It pains me to write this as a big fan of Connor Hellebuyck. However, it needs to be done. After a run to the conference finals, the Jets disappointed last season culminating in a first round loss to the Blues. They had only 19 wins in the second half of the season, mostly because of a weak blue line. But what makes Hellboy a schmohawk for the upcoming season?
Yesterday, I wrote about the winners of the NHL Offseason, so I think you can see where this is going. For those that missed yesterday's post, you can check that out here. Now let's go to the other side of the spectrum and get some Beck in here, or Three Doors Down if you're into that kind of thing. Here's a breakdown of the biggest losers!
Hey everyone! I'll be starting my rankings next week, but for now, I'll be writing a post on offseason winners. Losers will be coming tomorrow. There has been plenty of player movement that I haven't broken down yet so we might as well get right to it!
WINNERS
Mikhail Sergachev - I already wrote a sleeper post on Sergachev that you can read here.
Mikhail Sergachev looked prime for stardom totaling 40 points as a 19 year old rookie on the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, last season was an apparent step backwards. While everyone else on his team had excellent offensive seasons en route to Tampa winning 62 games, Sergachev's totals dropped across the board, including only 6 goals and 26 assists in 75 games. So what makes Sergachev a sleeper for this coming season?
When I started looking for specific players to write about for the offseason, I wasn't really thinking about anyone on the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks were bad last season and they're almost certainly going to be bad again. That said, we saw last year that players on bad teams can still do well in fantasy, notably Stone before Ottawa traded him. Well, when I did some digging, I found that a Razzball favorite i.e. one of my personal favorites was performing at a level that even I didn't realize. So what makes Ondrej Kase a sleeper for the upcoming season?
Hello everyone! Crazy to think that this is year 5 already of me running the hockey side of things at Razzball. Now that we've reached August, I'll be posting on a regular basis again getting you prepared for the start of the NHL season, notably your draft(s). Between now and then, I'll have sleeper posts, schmohawk (bust) posts, my overall rankings, and an overview of the changes made throughout the NHL since the end of last season. Additionally, Sven will be providing a team preview on every NHL team, including their prospects. If there's anything else that you would like me to cover, please let me know in the comments section below and I'll be sure to reply to you. Now, let's get to the first post of the year!
Andrei Svechnikov was the second pick in the NHL Draft last year and had a nice start to his career, scoring 20 goals and 17 assists in 80 games. If you look at the general boxscore stats, you don't exactly see "Future Fantasy Superstar." So what makes him a sleeper for this upcoming season?
Hey everyone! I hope you ended up winning your fantasy championship this year. With the season over, my posts will be less frequent. I’ll have some posts throughout this week, mostly recapping the season that was and looking ahead to next season. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Detroit's season has been over for months, but they haven't mailed it in. The Red Wings have won six in a row and it starts with their first line. Of late, Tyler Bertuzzi has been on an absolute tear. He had two goals and an assist with five shots on Tuesday, his fourth consecutive third point game! That brings him to 21+26 on the season with 32 PIM and a +13 rating, a great number on a poor team. So what's his value going into next season? It's hard to say. He looks great with Larkin and Mantha, but what if the Red Wings bring someone else in and he's not there to open next season? The PIM also aren't at the elite level I had hoped like his old man brought. I do like Bertuzzi a lot for deeper leagues, but for him to be a play in standard leagues, he'll need to get his shot rate up and maintain the role he's had to finish the season. You don't need streaming on Thursday or Saturday given the massive schedules, but if you need a guy, Bertuzzi is a great choice while he's hotter than hell. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
One of my favorite late round gambles on the blue line this season was Erik Gustafsson. Gustafsson played 35 games last season and has 16 points and two shots per game. That doesn't sound great, but that was with zero power play time and limited minutes. Keith and Seabrook were falling off a cliff giving Gustafsson prime opportunity. He took advantage of it and then some. Gustafsson dished three assists on Monday night while putting a shot on goal and adding 4 PIM. That brings Gustafsson up to a whopping 17+42 with 34 PIM and almost exactly two shots per game. That's with 18 STP, a number which could be higher if he played on PP1 all year. So what do we make of Gustafsson for next season? Well, it's early to say. I think these numbers are mostly sustainable as long as Chicago doesn't add a PP specialist in the offseason. I don't expect them to with the young guys they have coming, especially Jokiharju, but there's always a chance. Gustafsson looks like he'll be a solid #3 next season, possibly a bottom end #2. The goals will probably come down a bit, but 40+ assists should be a near lock with Chicago's style and strong PP, and he's average in PIM and shot rate. If he's going to be better, it's because he takes a few more shots. Let's take a look at what else happened on Monday night:
We've made it to the final week of the season! For those of you who just wrapped up their leagues since you don't play the last week of the season, congratulations. For those who still play this week (the majority), I'll be breaking down the schedule for you to maximize your streaming potential. I'll be following the same format as the last three weeks. Let's get to it!
From an individual standpoint, this season couldn't be going any better for John Tavares. That continued on Monday night as Tavares scored 4 goals in the 7-5 win over Florida. That brings Tavares to 45 goals and 86 points, both career highs. Obviously we know to roll Tavares every time out, but where does he rank going into next season? He's bumped his shot rate back up to an elite level and his plus-minus is by far a career best. Is that sustainable? It might be given how good Toronto is. This, of course, assumes that Marner returns next season. I don't think he'll make my top 10, but it will be very close. At the least, Tavares will be in consideration for the wheel in a 12 team draft come September. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
We've reached the finals in almost all formats making this the best time of the year in fantasy hockey. That's if you're still in, of course. I will continue the weekly previews that I've been doing over the last few weeks to provide some strategy and planning ahead in regards to streaming. Again, this is meant to be a compliment to the Playoff Manifesto, not a replacement, so be sure to check that out as well here. Let's get to it!
