Preseason Fantasy Rankings Updated

Changes since NHL training camps have opened

I have updated my preseason fantasy rankings here.

Now some notes that led to the changes in rankings.

Crawford Retires

Let’s start with Devils goaltender Corey Crawford suddenly retiring. Obviously, the first concern is for Crawford’s well-being, that he is okay, because he has had concussion issues in the past and not knowing all the details about his retirement right now, I’d worry a little about that. But, he leaves with a successful career, having won two Stanley Cups and earned more than $40 million according to Cap Friendly. Not bad considering he didn’t really stick in Chicago until he was 26.

On the hockey side, though, this is a fairly dramatic shift. With a healthy Crawford, I wasn’t really sure who was going to be the No. 1 between MacKenzie Blackwood and Crawford so my projections were close to down the middle, maybe the slightest edge to Blackwood. Well now the edge isn’t small, it’s massive. Blackwood was a viable fantasy goaltender anyway – a No. 2 or No. 3 – but this solidifies that value because, without some dramatic move for a new goaltender, he has to get the majority of the starts. Now, that might be 40 of 56 or something but that’s still significant.  

Scott Wedgewood and Gilles Senn are in the organization and neither one looks like more than an AHL goaltender based on their numbers. If the Devils can’t make any kind of trade or waiver claim to cover Crawford’s absence, I’d expect Blackwood to play a lot and the Devils to take their lumps in the games that he doesn’t.

More adjustments: Changes to Lightning

Nikita Kucherov is out for the regular season. I think this came out the day after I posted my first rankings. Anyway, Stamkos moves up to play with Brayden Point. I don’t expect it to dramatically alter their totals – basically they will still get tons of opportunities with an elite linemate. The biggest beneficiary of it all is that Tyler Johnson moves up to the second line when it appeared that he might be destined for fourth-line duty when the Lightning couldn’t trade him in the summer.

Chicago Shuffle

The other team with the biggest early adjustments is Chicago, where they are missing Jonathan Toews (indefinitely) and second-year center Kirby Dach is out for a couple of months with a broken wrist. The Blackhawks weren’t likely to be good anyway but losing their top two centers should cement their rebuilding position.

Dylan Strome is the most obvious beneficiary, moving up to first line minutes and skating with Patrick Kane. Strome has been able to put up points in Chicago but has always been insulated. He won’t have that luxury this year, at least until Toews and Dach return. In the meantime, Lucas Wallmark or Carl Soderberg could go up in value a little but I’m not expecting it to be super-meaningful in terms of production. Likewise, I knocked wingers Dominik Kubalik and Patrick Kane down a little but, not knowing Toews’ timeline, I didn’t want to bury them altogether.

Not every team has had unexpected changes and not every single change is going to matter for fantasy purposes but here are some notables:

ANAHEIM DUCKS

I bumped up Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras a bit, not merely because he was great at the World Juniors but that I can see a reasonable path to him playing for the Ducks rather than getting AHL seasoning, which is what I might have expected in a normal year. I still only have Zegras as an option for deeper leagues – obviously in dynasty leagues – but think he’s more appealing now than he was a couple of weeks ago.

ARIZONA COYOTES

I don’t know how much I like even the very best skaters in Arizona but newly-signed Drake Caggiula was starting with Christian Dvorak and Kessel as well as skating on PP1, so it at least bears watching. Given his previous production and injury history, I’m not rushing to grab Caggiula but there is certainly an opportunity contribute in a significant role if he can take advantage of the situation. Even if he doesn’t stick with Dvorak and Kessel, there will probably be a time for him to play with Nick Schmaltz, his teammate at the University of North Dakota.

BOSTON BRUINS

I was already anticipating Jack Studnicka starting the season in David Pastrnak’s spot alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. He needs to get some reps in a top-six role so that the Bruins can eye a future that may have Studnicka in Krejci’s current spot. For this season, Studnicka is worth a late-round flier, basically hoping that he plays well enough in the first month that the Bruins find a soft landing spot for him when Pastrnak returns.

More notable in Boston is that their first power play unit right now includes defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and center Charlie Coyle. Grzelcyk is a candidate for a big boost in scoring this season as he moves into a top-four role at evens as well as adding first-unit power play time. I’m still wondering whether Charlie McAvoy will end up running the power play – how often do Norris Trophy candidates end up in that spot? – but, until further notice, Grzelcyk has some sleeper value.

BUFFALO SABRES

Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons is out for the season with a hamstring injury, and Buffalo responded by signing Riley Sheahan, a serviceable veteran forward who can play center and wing. He appears to have lost any offensive touch that he had earlier in his career. Tobias Rieder moved into a third-line role for Buffalo but this should leave a gaping hole for Dylan Cozens, the Canadian World Juniors star who I was already anticipating having a spot in Buffalo this season. So, not a big change, just a little more reason to like Cozens in that spot.

CALGARY FLAMES

Calgary had some interesting lines, running pairs and left wing and center, with maybe less offensively-inclined guys on the right side. So it was Tkachuk-Lindholm-Simon; Gaudreau-Monahan-Leivo; Mangiapane-Backlund-Bennett in the top nine. I haven’t adjusted any of their projections but the situation is worth watching…Leivo could be an interesting one – he hasn’t played a lot but has 65 points in 169 NHL games.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

There are a few new faces in Columbus. Liam Foudy looks like he’s on the fourth line so I knocked him down a little, with Mikhail Grigorenko sliding up a bit, Alexandre Texier appears to be getting a shot in the first line left wing slot so that helps, for as long as he stays there. I don’t think I trust any of these guys enough to take them.

DALLAS STARS

I hadn’t given Joel Kiviranta much of a projection in Dallas but it looks like he’s getting a chance to build off his playoff performance in a top-six role. Given his track record, I’d be surprised to see him stick in that role.

DETROIT RED WINGS

I’m not particularly high on Detroit’s Bobby Ryan, a guy in his 30s who had eight points in 24 games last season but he is starting on Detroit’s first power play, it appears. I would prefer Filip Zadina get those opportunities but keep Ryan on your radar, I suppose.

EDMONTON OILERS

Edmontons looks like they are going to start Dominik Kahun on the left side with Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto. I expect some regression from Draisaitl and Yamamoto, who were riding sky-high percentages last season, but if Kahun is going to play there, he will have a chance to contribute offensively and he has been a capable complementary scorer in his first two NHL seasons.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Seeing the early lines out of Florida, I’m scratching my head about Grigori Denisenko because he’s in a top-nine role. He was the 15th pick in 2018 and while scouts rave about his skill, he didn’t score a lot in the KHL – and that’s fine, he was a kid, basically – but it’s hard to know how much he is going to score in the NHL when he wasn’t putting up a lot of points in Russia. I’m staying away but there is upside there. Also in Florida, Anthony Duclair was getting first look alongside Huberdeau and Barkov on the top line and anyone in that role is going to be worth your time. I still prefer Patric Hornqvist in that spot, ultimately, but Duclair had a great first half with much lesser linemates in Ottawa last season.

MINNESOTA WILD

I was already cautious about how to rank Marcus Johansson coming into the season. IF he was centering Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala that could be a good opportunity but the latest Wild lines had Nick Bjugstad centering the first line. I don’t think I trust any of these guys but, as late-round fliers go, Bjugstad is a little more appealing today that he was a couple of days ago.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

In New Jersey, they have a bunch of wingers getting opportunities to play, and not having Jesper Bratt signed certainly opens up a spot in the top six. Maybe the most intriguing of the group is Nick Merkley, who was acquired from Arizona. Merkley has been productive in the AHL but has only played a handful of games in the NHL. Nathan Bastian, Janne Kuokkanen, Jesper Boqvist are among the young forwards battling for time in New Jersey.

NEW YORK RANGERS

I’ve bumped Kaapo Kakko up a little going into his second season because it looks like he’s going to be playing with Artemi Panarin. It’s the kind of thing that could change at a moment’s notice but I’ll be slightly more optimistic, which isn’t saying a lot, I was skeptical after his poor rookie season.

OTTAWA SENATORS

When the Ottawa Senators traded for Derek Stepan, I wasn’t sure how it would affect Josh Norris in terms of whether he would still get quality ice time in Ottawa and it appears that he’s still getting a chance to play with Brady Tkachuk, who was apparently his best friend – that was reported when the Sens acquired Norris as part of the Erik Karlsson deal – so maybe there will be some chemistry there. The appeal for Norris isn’t just tied to Tkachuk though, as Norris had 61 points in 56 AHL games for Belleville last season; that deserves a real shot to play and produce.

I’ve also given Tim Stuetzle a little boost but I’m still not ready to take him in fantasy this year. Like Norris might be a late-round sleeper to consider in deep leagues and I’m not there yet with Stuetzle, and 18-year-old who looks wonderfully talented and he should be good long-term, but he’s making the jump from playing in Germany to a team that won’t be very good.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

The fact that he’s on the ice at all resulted in a little boost for Philadelphia’s Nolan Patrick. I still don’t have great expectations after he missed all of last season but if he’s healthy enough to start in a top-nine role, that’s great for him and maybe he will have a chance to resurrect his career. He’s still just 22.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

I wasn’t necessarily sure where Mark Jankowski would end up in Pittsburgh’s lineup but it looks like he’s going to center the third line with Jared McCann on the left side. I don’t like Jankowski enough for fantasy but he has a chance to recover his value after he had just seven points in 56 games last season.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

A player flying way under the radar, Sharks winger John Leonard. He scored 27 goals in 33 games as a junior at UMass-Amherst last season and appears that he will start on San Jose’s second line, with Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl. I liked Ryan Donato in that spot but Leonard is not a big name – a sixth-round pick in 2018 – and he could be a useful player for them this season.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

In Toronto, the news that Joe Thornton is starting on the left side with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner is intriguing enough for me to move him up a little. It could always change but Jumbo is a great passer so playing him with an elite finisher could deliver some results. The Leafs lines are a little surprising, with Thornton and Jimmy Vesey on the left side on the top two lines, with Ilya Mikheyev and Zach Hyman moving to the third line.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Finally, the emergence of rookie Nils Hoglander at Canucks camp causes a little concern for Jake Virtanen, who looked like he was going to get a chance on one of the top two lines. Things could change but if Hoglander secures that spot, that hurts Virtanen’s upside. As for Hoglander, he did have 14 points in 23 AHL games this season. He’s a good prospect but I don’t think I’m ready to take him in fantasy.

Again, updated rankings here.