Ten Players Who Surprised Me in 2022-2023

(Yahoo Standard Points League pre and postseason rankings highlighted in parenthesis)

As is the yoozh, or the yuzh…maybe it’s the uzhe? however you say it, I’m going to keep off the beaten path here. Additionally, I’m restricting this to players I either rostered at some point during last season (2022-2023) or who made my All-Pain in the Neck Team, i.e, those players on opposing rosters who had me cutting to the quick deep into Sunday nights. 

Alright folks, today we’re going with a brief lesson using five interjections, five paragraphs, and a few audio/visuals thrown in to keep those in the back row from dozing off:

Ten Players Who Surprised Me in 2022-2023

Jamie Benn DAL- LW (Preseason 262/Postseason 44): “You can’t be serious man. You cannot be serious!” Not even Binksy in a collared Stars sweater could have predicted this. I mean, “‘chawk’ flew up!”

Mikael Backlund CGY- C (264/83): For most of the past season, Backlund rode the waiver wire in my league (and probably many others) and was viewed as a “streamer level” player. Wrong. For much of that same past season, it seemed like Backlund was one of the few Flames who actually seemed to care. While his Center Only designation is kind of a bummer, rostering him down the stretch was a difference maker in many leagues. This man shoots and passes. He’s sort of a poor man’s Brock Nelson in a beige suit and for much of last year, I was happy to have him crunching the numbers. If he’s paired with Sharangovich (it’s “EE-gore, not Eye-gore” 😉 ) next year, he might again be a sneaky late round/waiver wire addition for the upcoming season. At a minimum, he should increase your capital gains.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins EDM- C (122/14): Paired with Uncle Leo(n) and EK 91 for 23-24 and more PP1? Don’t mind if I do. 

David Pastrnak BOS- RW (7/2): Look, I know Pasta is good (I’ve been eating it my whole life), but this good?! No other player on any other team in my points league terrorized me more than Pastrnak. His 2022-2023 season was Austin Matthews 2021-2022 Redux. I mean enough with the eight to ten shots per game. I get it. I whiffed. To use a golfing analogy, while Connor McDavid pars you to death, Pasta can hole out from anywhere on the course. I’m still haunted by a matchup earlier in the season against the team with DP. Going into the Sunday games, I was up by 50+ points. Walking on sunshine right? The Bruins played in Anaheim that night and instead, he had me walking the streets of SoHo in the rain. (I’m pretty sure you know where this is going.) Pastrnak blew up for like 30 points and naturally… his hair was perfect. Fortunately for me though, I did get the name of his tailor. Wink wink. Be wary of going up against any team that rosters this beast. Ah-hoo…

Josh Morrissey WPG- D (230/63): Drafted him in ’21-22, but not last year. I-K-aRRgh!

Brandon Montour FLA- D (138/36): Don’t judge, but I had the chance to pick up Montour early on in my Points League but hesitated thinking that his performance was a flash in the pan. Instead, another manager snatched him up and I spent the rest of the year howling lugubriously into the dark. I mean, he just kept on producing. What the heck?! While he won’t fly under the radar next season, I have to wonder if his late season injury and a potential Ekblad bounce back? (I know, he’s injured too), might make Montour more available than his 2022-2023 performance may warrant. As an additional caveat, selecting defensemen is getting more and more uncomfortably like drafting goalies. Did someone say Zero D? Anyway…

Zach Hyman EDM- LW (113/28): Riding shotgun with McDavid and Connor Brown (sleeper alert) next year and still on PP1? I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to go back for seconds.

Carter Verhaeghe FLA- LW (213/41): Aside from having one of the most annoying names to try to spell if you’re having to write articles about him (ugh, how many times do I have to keep clicking back and forth between tabs to get it right!- Sorry. Had to vent Carter. No disrespect to your lineage). Verhaeghe was the Brandon Montour on the offensive side of the Panthers roster. Under-appreciated and seriously undervalued at the beginning of the season (who knew?), I again had the chance to pick him up early on and didn’t get sold in time enough to add him to benefit from his outstanding season. Having to face Verstappen (oops, wrong sport. Spelling counts Professor. …) in multiple head-to-head matchups last year, he was a first team All Pain-In-The-Neck Team player. To add a healthy dose of salt to my own self-inflicted wound, this is the second year in a row that I either drafted Verhaeghe (and subsequently dropped too early) or had the chance to pick him up from free agency and did not. And now I’m conflicted trying to avoid the sins of my father or being too late to the party next season. Killing me here Verhaeghe. Help me out here team. What do you boys think? Throw some numbers at me so I can get even more agita. 

Brayden Point TBL- C (110/18): I’ll take Rhetorical Questions for Fifty One (goals that is): Did anyone in fantasy have a more low-key sick year than Brayden Point? Maybe Nico? I’ll flip ya.

Dougie Hamilton NJ- D (102/24): While this selection may be construed as my East Coast/NJ Devils bias (it’s Taylor Ham not pork roll, btw), it’s hard to argue with his pre-season vs. end of the season numbers. He shoots big time and put up 74 points (22 G, 52 A) on a Devils team that made a huge leap last year and may be poised to take it to another level next year. I’m leery of pre-season hype, but the Devils are David Puddy in my hands (“it’s gonna be rough!”) and I have my breath baited for 2023-2024. Think about it: Hamilton, Meier (insert heart emoji here), Bratt, Hughes x 2, Nic-O-la! Dawson (that’s the Cream of the Crop), and Toffoli. Let…us… go!

Thanks for reading!

Mike@Fantasy Hockey Professor