1) Erik Gustafsson, Chicago:
I’m not sure anyone would have predicted Gustafsson was about to breakout with
a 60-point season on the blueline as the Blackhawks power play quarterback. He
was still only 2% owned at the end of November, finishing the season at 71%.
2) Dylan Strome, Chicago:
Strome probably doesn’t finish as a 57-point player if he doesn’t get traded to
the Blackhawks, after scoring 9 PTS in 21 GP last season in Arizona. Strome was
only 2% owned a month into the season, and finished at 30%. Most of the people
who finished with Strome had claimed him off the waiver wire.
3) Elias Lindholm, Calgary:
Everyone expected James Neil to get the first line gig with Monahan and
Gaudreau, allowing many people to steal Lindholm in the later rounds of drafts.
He was 15% owned before the season and was at nearly 70% by the end of October.
Finished with 78 PTS in 80 GP.
4) Thomas Chabot, Ottawa: Chabot
was among the most added players in October, climbing from 17% to 82% in the first
month, as it became clear the absence of Erik Karlsson would benefit him immensely.
This is one player that I regret not targeting sooner.
5) Timo Meier, San Jose:
Meier scored 36 PTS in 81 GP last year, and I was expecting a modest bump up to
44 PTS. Instead he blew that away, scoring 66 PTS. Started the season 39% owned
and finished at 79%.
6) Max Domi, Montreal: Expectations
for Domi weren’t very high upon his arrival in Montreal, coming off 45 PTS in
72 GP with Arizona. His ownership was 36% heading into the season, but finished
at 80% after posting 72 PTS in 82 GP. Another young player with an offensive
explosion after leaving the Coyotes.
7) Mika Zibanejad, Rangers: Over
his first 6 seasons, Zibanejad had never scored more than 51 PTS. That’s about
what people were expecting when he was 34% owned in September. He set a new
career high with 74 PTS in 82 GP, which helped his ownership climb over 80%.
8) Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg: Trouba
saw a huge boost in power play deployment this season, and cashed in, thanks in
part to Byfuglien missing a big chunk of the schedule. He was a 30% owned
player when the season started, and finished at 79%, helping me win a championship.
9) Kasperi Kapanen, Toronto: Kapanen
was elevated into a bigger role with the prolonged absence of William Nylander,
and climbed from 5% ownership all the way up to 60% by November. The pending RFA
finished at 35% owned, scoring 44 PTS in 78 GP, up from 9 PTS in 36 GP a year
ago.
10) Zach Parise, Minnesota: After
missing half of last season due to injury and posting a depressing 24 PTS in 42
GP, expectations for Parise where low in September when he was 14% owned. He
was 70% owned by the end of October and finished the season with 61 PTS in 74 GP.
My Preseason Sleeper List
Reviewing my sleeper list from Sept 30th, I had a few great predictions,
but also some I’d rather forget. Lindholm, Hertl, and Athanasiou were all strong
calls, who all ended up on my roster in an 18-team league that won the
championship. I was able to reap the rewards of my own advice. Funny enough,
none of my terrible sleeper picks ended up on my either of my championship
rosters. The biggest mistake that I made clearly revolved around the Edmonton
Oilers outstanding offensive output in the preseason, chasing possible
linemates for McDavid and Draisaitl.
1) Ty Rattie, Edmonton: To be fair, I put Ty Rattie #1 on
both my preseason sleeper and bust lists as a bit of a joke. At the time he was leading the NHL in
preseason scoring playing with McDavid, when his Yahoo ownership had surged up
to 50%. He had the potential for a monster season if he had continued playing
with McDavid, but stood to lose all his value if he got bumped from the top line,
which happened almost immediately. He finished with 11 PTS in 50 GP.
2) Ryan Donato, Boston: Donato had a rough start to the
season and got lost in the deep Bruins line-up. This was looking like a
terrible sleeper pick until Donato was traded to Minnesota and caught fire,
scoring 18 PTS in his last 30 GP. His ownership climbed from 2% on Jan 1 to 23%
on Feb 1. Rest assured, Donato will find himself on a few sleeper lists next
season after a strong 2nd half.
3) Kailer Yamamoto, Edmonton: I did warn people that
Yamamoto may not even make the Oilers roster, but that he’d be a great add if
he did, having scored 9 PTS in 6 preseason games. The kid finished the regular
season with just 2 PTS in 17 GP and would have been a better fit on the bust
list.
4) Tomas Hertl, San Jose: Hertl scored 46 PTS in 79 GP in 2017/18, and
finished with 74 PTS in 78 GP. My assessment was “of all the Sharks forwards
you can get later in your draft, Hertl might have the most room for growth.
He’s still young enough that his prime years should still be ahead of him. His
previous career best is 46 PTS, which he should easily beat this season.”
5) Elias Lindholm, Calgary: Lindholm was only 17% owned
before the schedule began, which shot up to 69% by the end of October after
being placed on the top line with Monahan and Gaudreau. He scored 34 more PTS
than in 2017/18. This was the best call I made in my sleeper list, and also a
player I stole in the middle rounds of my deep league’s draft.
6) Jesse Puljujarvi, Edmonton: I would certainly love a
mulligan for this prediction, as he was a candidate to possibly play on a top 2
line in Edmonton after having a good preseason. But his 9 PTS in 46 GP was a
huge step backwards. He may very well become a quality NHL player some day, but don't expect him on too many sleeper lists next season.
7) Alex Tuch, Las Vegas: Tuch scored 37 PTS in 78 GP as a
rookie and followed that up with 52 PTS in 74 GP, a 15-point improvement. That
number could have been even higher had he not missed games with an injury early
in the season. He was 18% owned when I compiled my sleeper list, and climbed up
for 58% by the end of January. The addition of Mark Stone did hurt his
deployment down the stretch.
8) Cam Fowler, Anaheim: Fowler’s season was derailed by a
broken face in midway through the schedule and never fully recovered. Compound
that with an anemic Anaheim offense, and Fowler was a fantasy disappointment.
Still, I’d like to think he would have been much better without some bad luck.
9) Josh Manson, Anaheim: This was another strikeout as a preseason
sleeper, a player that I liked to get 35 PTS and 180 hits. I made this pick
after seeing that Yahoo standard leagues had added hits as a category, and
Manson did get 184, but the PTS fell down to 16. He'll almost certainly fall in drafts next September, and may be a good value play in deep bangers leagues.
10) Andreas Athanasiou, Detroit: My last sleeper pick did
pay dividends, as Athanasiou jumped from 33 PTS in 71 GP in 2017/18, up to 54
PTS in 76 GP a year later. He did help me win at least one championship.
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