Fantasy Hockey: Final Preseason Mailbag

EK top 5 defense target? Round 4-5?

— Eric Yah (@eric_yahyah) September 28, 2023

Yup, I would say he should be targeted as a top-5 d-man in your draft. For what it’s worth, his current ADP in standard leagues is 39.1. Considering he was the first defender in 30 years to hit the 100-point plateau, it feels like a lot of fantasy owners could be undervaluing Karlsson heading into season No. 1 with Pittsburgh. Personally, I think Kris Letang will steal some of his cookies. That said, I do think Karlsson will put up another monster season.

Bangers league. Will Mario Ferraro be a hidden gem? Playing L1, PP1? PK1?

— Peter (@StenkollFantasy) September 28, 2023

At the very least, I think he’s worth taking a flier on. Having said that, it’s important to temper expectations. In general, I think San Jose’s going to be brutal. At this point, David Quinn has really tipped his hand as to who will run the first power play unit. It looks like it could be a battle between Ferraro and Jacob Macdonald. What a battle. Ferraro’s a deep, deep sleeper —at best.

To stack or not to stack. I find if my draft isn’t going well, to stack in later rounds. Thoughts?

— Rick (@valkdrvr) September 28, 2023

Ultimately, it depends on who you’re looking to stack, right? At the end of the day though, I’ve never really been against line stacking, especially when you’re rostering productive players. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Later round goalies that can provide early round value

— IslandersLobster (@IslandersLobst1) September 28, 2023

Three guys I’ll definitely be targeting in my drafts: Thatcher Demko, Cam Talbot, and Jacob Markstrom. At the very least, I’m fairly confident all three will experience a bounce-back of sorts. On Vancouver, I expect them to be much better defensively in Rick Tocchet’s first full season behind the bench. Provided Demko can stay healthy, I think he returns to fantasy relevancy in 2023-24. Meantime, I don’t think Talbot was healthy at all in his only season with the Senators. Furthermore, I think the Kings are real, and on top of that, I think he has the inside track on Pheonix Copley for playing time. Then there’s Markstrom. I wonder if Ryan Huska’s arrival means good things all around for the Flames. I have Calgary making the playoffs.

Points lg. 5 per goal 3 per assist. 0.50 sog. Please rank:
Aho
Debrincat
Hintz
Fiala
Guentzel
Bratt
Kyrou

Thanks Nick!

— Beerbot (@Go22rd) September 28, 2023

DeBrincat, Guentzel, Fiala, Aho, Hintz, Bratt, Kyrou. They’re all studs, but that’s how I would rank them for the weighted categories you provided.