Fantasy Hockey Bold Predictions: Booms, Busts & Connor Bedard
By Jon Litterine, RotoWire
Special to Yahoo Sports
Everyone loves predictions. And why not? They're fun, even if they don't always (or often) come true. Our nine bold predictions for the 2023-24 NHL fantasy campaign are below.
Evan Bouchard finishes as fantasy's No. 1 defenseman
Cale Makar is the best rearguard in the NHL and the only defender worthy of a first-round pick on draft day. Yet the injury concerns are real; if he misses time again, Bouchard has a real chance to be the most valuable defenseman in fantasy circles. He's going to quarterback the Edmonton power play, literally the best fantasy gig in the league. I remind you, the three leading scorers in the league last season with the man advantage — Connor McDavid (71 points), Leon Draisaitl (62) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (53) — all play for the Oilers. No other player in the league had more than 50 power-play points. Bouchard is set up to cash in massively.
Connor Bedard does NOT win Rookie of the Year
Bedard is heavily favored to finish as the top-rated freshman, as he should be. He's the best rookie to enter the league in well over half a decade. I expect him to score, and score a lot, from the get-go. But the Blackhawks remain a terrible team, and there are plenty of other talented rookies around the league. Arizona's Logan Cooley and Columbus' Adam Fantilli stand out immediately.
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Cooley is the type of flashy, offensive player voters typically favor when voting for awards such as this one. Bedard has work to do.
Kirill Kaprizov finishes top-three in scoring
Injuries cost Kaprizov a bunch of games late last year, but he was his usual excellent self (40 goals, 75 points in 67 games) when healthy. This, on the heels of a 108-point season two years ago. It's not a stretch to say Kaprizov is one of the five most talented players in the league. I'm very high on the Wild as a whole and think this is the year it all comes together for them.
Juuse Saros is a bust
While I'm high on the Wild, I couldn't be any lower on the Predators. Simply put, I don't know how this team is going to score goals. Their best offensive player is a defenseman (Roman Josi), and their best forward (Filip Forsberg) is coming off an injury-plagued season. They lack scoring depth and their one major free agent signing up front was 32-year-old Ryan O'Reilly. Saros has fantasy value regardless because he's always among the league leaders in games played, but I expect wins will be hard to come by.
"Johnny Hockey" is back
Johnny Gaudreau's first season in Columbus (21 goals, 74 points in 80 games) was a disaster on all fronts. He never looked comfortable, and the team played terribly. It was an odd fit from the start and it played out that way on the ice. This season, things turn around. The move to make Pascal Vincent head coach following the Mike Babcock fiasco will work out swimmingly, while Zach Werenski and Patrik Laine return to full health. I don't expect the Jackets to be a playoff team, but Gaudreau's numbers should be much improved.
Every Islander other than Ilya Sorokin disappoints in fantasy
Sorokin deserved serious Vezina consideration last season considering how well he played with everything falling apart around him. I expect another great year from him. Everyone else? Not so much. Matt Barzal has yet to find the form of his stellar 2017-18 rookie campaign, while Bo Horvat seemed like an odd fit from the very start. They're an old, aging team that doesn't score much. It's a disaster from a fantasy perspective.
Sean Durzi becomes a must-roster defender
The Kings had no desire to dump Durzi on the Coyotes for a second-round pick, but they needed to free up money to go after Pierre-Luc Dubois. Their loss is Arizona's gain. Sure, Durzi struggles with in-zone defending and lacks physicality, but he's an excellent power-play quarterback, the most important trait in fantasy hockey among rearguards. The Coyotes also have sneaky offensive depth with Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and the previously mentioned Cooley. I expect a big year from Durzi.
Devon Levi makes history
It's typically unheard of for a goalie to go right from college to the NHL. Skipping the AHL entirely, at least for a netminder, is unprecedented. Well, Levi is going to do it. The former Northeastern star is clearly Buffalo's best option to win hockey games in 2023-24. Who else are they going to play? Eric Comrie? Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen? No shot. This team has legitimate playoff aspirations. Levi is the only acceptable option.
Akira Schmid becomes Devils No. 1 goalie … then loses job
Schmid is a 23-year-old rookie with 23 regular-season NHL games under his belt. Yet, he was called upon in the playoffs to save the Devils in their first-round series with the Rangers following Vitek Vanecek's meltdown — and he responded in a major way.
The veteran Vanecek is going to open the year as the starter, but I expect Schmid to wrestle the job away at some point. I also expect New Jersey, a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, to move mountains to shore up the position at some point during the year, whether that's Connor Hellebuyck, John Gibson or someone else.
