Fantasy Hockey
Every fantasy hockey manager is looking to find an edge in the draft. Sometimes, that can come from low-risk, high-reward players later in the draft. So let’s spot those hidden gems, with some sleeper picks for the 2025-26 NHL season.
It won’t be easy to fill Matthew Tkachuk’s skates to open the season in Florida, but it opens up an opportunity for wingers like Samoskevich. His scoring was effective in a limited role last year. And there were some promising standout elements according to AllThreeZones tracking, including his ability to generate scoring chances in transition and set up his teammates with high-danger passing. That could add a spark to the Panthers’ top nine.
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Through all of the chaos in New York last year, Cuylle’s emergence was one of the few shining moments. He was one of the Rangers’ most reliable five-on-five producers, and he threw a ton of hits. With Chris Kreider’s departure, Cuylle should be a staple in the Rangers’ top-six this season — the most likely starting point is alongside J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad. Expect the Rangers to rebound under Mike Sullivan, and Cuylle to bring energy to managers, especially in leagues that value hitting.
There is only so much to take from nine games of NHL experience. Those games were essentially garbage time for the Blackhawks, who were far removed from the playoff picture and on the path to another high draft pick.
But for a rebuilding team, it’s a chance to see what the young guns have in store for the future. And Rinzel gave the Blackhawks a glimpse of his ceiling. His poise and offensive ability stood out, both at even strength and on the power play. Keep in mind, as much as Chicago struggled to score at five-on-five last year, the power play was an area of strength, and Rinzel is projected to be a big part of it this season.
Speaking of up-and-coming power play performers, Buium should take over that role in Minnesota this season. He got some chances on the fly last year, when he joined the Wild late last spring. But this year, he could take over on a full-time basis. Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon played the most on the power play last year, but neither one is perfect for that role. If Buium looks ready, he should get prime minutes with Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Mats Zuccarello on a nightly basis.
Just how much the peripherals matter depends on each league’s scoring. Sure, it helps to have a power-play quarterback on the backend who can score a bunch. That isn’t Romanov, who usually stays somewhere in the 20-point range. But he can rack up blocked shots and hits to contribute to the secondary categories consistently.
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RW Maxim Shabanov is another player on Long Island to keep an eye on, especially if he lands in the top six alongside Bo Horvat or Mathew Barzal.
Greaves put up five straight quality starts when the Blue Jackets turned to him in April, and saved 13 goals above expected along the way. To do that behind a Columbus team with some defensive struggles, while facing pressure in the Eastern Conference playoffs race, was legitimately impressive. But it was only five games. That’s a lot different than a 50-50 workload of 41 games, or a true starting capacity of 50-plus games. So Greaves has a lot to prove still, but he has earned that opportunity in Columbus. That could make him a sneaky good late-round pick.
It’s been three years since Mangiapane’s 35-goal campaign. He fell out of favor in Calgary, then spent a season in Washington as a serviceable third liner. This is his best chance to prove that he can be more than that, after the Oilers made a handful of subtractions (and while Zach Hyman recovers from a wrist injury). Mangiapane has the wheels to keep up with McDavid and Draisaitl, and the defensive chops, but he has to show that his scoring touch wasn’t just a fluke. If not, keep an eye on players like Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie, who could be the youth infusion the Oilers have been missing.
Macklin Celebrini is already showing that he can be “The Guy” in San Jose. Will Smith will probably get drafted late, or in dynasty leagues, too. But don’t sleep on Eklund, whose progression over the past couple of seasons has been really promising. His puck-moving is becoming a real threat. AllThreeZones’ tracking had him with 2.73 high-danger passes per 60, a rate that measured up to players like Logan Cooley and Robert Thomas. Pair that with his defensive growth, and the Sharks should be able to take control of the puck more in his minutes.
Seth Jarvis and Logan Stankoven are the ideal Hurricanes. Andrei Svechnikov has all the tools to be a difference-maker, and he put them together last postseason. Jackson Blake gained seasoning last year. And offseason signing Nikolaj Ehlers adds another element of dynamic skill to the bunch. If a rising tide lifts all boats, Hall should benefit from the Hurricanes’ winger depth.
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Hall’s puck-moving set up scoring chances in Chicago, but it just didn’t translate on the scoresheet often enough. A move to the Hurricanes helped him get back on track. Expect him to cook in sheltered second-line minutes again — if the 2C situation isn’t perfect, there should be enough oomph on the wings to drive the line.
Between Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, and Brandon Hagel, the Lightning’s top-six is stacked. But who rounds out that group? That could be an incredibly valuable position to draft.
Yanni Gourde got some top-six reps down the stretch last spring, but he may be best suited for a third-line role this year. Oliver Bjorkstrand was primarily deployed on the third line post-deadline, but his volume shooting could thrive in an expanded role. The player to watch, though, is a breakout candidate for next season in Goncalves. He only played 60 minutes with Hagel and Cirelli, but the team excelled in those minutes with a 63 percent expected goal rate and 6-3 scoring edge.
Honorable mentions: Joel Eriksson Ek; Cutter Gauthier; Jimmy Snuggerud; Andrei Kuzmenko
Data via Evolving-Hockey, HockeyViz, HockeyStatCards, All Three Zones, Dom Luszczyszyn, TheStanleyCap, and Natural Stat Trick. This story relies on shot-based metrics; here is a primer on these numbers
(Photo of Sam Rinzel: Matt Marton / Imagn Images)
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Shayna Goldman is a staff writer for The Athletic who focuses on blending data-driven analysis and video to dive deeper into hockey. She covers fantasy hockey and national stories that affect the entire NHL. She is the co-creator of BehindtheBenches.com and 1/3 of the Too Many Men podcast. Her work has also appeared at Sportsnet, HockeyGraphs and McKeen’s Hockey. She has a Master of Science in sports business from New York University. Follow Shayna on Twitter @hayyyshayyy
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