Boston’s Brad Marchand finished with the most total points among all NHL left wingers last season, and was a NHL All-Star for the eighth time in his career. He enters his 13th year with the Bruins having scored the seventh-most goals in team history, and is the team’s all-time leader in short-handed goals. This far into his career, Marchand has proven he’s a name to keep in mind when crafting a winning 2021-22 Fantasy hockey draft strategy.
Reliable veterans are necessary to balance a successful Fantasy hockey roster, and knowing when a player like Marchand or Dallas’ Joe Pavelski still brings something to the table is key. Last season, the 36-year-old Pavelski had more goals and assists in 11 fewer games than he played in 2019-20. Young players lead the conversation about 2021-22 Fantasy hockey sleepers, breakouts and busts, but the more familiar names should still be carefully considered. Before setting your 2021 Fantasy hockey draft strategy, check out the Fantasy hockey rankings 2021-22 from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, the model predicted Andre Burakovsky would have a top-100 season despite the fact that he was going undrafted, and the Avalanche winger produced 19 goals and 25 assists in 53 games. It also predicted Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry wouldn’t live up to his top-70 Fantasy hockey ADP and he saw his GAA drop from 2.43 to 2.75 and his save percentage fall from .921 to .909 season over season.
The model was created by Mike McClure, a predictive data engineer and professional daily Fantasy player with almost $2 million in career winnings. He’s used his prediction model to simulate the entire 2021-22 NHL schedule 10,000 times and identify the top Fantasy hockey sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
McClure’s model takes factors such as player history, schedule, injuries and matchups into account to create the most unbiased 2021-22 Fantasy hockey rankings possible. Now the model has zeroed in on the 2021-22 NHL season, ranked every player, and found the top sleepers, breakouts and busts. See every pick here.
Top 2021-22 Fantasy hockey picks
One of the 2021-22 Fantasy hockey breakouts SportsLine has identified: Spencer Knight. The Florida Panthers goalie offers some of the greatest upside, regardless of position, relative to his current 2021-22 Fantasy hockey ADP. Knight’s average draft position has been floating around the 12th round, primarily due to the expectation that Sergei Bobrovsky retains his role as the team’s top option at goalie.
Last season, in his rookie year, Knight played in just four games, but the Panthers won all of them and he finished with a .919 save percentage. Only six goalies that played more than 30 games last season had a better goals against average than Knight (2.32) did in those games. Knight checks-in as the the 89th overall player in the model’s 2021-22 Fantasy hockey projections, ahead of goalies selected much higher, like Jake Oettinger, Jarry and Bobrovsky.
Another surprise: Golden Knights winger Max Pacioretty exceeds expectations and lands among the top 2021 Fantasy hockey sleepers. Vegas’ winger turns 33 this season, but had more goals and assists in last year’s shortened schedule than he did in the 2012-13, 2017-18, and 2018-19 seasons as a regular starter. Pacioretty also finished as a finalist for last season’s Lady Byng trophy.
Vegas won the most games in the league last season, and tied for the third-most goals scored with Washington. Pacioretty was second on the team in total points (51) behind right wing Mark Stone (61), but played in seven fewer games. Pacioretty and Stone shared the team lead for power play goals scored last season with six apiece. Vegas’ top line feeds on Pacioretty’s efficiency, and on one of the league’s top scoring clubs, he’s an easy pick to return more value than his current 2021-22 Fantasy hockey ADP.
How to find proven 2021-22 Fantasy hockey rankings
The model has also made a surprising call on new Blackhawks goalie and last year’s Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury, and it features a stunner in the top 10 you won’t want to miss. You can only see the latest Fantasy hockey rankings 2021-22 here.
So what’s the exact value of every NHL player in the 2021-22 Fantasy hockey rankings? And what surprising player cracked the top 10? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy hockey rankings, all from a DFS pro who has won almost $2 million in his career and has simulated the entire NHL season 10,000 times, and find out.
