding Florida team. His winger, Huberdeau is one of the best forwards on the team; they hope to continue to progress in the right direction this year and build off what could be a great future tandem. Add another 10-15 points from his total last season, just don’t expect a lot of penalty minutes or a good +-.
Montreal Canadiens 1) Max Pacioretty 2) PA Parenteau 3) David Desharnais Top D – PK Subban Sleeper – Alex Galchenyuk – The top line for Montreal is going to produce a ton of points this season, hopefully for Canadiens fans it’s not the only line producing with consistency. With the addition of PA Parenteau you can see the writing on the wall. Galchenyuk will finally show his true skills and burst out of his shell with a 55 point season and habs fans will be delighted with their #3 overall pick back in 2012. Try to draft him as the first line players are falling off the radar, he should still be there.
New Jersey Devils 1) Jaromir Jagr 2) Travis Zajac 3) Patrick Elias Top D – Marek Zidlicky Sleeper – Eric Gelinas – Gelinas was a round 2 pick for New Jersey all the way back in 2009. It may have taken him some time to make the NHL, but here he is…a young defenseman with decent size and excellent vision on the power play. He tallied 29 points in just 60 games last year, which is great for a defenseman; let alone a rookie. He may or may not be on the top two pairings in NJ, but he will surely be quarterbacking the power play for the Devils. It’s certainly possible Gelinas scores 10 goals next season, and tallies 25-30 assists; total sleeper pick.
New York Islanders 1) John Tavares 2) Kyle Okposo 3) Mikhail Grabovski Top D – Lubomir Visnovsky Sleeper – Brock Nelson – There is no doubt Nelson is going to get every opportunity to tally a bundle of points playing on the top line with Tavares and Okposo. For once, it seems that the Islanders have some forward depth, which should bode well for Nelson and the top line as it relieves some pressure. The number 30 pick overall for the Islanders in the 2010 draft is going to have a breakout season, I can see a whopping 55 point season for Nelson with few penalty minutes.
New York Rangers 1) Martin St. Louis 2) Rick Nash 3) Derek Stepan Top D – Dan Boyle/Ryan McDonagh Sleeper – Chris Kreider – Believe it or not Kreider is actually a really good Fantasy player. He gets penalty minutes, should have a good +- rating, and on top of that can put the puck in the net. With 37 points in 66 games last year, you can be sure that his confidence is up; as will his points total. Stepan who had a recent injury was pegged to center the line of Nash and Kreider, so there is going to be some tweaking for the Rangers going into the season. I still see Kreider building off last season with a 60 point season and 60 penalty minutes, which is pretty good for a guy you can pick up in the middle rounds of your draft.
Ottawa Senators 1) Bobby Ryan 2) Kyle Turris 3) Clark MacArthur Top D – Erik Karlsson Sleeper – Mika Zibanejad – With Spezza leaving the Senators you can count on Zibanejad to step up and take over the #2 center position. Last season Mika produced 33 points in 69 games, not too bad considering his ice time/line mates. He will likely have Milan Michalek on the wing, so as long as he stays healthy, they should have no problem keeping the Sens in the playoff hunt. I’d imagine around 50 points for the 21 year old Swede.
Philadelphia Flyers 1) Claude Giroux 2) Jacub Voracek 3) Wayne Simmonds Top D – Mark Streit Sleeper – Brayden Schenn – Myself, I have been waiting for B. Schenn to bust out with a huge season, I thought last year was going to be his big year, but it was only so so. I still have no doubt in Brayden having a big season this year, he has all the tools and the hockey IQ…he also has Philadelphia’s tough guy Wayne Simmonds on the wing; whom which is a Fantasy BEAST! Schenn also gets decent penalty minutes, but this year; this is the year…I predict 55-60 points for Schenn and 60 penalty minutes as he matures into the NHL with his best season to date.
Pittsburg Penguins 1) Sidney Crosby 2) Evgeni Malkin 3) Chris Kunitz Top D – Kris Letang Breakout – Patric Hornquist – Alongside Malkin or Crosby, how can you go wrong? I am interested to see if Patric replaces Neal’s spot on the powerplay too, that would ensure a monster Fantasy season for Hornquist. He is a player who has a lot of success in the past, but on Nashville, who isn’t nearly as an offensive powerhouse as Pittsburgh. I would try to draft him in the 6th or 7th round of my draft as I feel he is going to tally 30 goals this season and quite possibly hit the 65 point mark.
Tampa Bay Lightning 1) Steven Stamkos 2) Valteri Filpula 3) Ryan Callahan Top D – Victor Hedman Sleeper – Jonathan Drouin – A total bummer when you get hurt in pre-season when you are expecting to be playing with a guy like Stamkos. The dream is nowhere near over for Drouin, it just may take him a bit of time to get the ball rolling. I still stand strong at 55 points for Drouin, with the possibility of more if things really click with he and Stamkos.
Toronto Maple Leafs 1) Phil Kessel 2) James van Riemsdyk 3) Nazem Kadri Top D – Dion Phaneuf Sleeper – Morgan Rielly – Morgan will go from third pairing defense to second pairing this season with increased power play time. He has one of the highest hockey IQ’s for a defenseman of his age. With 27 points in 73 games last season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, you can bet his production is going to increase by a decent margin. Playing with veteran Stephan Robidas should help Rielly progress; I predict 7 goals and 31 assists for the young future cornerstone of the Leafs. If you have 4 defensemen in your pool, take him as the third or fourth towards the end of your draft, unless of course you feel he is going to break 40 points.
Washington Capitals 1) Alex Ovechkin 2) Nicklas Backstrom 3) Troy Brouwer Top D – Mike Green Sleeper – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Evgeny is likely going to have a good shot at getting rookie of the year. Yep, you read that right, he is going to be that good. With only 9 points in 17 games last season, he has barely had a look at playing in the NHL. Not to worry, you can expect Kuznetsov to put home around 50 points, but lots of power play opportunity should arise. The more ice time he gets with Ovechkin and or Backstrom, look out, this kid could turn into a fireball of production for the Capitals.
Thanks for reading and I hope you feel more prepared after reading each of my Fantasy blogs.