Fantasy Hockey: A First Look

Don’t look now but we’re less than five weeks away from the return of NHL season, which means it’s time to start thinking about your fantasy drafts. Yahoo! typically releases their rankings and mock drafts in late August or the first week of September, which is about the same as we can expect from ESPN.

In the coming weeks, we’ll take a look at player profiles, rankings, break out candidates, sleepers/busts, and more. There are plenty of exciting storylines to be considered this year and lots to talk about.

But before I get ahead of myself, I’m just going to start by looking at a player that I have been on my mind this offseason that I will be targeting on all of my teams this year. There will be more, but this one has me salivating at the thought of drafting him, especially in a keeper leagues.

Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers

Everybody should be pretty high on this guy, the first overall pick in 2010, but I’m higher than most. The Oilers were consistently the worst team in hockey for several years, which is why they were able to draft such budding stars as Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Nail Yakupov, three of whom were selected first overall. In fantasy hockey, like in any fantasy sport, we look for trends when projecting the next breakout superstar. And when it comes to Hall, the trends are “trendmendous” (sorry).

He has gotten better statistically in each of his first three years, gaining more confident and developing his professional skills. In 65 games his rookie year, he produced 22 goals, 20 assists, and 42 points. In 2011-2012, 27-26-53. And last year, in the shortened lockout year, he had 16 goals, 34 assists for 50 points in 45 games, which projects for 36-62-98 in a full year, which is at a superstar level.

For some reason, a lot of early rankings don’t have him as high as he should be. To be completely honest, if my draft spot is out of the top 5 (which should be Crosby, Stamkos, Malkin, Ovechkin, and Giroux in any order you prefer), then I’m taking Hall. It might draw surprises but I’m that confident in the guy. In fact, I’d almost rather be selecting later in the draft order so I can snag Hall and come right back at you with an Erik Karlsson or Patrick Kane.

If you need to dig even deeper, he was a +5 on a terrible Oilers team this year, had 13 power goals in 65 games in 2012, and his shots have risen each year too. Not to mention he’s playing alongside previously mentioned youngsters like Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov, and Justin Schultz. Teams would die to have just one of these budding stars, and the Oilers have five.

When these guys develop to the potential and start firing on all cylinders, it’s a scary thought for the rest of the league. And it might just happen this year. Throw in some veteran guys like Ales Hemsky, and newcomers David Perron and Andrew Ference, and this team might break out sooner rather than later. And at the forefront of it all with be Taylor Hall.

2013/2014 Projections: 82 Games - 41 G - 54 A - 95 P - +11 - 35 PIMs – 300 SOG           

So that’s one of the guys I’m highest on this year, and there will be plenty more. As we get going into these fantasy hockey previews, I want to hear from you the readers. If there are players you want me to preview, teams you’d like me to analyze, or any fantasy hockey questions you’d like answered, I’d be more than happy to help.