Fantasy Hockey Mailbag: Can Wyatt Johnston sustain high level of play next season?

What a fantasy hockey redemption story for Tyler Bertuzzi.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward seemed destined for a disastrous campaign after a horrible stretch of one goal in 32 games. That wasn’t what fantasy general managers predicted last summer when Bertuzzi signed with the Leafs. The prospect of playing with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner had many believing Bertuzzi could reach 30 goals and 60 points, but the trio never clicked and it was clear he was going to fall well below expectations.

Still, Bertuzzi looks rejuvenated playing with Matthews and Max Domi, a line that seems like a better fit for his skillset. He’s been making his presence felt around the net and has nine goals in his past 14 games. Bertuzzi should finish with close to 25 goals, which isn’t worth raising a banner by any means, but something you’ll surely take at this point if you’ve stuck it out with him all this time.

What once had the makings of a nightmare season for Bertuzzi is a lot more palatable now.

Let’s get to your questions:

I’m never a fan of keeping goalies or hanging onto them for too long, though I do think Jeremy Swayman will be quite valuable next season. Based on what happened at the trade deadline with Linus Ullmark and a reported deal that never went through, I think there’s a decent chance he will get moved this summer. Brandon Bussi could step up and be Swayman’s backup next season, with Swayman seeing the bulk of the starts. If Swayman gets like 65-70 per cent of the starts on another strong Boston Bruins team, he’ll have a ton of value.

It depends on how far ahead you’re thinking here. Wyatt Johnston is probably the best choice if you’re going to keep him for the next four or five years let’s say, but both Matt Boldy and Adrian Kempe could outperform him in 2024-25. Kempe especially is very underrated and would probably be better for points, shots, and hits than Johnston next season. So, if you’re only thinking a year or so ahead, I think Kempe would be my choice, but long term it’s Johnston.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you can keep a goalie here. I count at least 12 skaters I’d prefer to have over Swayman, even if he’s in a great spot. Elias Pettersson, Tage Thompson, Sebastian Aho, Clayton Keller, Artemi Panarin, Adrian Kempe, Matthew Tkachuk, David Pastrnak, Rasmus Dahlin, and Victor Hedman are locks, with Brock Faber and Alex Tuch fighting for the final spot. I’m not sure how your league works, but maybe you could try to swing a summer move with Swayman for a draft pick, or perhaps package Faber and Tuch for a stronger keeper. It’s a good problem to have, you just have to try and maximize your assets.

This is such a tough call. Ultimately, I agree with where you’re leaning, even though it’s hard to part with Mikko Rantanen. Brady Tkachuk won’t produce nearly as much offense as Rantanen, but his shots and hits combo are too hard to pass up. JT Miller should be a lock for all the reasons you mentioned and his hits production is off the charts. Sometimes you have to make very difficult decisions and giving up Rantanen would certainly qualify.

I’m always in favour of the extra game or games when players are somewhat comparable, which is what I see here. Would I prefer Jared McCann over a full season to Andrei Kuzmenko? Yes. But in a short-term scenario like you’re describing here the extra game is more important. If we were comparing like three games from Connor McDavid to four from Kuzmenko, that would obviously be a different story.

It definitely is. When I was comparing Johnston to some others next season for an earlier question, I didn’t think he was going to regress at all in 2024-25. Johnston should flirt with 70 points, scoring 30 goals, and posting over 200 shots with ease. There’s also some other considerations that should make Johnston really valuable going forward as well.

This is still only his third season and things like his ice time and power play usage are only going to increase sooner rather than later. Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn aren’t getting any younger, so as they regress, Johnston should receive more opportunities and potentially some time on the top power-play unit. Johnston also takes draws and has C/RW eligibility, meaning he’s a very versatile player to have in your lineup if your league counts faceoff wins. Getting that faceoff production from someone you can use in a winger spot is a huge advantage.

Johnston has delivered a very strong season while playing less than 17 minutes per game, which should indicate what type of potential he has in a bigger role. He’s really only scratching the surface of what he’s capable of.

Yes, to all your questions. What Connor Bedard has done with this Chicago Blackhawks roster is very impressive and I think they’ll be active in free agency to bring in some more talent in the forward group to help him a bit. Bedard is also only going to get better in his second year. He’s a generational talent and it won’t be long until he’s a very high draft pick. For 2024-25, though, I’d give him a late third-round grade in one-year leagues given Chicago’s roster and the fact there are so many other proven options available.

I’m a little more cautious when it comes to Jack Hughes given his injuries, but not enough to really scare me off unless I’m debating between Hughes and another elite talent. Even with missing 20 games this year, Hughes still had 74 points. That’s a pretty high floor. The upside is huge if he can stay healthy for most of the year.

Nikita Kucherov should definitely be a top-five pick next season. I know some were worried about games missed with Kucherov in past years which made him drop in drafts slightly, but he’s been healthy and extremely productive the past two seasons. There should be no concern about taking him that high at this point.

Depending on how many players you can keep, there’s an argument Brandon Hagel is already a keeper. A 70-plus point player is worthy of a keeper spot if you’re keeping half a dozen players let’s say. If the Tampa Bay Lightning don’t re-sign Steven Stamkos as you mention, then yes, that would make Hagel even more appealing as he could have more of an opportunity at power play time. Anthony Duclair is someone to watch, too. If Tampa moves on from him then there’s a chance we get Hagel, Kucherov, and Brayden Point next year as a regular line. Hagel would have huge value in that scenario.

The sky is the limit for William Eklund. He’s been on a nice run lately thanks to a big increase in minutes, but I think it’s going to be a couple of years before he has a major fantasy impact. It’s likely the San Jose Sharks are going to be near the league’s basement again next year as they continue their rebuild and their roster won’t be very strong. As Eklund continues to develop and the Sharks improve, he’ll eventually be a big fantasy asset. If you’re looking at Eklund through a long-term lens as a keeper, I see no issue with keeping him.

Keeping three is probably too many here and I would take a wait-and-see approach into the summer to see if any of these situations change. I mentioned the possibility of an Ullmark trade earlier and if he goes to a weaker team, he may not be worth keeping. It’s also likely that Jesper Wallstedt will be with the Minnesota Wild full-time next year, as he is the goaltender of the future and should cut into Filip Gustavsson’s starts.

There’s also the matter of the Wild’s cap situation. They have another year of almost $15 million in dead cap thanks to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, so it’s going to be hard for them to improve their roster and really compete. That could mean another year of mediocrity and missing the playoffs, which won’t do Gustavsson any favours. With all that said, I don’t think I’d keep Gustavsson and try to find another goalie through the draft or off waivers next season as a replacement. There are always some gems that pop up.

If it could make the difference in winning a championship, I think you could consider moving on from Nico Hischier based on some of the other names you have there. It’s not an ideal situation, but out of the players you listed, Hischier could be the odd man out. Fantasy hockey is often about balancing short-term and long-term needs and sometimes you have to do what you’ve got to do.

Hard to evaluate Jakob Pelletier this year because he missed so much time with that shoulder injury, but I think he’s still young enough to make an impact with the Calgary Flames. With the Flames turning over a lot of their roster and going into a bit of a rebuild, I suspect he’ll get more of an opportunity in 2024-25. It may be a while, though, before Pelletier is fantasy-relevant.