From Sports Glory:
It’s that time of year again! It’s almost time for hockey and the smell of vulcanized rubber is in the air.
That also means it’s time for fantasy hockey, because it’s not good enough to yell at the players on your favorite team for letting down your favorite team when you can yell at them for letting down your fantasy team as well.
With that in mind, there are more than a few names to watch out for when drafting, but these 10 players are the type to carry you to certain victory.
10 – Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
– It’s hard to find many players in the NHL more dazzling with the puck than the slick Chicago winger. He can stick handle in a phone booth and undress a goalie from both his pads and dignity with a single move.
He was an elite scorer already, but with Brad Richards in town to center the second line and add more scoring depth, Kane could see a boost in numbers thanks to less tough minutes and he’ll obviously be one of the figureheads on the power play. Kane does it all and this year should be no different.
9 – Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
– Say hello to the #1 fantasy goalie in the league. Rask has it all: he plays on one of the most consistent offensive teams in the league in Boston and he is more than just a system goalie, continuously posting excellent save percentage and shutout numbers.
Rask Showed last year in his first full season that he’s the realest of real deals, going 36-15-6 with a .930 save percentage, 2.04 GAA and seven shutouts on his way to winning his first Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie. He’ll be near the top of every major category and the undisputed #1 goalie in your league.
8 – John Tavares, New York Islanders
– The face of the franchise on Long Island is coming off a tough year that saw his Islanders disappoint from pillar to post and saw Tavares go down to a knee injury during the Olympic break, costing him the rest of the NHL regular season.
Before that, he was contributing more than a point per game and he’ll no doubt come back motivated to not only get better individually but to raise the Islanders to a higher level. He’s on the short list of superstars in the league and he’ll be looking to join the very elite this year with a huge performance.
7 – Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
– He’s still the NHL’s undisputed goal-scoring king, but that could change as soon as this season. At 28-years-old, he’s still in his physical prime and is capable of turning on the burners and blowing by a defender or simply putting his shoulder down and going through them.
They’ll have a new system in Washington this year, but you can’t hinder his offensive talent and he still has one of the best one-timers in the game. His goal-scoring prowess alone is enough to put him near the top, but if he can find his playmaking game again, he’ll shoot up even higher on the list.
6 – Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
– After struggling out of the gate last year, Giroux finished with a bang. He still managed 28 goals after starting the season without a tally in his first 15 games and finished third in the league scoring race with 86 points.
A player as good as Giroux is won’t likely start as slowly as he did last year, new linemate or not (R.J. Umberger replaces Scott Hartnell). He’s an elite play-maker that makes his linemates better and he’s getting strong with age. At 26-years-old, this could be the year he challenges for the scoring crown.
5- Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
– Perry had one of the top years in all of hockey last year, finishing second in the league with 43 goals and fifth in scoring with 82 points. It was his finest year since 2010-11, when he scored 50 goals and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
Perry hasn’t shown a consistency as far as going at a point-per-game pace, but he’s still one of the top goal-scorers in the game, averaging 41 goals per 82 games over the last four seasons. If you get points for penalty minutes, he’s also pretty valuable. He likely won’t hit triple digits like he did for the early portion of his career, but he’s still good for 60-70 per year.
4 – Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
– When he’s on his game, there are maybe one or two players in the NHL more dangerous with the puck than Malkin. He’s got an Art Ross and a Hart Trophy in his display case and three 100-plus point seasons under his belt. Simply put: he’s one of the most talented players in the world.
The problem with Malkin, though, is that he can’t stay on the ice. He missed 22 games last year, 17 the year before (in a lockout-shortened 48-game schedule) and 39 in 2010-11. He hasn’t had a full season since 2008-09 (when he posted a career-best 113 points) and it’s hard to project whether he’ll have one anytime soon. Regardless of how many games he plays, he’s guaranteed to be one of the top scorers in the league when he’s on the ice – he still finished 15th in points last year with 72 despite missing those 22 games, putting him at around 98 points if he plays the whole year.
3 – Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks –
The other half of the two-headed Duck duo is the consistently better of the two. The runner up in the scoring race last year with 87 points, Getzlaf has a little Malkin in him: he has had just one full season under his belt since the 2008-09 season, which was also his best season as a pro (91 points).
Aside from a weird 2011-12 year that saw him post just 57 points in 82 games, he’s consistently been a point-per-game player and is the best player on a stacked Ducks outfit that now adds Ryan Kesler to the mix. Getzlaf has a strong supporting cast around him and won’t be asked to carry the load, making it easier for him to do just that. Another big year is ahead for the 29-year-old pivot playing next to Perry in Anaheim.
2 – Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
– A knee injury wrecked Stamkos’ year last year, limiting him to just 37 games and his first season in five years where he didn’t suit up for every game in Tampa Bay. Even then, he still scored 25 goals and 40 points. If that 25 goals doesn’t sound like a lot, it should astound you given his small body of work last year. That’s a 55-goal pace over the course of an 82-game season and would have won him another Rocket Richard Trophy.
The 24-year-old Stamkos is neck-and-neck with Ovechkin as the goal scoring king and might be overtaking the red-light aficionado from the nation’s capital. He has a first step that is unmatched and he’s developing a playmaking game, creating even when he can torture goalies on his own. Still, there is no one who will light the lamp more times in the coming season than the young Tampa center.
1 – Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
– Hail to the king, baby. With his injury concerns seemingly a thing of the past, “The Kid” dominated all comers last year, winning the Art Ross by 17 points. He led the league in assists with 68 helpers and still finished in the top 10 with 36 goals. Simply put, he does what he wants, when he wants and there’s not a defender in the league that can truly stop him.
At 27-years-old, he’s entering his physical prime and he’s never looked stronger. With a few more depth pieces added, he might finally have a winger that can truly compliment he and Chris Kunitz. Just think about that for a second: he’s been doing this without a truly strong complimentary winger. The sky is the limit for Crosby and he should defend his throne as the game’s top scorer.
