NHL FANTASY PREVIEW: A guide to stick-handling through your long-awaited return to hockey drafts
The NHL off-season, all three months of it, was the shortest ever, but for us hockey poolies, it’s been the longest wait since the 2004-05 lockout — 10 months from the previous time we were able to check summaries and how our players fared. But the wait is almost over. The NHL and fantasy hockey return next Wednesday, so it’s time for a refresher course. There are a few things that will make the 2020-21 season unique from a fantasy perspective. First will be the new division alignments, where the all-Canadian North Division could be more high-scoring than the other three, given that only the Jets finished in the top 10 in team GAA last season, and they were 10th. The average rank of the North Division teams from last year is 19.7. The West was 14.6, East 14.8 and Central 15.0. Second will be the condensed schedule of 56 games. You’ll probably see backup goalies not only taking a larger percentage of a team’s starts and don’t be surprised if some skaters, particularly the older ones, sit out a game occasionally. And of course, if baseball and the NFL are accurate barometers, we should see players occasionally forced out of the lineup by COVID-19 concerns. And then we have the fact that, with only nine or 10 days of practice, no exhibition games or time to experiment on the fly, most coaches will have had to set their projected opening-night lineups sight unseen. And if those pre-set forward lines don’t work out, of course, they’ll be shuffled. But it’ll be too late by that time with fantasy drafts in the rear-view mirror. So, be careful selecting players pencilled in on to top lines who would not be as valuable if they were further down the depth chart — players such as Joe Thornton on the Leafs, Flames’ Josh Leivo and Anthony Duclair, now on the Panthers. They might work out in their new top-six assignments. Or, they might find themselves in a bottom-six role after a few games. If you’re going to take a chance, save it for the later rounds. Here, then are our loose rankings for each position, based on points, plus-minus and penalties. Each player is listed with last year’s points per game (or save percentage) as well as something to think about before selecting, or passing on, many of them. GOALIES Andrei Vasilevskiy TB .917 — No. 1 again if he can avoid a post-Cup letdown. Carter Hart PHL .914 — Flyers gave up fewest shots per game last year. Connor Hellebuyck WPG .922 — Will be busy, again, but has proven he’s up to it. Tuukka Rask BOS .929 — Great numbers, but Halak still tugs at his value. Darcy Kuemper ARZ .928 — Team D assures strong stats, but Ws may be dicey. Carey Price MON .908 — Improved, tougher roster in front of him will help. Elvis Merzlikins CLB .923 — A top-five net pick if not for Jackets’ timeshare. Philipp Grubauer COL .916 — Will put up strong stats, but can’t stay healthy. Anton Khudobin DAL .930 — No camp hurts SV% leader, playoff feel-good story. Robin Lehner VGK .920 — Big playoff run means he’s no worse than Vegas’ 1A. Jacob Markstrom CGY .918 — More EDM games, but new team won’t affect value. Frederik Andersen TOR .909 — Improved D will help, but 5-on-5 softies were a killer. Jordan Binnington STL .912 — Big drop-off from Stanley Cup rookie year. Tristan Jarry PIT .921 — Huge first half told Pens he’s ready to be the guy. Ilya Samsonov WAS .913 — Loss of Lundqvist means larger share of starts. Semyon Varlamov NYI .914 — Isles’ template makes goalies look good. Igor Shesterkin NYR .932 — Played less, but likely has inside track on Georgiev. Joonas Korpisalo CLB .911 — No. 1 in playoffs, but with weaker stats than Elvis. Marc-Andre Fleury VGK .905 — Timeshare a problem, so hope he gets traded. Juuse Saros NAS .914 — Took over No. 1 job but will still have to hold off Rinne. Thatcher Demko VAN .905 — Playoff hero is boom or bust with Holtby around. BEST OF THE REST: John Gibson ANA .904, Jaroslav Halak BOS .919, Sergei Bobrovsky FLA .900, Braden Holtby VAN .897, Matt Murray OTT .899, Martin Jones SJ .896
