It’s been a mostly disastrous season for Jack Campbell.
Sure, his win-loss record is fine, but his other numbers have no doubt burned plenty of fantasy general managers throughout the year. Although it hasn’t been the season Campbell, or any of those that drafted him, had hoped, he’s going out on a high note.
The Edmonton Oilers have started Campbell twice in a row against the Anaheim Ducks, who are one of the best matchups for any goalie in the league, and Campbell has delivered in a big way. He’s posted back-to-back wins, allowing just a single goal on 64 shots over those two games. The quality starts have come at the perfect time, too. Many fantasy teams likely enjoyed a Campbell spot start or two in the semi-finals or finals of their league, helping them to a championship.
Campbell ultimately did make a crucial fantasy impact this season, just not in the way, or on the scale, many thought he would.
Time for your questions:
Matt Boldy has enjoyed a great stretch run after the Minnesota Wild adjusted their lines when Kirill Kaprizov was injured. Boldy could eventually be an 80-90-point player, but there are a few challenges in the way of him getting there. The Wild aren’t that deep at centre, so if Minnesota doesn’t bring someone in this summer to help in that regard, I don’t know how big a jump Boldy can make from 60-70 points, let’s say.
The other issue is, he rarely plays with Kaprizov. Playing on the opposite wing to Kaprizov would certainly help his numbers, but that might be a challenge with Mats Zuccarello still around. Zuccarello is signed only for next season, so perhaps after that Boldy will eventually get his shot with Kaprizov.
Boldy is still a huge asset on any fantasy squad, but it may be another season or so before we see him take a huge leap.
In general, I would look to the Calgary Flames. A number of their players such as Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jacob Markstrom have had really down years, so they’ll likely be available much later in drafts next season. I’m not going to go as far as declaring they’ll all have huge bounce-back seasons, but the upside of grabbing a Huberdeau in the eighth or ninth round, for example, would be really hard to pass up.
The Flames have also been a bit unlucky in some ways this season. Calgary is second overall in shots for and third best in shots allowed, so you’d think if that continues into next year, Markstrom would at least see an improvement in the win-loss column.
You could look at moving on from Shea Theodore. I know Nick Schmaltz has slowed down a bit, but I’d keep him around in case he catches fire again. Mark Scheifele has picked it up over the last few games and the other benefit of grabbing him is the Winnipeg Jets are still in a fight for a playoff spot, so there’s no chance he’ll be sitting out for rest in any of his final games.
Assuming both goalies are back, I see the Boston Bruins rotating Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark very similarly to the way they did this season. Of course, you’ll have to account for some regression, especially from the team overall and Ullmark, as they’ve put up historic numbers this season. The Bruins will still be a very strong team again, but will Ullmark have a .937 save percentage and only six regulations losses come April? Seems unlikely.
It’s definitely worth exploring what kind of haul you could get for Ullmark in the offseason, but there’s nothing wrong with bringing him back to your fantasy squad if you don’t like what offers you’re getting.
Goalies vary so much year-to-year, so these questions are always tough. In no particular order, I’d say Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger and Juuse Saros, with Connor Hellebuyck just outside the top five. You can’t really go wrong with any of those six in your drafts as they’ll give you a ton of volume over a long season and are typically the most consistent.
The Seattle Kraken do have a very friendly schedule the rest of the way, so take advantage of it any chance you can. Daniel Sprong has been productive all season, so don’t be scared off by his limited minutes. Sprong actually ranks just outside the top 10 in the NHL in points per 60, next to Elias Pettersson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Tage Thompson. That’s some pretty good company. There probably isn’t another player in the league who does more with less than Sprong.
A lot of good choices here, but I think I’d go with Artemi Panarin. He should have little trouble getting around 90 points and there’s less of an injury concern with Panarin than with someone such as Jack Eichel. Moritz Seider is tempting, too, because you have both hits and blocks. He’s usually near the top of the league for those combined categories, but Panarin is probably your safest bet.
There are definitely a handful to look out for. Someone like Lukas Reichel is having a strong finish to the season and should be with the Chicago Blackhawks full-time next season. Perhaps David Jiricek will get a look for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who dealt with a plethora of injuries on their blue line in 2022-23. There’s also Simon Nemec and Matthew Knies to keep an eye on. If Michael Bunting leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs through free agency, maybe Knies gets a chance in the top six.
Great question. I don’t think there would be any on Chicago, but with Anaheim, maybe someone such as Troy Terry could become very valuable if he plays on Connor Bedard’s wing. There’s also a chance Bedard starts on the wing and then someone such as Trevor Zegras would really benefit.
For the Blue Jackets, I think Patrik Laine and Johnny Gaudreau would see a huge jump in value if they played with Bedard, though they might be players you’d consider keeping anyway.
Bo Byram is on a 50-point pace this season, and that’s probably about the number I see him at if he can play a full 82. With Cale Makar in the fold for the foreseeable future, that’s going to limit how much ice time and power-play minutes Byram gets, so estimating too far beyond 50 is ambitious. That said, 50 points combined with solid shots, hits and blocks numbers makes Byram very valuable in deep leagues where you can probably find him later in drafts.
We’ve also seen Byram step up when Makar has been injured this season, so if the Norris Trophy winner is sidelined for a significant amount of time again in 2023-24, expect Byram’s numbers to surge.
I talked about some bounce-back candidates earlier, so let’s look at where to draft Bedard. I’ve been pretty vocal about how it’s more than fair to use a very high pick on him, but obviously it depends on your league structure. In one-year leagues, he isn’t as valuable because it may take him time to acclimate to the NHL, so I wouldn’t use a first-rounder on him in those scenarios. In keeper leagues, though, it’s a different story.
It wouldn’t be outlandish to take him first overall in formats where there is no limit on keeping players. By Year 2 or 3, he should be paying huge dividends for you. If he’s in the same category as Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid, you could be drafting a keeper for the next 15 years.
In leagues where you can only keep a player for a certain number of years, it would devalue Bedard somewhat, so maybe look at the late first round there.
All three of those players you listed would be candidates, and I’ll mention a few others. Owen Tippett is someone I’d look at, after a strong finish down the stretch that’s going to see him post nearly 25 goals and over 200 shots. He seems to be a player Flyers coach John Tortorella really likes to lean on.
Evan Bouchard is another player who finished strong after Tyson Barrie was dealt, and unless the Edmonton Oilers add a defenseman in the summer, Bouchard should have a full season ahead of him on the league’s best power-play unit.
Lastly, does someone such as Barrett Hayton make sense to keep? That Arizona Coyotes’ top line scored at a torrid pace for six weeks or so. Maybe Hayton, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz can keep it going next season.