Looking back at my fantasy hockey 2022-2023 draft results, suggests I’ve got some nerve writing this article. Fortunately the water is flowing rather rapidly under that troubled bridge.
Ivan Provorov? Robert Thomas? Whadda ya kiddin’ me?
I’d like to reiterate what I’ve been screaming about since I began writing for Apples and Ginos. Namely to let the experts (Nate, Blake, Josh, and Binksy) be your guiding light sabres as the season progresses. We’re not worthy. We’re not worthy.
Instead, what you and I have to do is pay attention to our respective teams and matchups and use the A&G AI guys’ insights and analyses to guide our decision making AS THE SEASON PROGRESSES. I’ll say it again in another way: as the season unfolds make informed decisions and use your adds and drops. I’ve always been a proponent of using your allotted adds and drops every week. It’s called Roster Management 101 for a reason. What’s this Professor? Back to school already? Didn’t we just get out? Oh Mom? Dad? Where’s my backpack? Do I have to go? I’m not feeling well.
For years now, it’s an exception if I do not use all of my adds and drops on a weekly basis. This may seem like work, but it’s what makes fantasy hockey so much fun. And I would advise you to do the same. This isn’t fantasy baseball. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just saying.
With that in mind, I’m going to slightly alter the direction of this piece to focus on the 10 Players I Was Right About in 2022-2023 to include players I drafted and those players I picked up as the season unfolded. This retrospection isn’t necessarily relevant now, but it’s the idea of paying attention that matters moving ahead.
O.k then, let’s go:
Jared McCann: On a Kraken team that you could have seemingly thrown a dart at in selecting players to roster, I spent much of last season avoiding any Seattle players. McCann, however, emerged from their balanced bunch. Especially down the stretch. And I was fortunate enough to be able to pick him up about three quarters of the way into the season. I held on and it paid off. While it could be argued that Seattle overachieved last year, I’m still a fan of McCann (insert groaning emoji here). Could he about to become a new member of my All-Under the Radar Team?
Ilya Sorokin: In a Points League, I’ve always felt that it was important to roster a high quality starting goalie. While this philosophy doesn’t break any new ground and runs counter to the Zero-G philosophy, I still like taking my chances. If the Islanders could only figure out a way to score goals, Sorokin might just get an overdue Vezina Trophy. He plays consistently and always seems poised to register a shutout. In my view, he’s like the goalie equivalent of say a Tage Thompson or Timo Meier (more about them later). Give this man some support please. Did ya hear that Bo? C’mon Matty! Help us out here.
Jake Oettinger: Like Sorokin above, I took a chance and drafted Oettinger fairly early in my draft. Keeping in mind that this was me pre-Zero G, I felt like Otter was poised to have a breakout year and was not disappointed. Having both Sorokin and Oettinger allowed me to have a solid foundation in goal and those decisions paid off handsomely in my Yahoo Points League. I could always count on both of these goalies to produce during the season and never found myself worried that I wouldn’t get points when either was in goal. It may seem like Zero-G heresy, but moving forward, I again will not hesitate to draft either. Call me cray, but I still believe that both have better days ahead.
Clayton Keller: Have I mentioned that I love me some Canis latrans (that’s Latin for we still don’t have an arena but nevertheless have awesome fantasy players who wear pretty cool unis). Especially of the two headed Keller/Schmaltz Gorgon sort. I was in on him two years ago and was totally bummed to see him get injured late in that season. Fortunately for him (and us), he seemed to come back even stronger last season. Undrafted in my Points League, I scooped him up and held on for the duration. He had a tremendous season finishing 48th in my league (37 G 49 A). Going past Go, I’m targeting both Keller and Schmaltz (with perhaps a side of Barrett Hayton?) as part of my 2023-2024 All-Contrarian Stack Team. Don’t forgot to collect your $200.00 as you pass on by.
Connor McDavid: No duh.
Tage Thompson: This may not (T)age well (more groaning emojis), but I am really conflicted with Biggy for the upcoming season. For the past two years, I’ve rostered Thompson in both of my leagues (Points and Categories). In each, he was either undrafted or a late round draft pick. And for those same past two seasons, he was a fantasy fantasy. Having him on two teams afforded me the chance to pay considerable attention to his performances. For the most part, he was pretty much off the charts. And yet…
I did not like what I saw from him late last season. I’m not sure if he was dealing with some sort of lingering injury or the cat was out of the bag with respect to how to defend him. I don’t watch enough Sabres’ games to know. What I do know is that he was not the same player late in the year as he was for so much of the past two seasons. Perhaps it was just an anomaly, but I don’t know what to make of it. I’m pretty sure that his analytics point to a continuation of his beast-like ways, but something’s gnawing at me and I can’t put my finger on it. Don’t judge because I’m a huge fan. Few players, if any, have his explosive upside. I’m fairly certain that my A&G brethren are high on Thompson for 2023-2024 and I sort of am too. Nonetheless, my prediction is that he may be a bit over-drafted in 2023-2024. In the meantime, I do have to say that I’ve been right about him for the past two years. Cough cough.
Travis Konecny: Here’s an analogy for you: Timo : Alpha :: TK : _______. And the correct answer would be…Beta. I’m a huge Konecny guy. Again, he went undrafted in my Points League and I added him pretty early on last season and held on even after he went out with a rather lengthy injury. Wishing upon his star that he would somehow come back, he did. Like right during our league’s playoffs! While his return’s production didn’t rival his early season’s gaudy numbers, the fact that he did come back to a team absolutely going nowhere, etched his name permanently on my fantasy hockey heart. He’s my Clayton Keller in a Flyers’ sweater. Or maybe Keller is Konecny in a Coyotes’ sweater? Either way, as you might have gathered, these are two of my favorite players in all of fantasy hockey. Two dudes that are still just under the radar enough to make you feel as though you know a little something. Man I love these guys!
Erik Karlsson: O.k, here’s the deal: gonna shift over to my Cats League with this one. Karlsson got off to a hot start that everyone, including me, doubted. And he pretty much never let up. Early on, I took a shot and offered Hampus Lindholm for another manager’s EK and they accepted. No shade meant, but they were a Bruins fan and that’s part of why I love fantasy hockey. I mean, I’m a homer too, so I get it. I appreciated their acceptance and along we went on our merry ways. While I don’t expect Karlsson to repeat his epic season… you never know? Perhaps he lands on a contender for 2023-2024 and is re-motivated to re-cement his already impressive legacy. Let’s go Pens?
Brock Nelson: Full disclosure: I’m sort of a closet Islanders fan. I mean they do wear Orange and Blue (Go Gators!) and I was just coming of age when they were peeling off multiple Stanley Cups (yes, I’m that old), so it’s no surprise that I’d include Brock here. Yes I know he’s about as exciting to roster as wearing velour in summer, but he sort of gets the job done. I watched and watched as he sat on our league’s waiver wire for quite some time refusing to believe that he was producing at the rate he was producing for that same quite some time. Finally, I bit the bullet and picked him up about half way through last season and, I gotta be honest, he carried me through many a matchup. While his center only designation leaves a bit to be desired, going forward I’m inclined to give him another shot. As mentioned in my last piece, he’s sort of like a Mikael Backlund Redux. It’s like you’re thinking, is he really doing what I think he’s doing? Yeah, he’s that guy.
Timo Meier: Duh. Talk about homerism. Readers of these articles should be well aware by now of my appreciation for Timo. To this day, no other player has provided me with more thrills and perhaps even better, the potential for thrills over the years. How can I (or any other fan) forget what he did on MLK Day in 2022 against the Kings where he scored five goals. At the time, I was monitoring my games on Yahoo’s Stat Tracker live (and the snow squalls pummeling my driveway…did I mention how much I also love shoveling?) and it was borderline ludicrous. His performance that is, I mean was. I honestly thought there was something wrong with the app because every time I looked up, his numbers were changing. For that reason alone, he had me at hello. I realize that his trade to the Devils seemed to diminish his value, but not for me. I’m keeping Timo Time until whenever that bell tolls. Besides, he was a big part of me winning a contest. And now that he’s signed long term…“let’s get it on!.”
Thanks for reading!
Mike@The Fantasy Hockey Professor
Apples and Ginos 