The start of the NHL regular season also marks the start of the Fantasy Hockey season. For fans who enjoy playing arm-chair General Manager, who on the Boston Bruins should to take a chance on this season?
Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought that you’d make a decent General Manager for the Boston Bruins. Well, what better way to test that skill than by playing Fantasy Hockey? Obviously, it’s a slightly easier version of being in an NHL front office. For example, no salary cap, freedom from no-movement clauses, and no accountability other than to yourself and your buddies when you lose.
Having played Fantasy Hockey on ESPN actively for about 7 years now, I’ll admit that I have a hard time drafting and trading for Bruins players. Not because I don’t think they’re great or because I don’t think they’ll be an asset on my team. But being as they play on the team I root for night-in-night-out, when they struggle, it hurts twice as bad.
It’s bad enough when your team puts up a dud on the ice, and star players have a bad night stat-wise. But that only compounds when you have Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron who each go -4, for a whopping -8 points in fantasy hockey.
But, just because I don’t normally have Bruins players on my team doesn’t me you shouldn’t. Full disclosure, I do have Torey Krug on one of my teams (From Blue Laine to Blue Laine), and just snagged Anders Bjork for my other team (In the Dubnyk of Time). So, who on the Bruins is going to be fantasy relevant this upcoming season?
Forwards
Based upon ESPN predictions, here are Bruins forwards that are no-brainers for drafting in most standard leagues:
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- 2016-2017 numbers: 39 goals, 46 assists, +18, 24 power play points
- 2017-2018 predictions: 38 goals, 42 assists, +23, 22 power play points
- 2016-2017 numbers: 34 goals, 36 assists, +11, 24 power play points
- 2017-2018 predictions: 35 goals, 39 assists, +15, 26 power play points
- 2016-2017 numbers: 21 goals, 32 assists, +12, 17 power play points
- 2017-2018 predictions: 27 goals, 35 assists, +14, 22 power play points
- 2016-2017 numbers: 23 goals, 31 assists, -12, 14 power play points
- 2017-2018 predictions: 18 goals, 44 assists, +8, 16 power play points
In terms of players to watch for on the waiver-wire during the season, there’s two guys who come to mind. One, is Ryan Spooner. If he plays like he did this preseason, he could be setting himself up for a career year.
Also, he may be a rookie, but Anders Bjork may be getting the assignment of a lifetime, playing with Marchand and Bergeron. If all things go well and the chemistry between them continues to develop, consider snagging Bjork, especially in dynasty or keeper leagues.
Defensemen
With a rookie making his regular season debut on Thursday, in my opinion, the list of fantasy relevant defensemen on the Bruins sits at 3:
- 2016-2017 numbers: 8 goals, 43 assists, -10, 25 power play points
- 2017-2018 predictions: 10 goals, 40 assists, +11, 23 power play points
- 2016-2017 numbers: n/a
- 2017-2018 predictions: 8 goals, 30 assists, +4, 21 power play points
- 2016-2017 numbers: 10 goals, 19 assists, +18, 3 power play points
- 2017-2018 predictions: 8 goals, 21 assists, +17, 5 power play points
Beyond those three players, defensive scoring is somewhat scarce. Second year player Brandon Carlo could make some noise if he ends up getting any power play time. However, in past seasons, the Bruins have been rolling their power play units with 4 forwards and 1 defenseman. So, it’s likely those spots will be taken by Krug and McAvoy.
Next: Projecting '17-'18 Bruins Roster
Goalie
The question that seems to pop up regularly is whether Tuukka Rask is an elite NHL goalie. I personally don’t understand why the debate continues, given his career numbers. For purposes of this post and for fantasy hockey purposes, ESPN seems to believe he is:
Tuukka Rask
- 2016-2017 numbers: 64 games started, 37 wins, 137 goals allowed, 1473 saves, 8 shutouts
- 2017-2018 predictions: 64 games started, 34.9 wins, 150.8 goals allowed, 1688.2 saves
You can always pencil Tuukka in for at least 30 wins and a bunch of shutouts, making him a hot fantasy hockey commodity on any team. If the defense in front of him holds up, watch for a Vezina caliber year from Rask.
Do you think there’s anyone else on the Bruins that is going to be fantasy relevant this year? I’d be interested to see who other fans would be willing to take a flyer on this upcoming season.