20 Fantasy Thoughts: Hellebuyck puts bow on season for the ages

Only a select few have ever rivalled what Connor Hellebuyck has done this season. 

The Winnipeg Jets goaltender has always been one of the league’s top netminders, but at age 31, he’s managed to take his game to an even greater level. Hellebuyck is a lock for the Vezina and may very well get real consideration for the Hart Trophy. He ranks first in almost every significant statistical category for goalies, including games played, wins, save percentage, shutouts, goals against average and goals saved above expected. 

If you’re a frequent reader of my fantasy hockey content, you know I’m a big proponent of the Zero-G strategy. It’s the idea that you should almost never draft a goalie high because the position is so volatile, and you can often find very capable options much later in your drafts or even on waivers. Logan Thompson, Joey Daccord and Mackenzie Blackwood are great examples this season. Conversely, you can almost never do this with skaters. It would be almost impossible to find someone with comparable value to Brayden Point, let’s say, in the 11th or 12th round. Using your early picks on skaters is always safer, in my opinion. 

That said, sometimes grabbing a goalie early does pay off if he plays so much better than his peers, and this year, Hellebuyck has certainly done that. He has 46 wins, and if you consider that a typical weekly head-to-head league has 21 weeks in a season, Hellebuyck, on average, was giving you more than two wins per week. His eight shutouts are the most by anyone since 2021-22 and he’s had so few poor starts that if you’re rostering Hellebuyck, there’s a good chance you won more than half the goalie categories each week. 

What’s made Hellebuyck’s campaign even more special is how he finished it. It’s not uncommon for top players to lose value in the final week or two of the fantasy playoffs for rest, but thankfully, Hellebuyck has still been featured as Winnipeg worked towards locking down the Central Division and top spot in the Western Conference. Hellebuyck faced the red-hot St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars this week, posting a pair of wins and allowing just a single goal over the two games. Then on Saturday, it wasn’t a perfect outing by any means as the Jets started slowly against the Chicago Blackhawks and Hellebuyck gave up a couple he probably would’ve liked to have back, but he still ultimately picked up win No. 46 and made some big saves along the way. 

He’s been in peak form from nearly start to finish, and it’s hard to play the position much better than Hellebuyck has this season.

1. There hasn’t been too much to smile about for Boston Bruins fans this season, but Morgan Geekie has been a bright spot, having found some chemistry with David Pastrnak and hitting the 30-goal mark. Geekie also provides some value for faceoff wins and hits, so mark him down as a potential late-round pick next season in multi-cat leagues. 

2. It’s been a mostly disappointing season for Elias Lindholm, but he is closing strong with six points in his past five games. The Bruins’ top line of Lindholm, Geekie and Pastrnak has been clicking lately. If Lindholm was a buy-low last year, he’ll be even more so this September in drafts. You might even be able to snag him with one of your final few picks. 

3. Jeremy Swayman was on his way to a decent outing Thursday before the Blackhawks scored on all four of their third-period shots. One was into an empty net, but the damage to Swayman’s numbers was already done. Quality starts for the Bruins netminder have been few and far between this season. 

4. Mason Marchment is now up to 14 points in his past 15 games as the Dallas Stars forward enjoys a strong finish to the season. Marchment is only 38 per cent rostered because he definitely will go through some cold stretches as well, but the key with him is getting in on the ground floor for one of his hot streaks. 

5. The regular season concludes on Thursday, and unless you’re in a roto league, your fantasy campaign is probably over, but it’s worth noting Los Angeles and Detroit are the only teams that play three times next week. If you’re still adding players, look in their direction. 

6. The Florida Panthers have been missing a ton of key players over the past couple of weeks. Some have injuries, and some are just getting a rest from wear and tear, so that’s why I always like ending any head-to-head fantasy leagues in the week prior to this one. NHL playoff races are dwindling, too, and as teams have less and less to play for, they’ll start resting more players. 

7. I remember people saying not to overreact to the two games Lane Hutson played at the end of last season when he looked very impressive. Now he may very well win the Calder. We should get a longer look at Ivan Demidov, who has a ton of hype around him right now, with the Montreal Canadiens likely heading to the playoffs. Post-season usage and how Demidov performs in those games can give you a good idea of how Montreal will likely plan to deploy him next year, but either way, I think he will get drafted a lot earlier than people expect in one-year leagues.

8. Zayne Parekh is another name to keep an eye on. He posted a whopping 107 points in 61 games in junior as a defenceman this season and now joins the Calgary Flames to close out their campaign. With Zeev Buium likely heading to the Minnesota Wild as well, there are now a handful of young players to watch in the final games of the regular season and into the playoffs that may be assets in fantasy. 

9. Karel Vejmelka has now made an incredible 23 starts in a row. His numbers have been very up and down, but his value probably lies in the roster flexibility he gives you. Vejmelka could theoretically be the only goalie you roster full time, given how often he plays, and then you could just spot start others as needed, while leaving more room for skaters. 

10. It’s safe to say that the bounce-back campaign never came for Matty Beniers. The more I watch him, the more I wonder if he ends up being a solid two-way player that has more value to the Seattle Kraken than he does to the fantasy hockey world. 

11. One player I’m targeting next year in drafts is Cutter Gauthier. I was impressed with how the Anaheim Ducks forward played in the second half of the season and Gauthier started to look more and more comfortable as the campaign went along. Gauthier has tallied 21 of his 43 points this year in the past 24 games and has scored five times in the past three. 

12. Don’t look now, but the Buffalo Sabres have become a wagon down the stretch. Winners of eight of their past 11 — including victories over the likes of Carolina, Tampa, Washington and Winnipeg — the Sabres are suddenly filling the net and have 47 goals over this stretch. This has all come with James Reimer getting a bunch of playing time, and he’s won seven of his past eight starts, with spectacular numbers overall. To put that into perspective, Reimer had just two wins all season prior to this run. 

13. Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek made their returns from injury this week and feasted on the San Jose Sharks, but unfortunately, it was likely too late for most fantasy leagues. It’s been a frustrating year when it comes to both, but especially for Eriksson Ek. The Minnesota Wild forward has only played 45 games this season and has spent multiple stints on the injured reserve. The multi-cat star never really got going this year. 

14. It sounds like Brock Boeser is unlikely to return to the Vancouver Canucks. A change of scenery may or may not be to Boeser’s benefit, depending on where he lands, given all that’s gone on in Vancouver this year. Boeser never got close to the 40 goals he sniped last year, as J.T. Miller was traded away during the year and Elias Pettersson struggled with consistency and injuries. A best-case scenario for Boeser would be to join a squad with a reliable No. 1 centre. 

15. Kiefer Sherwood is going to finish with more than 450 hits and possibly 20 goals. Be careful of overdrafting next fall, as the offence could come down because of a higher shooting percentage than normal for Sherwood. Hits are tougher to predict year over year, but Sherwood should still be one of the best in that area even if his totals drop slightly from the astronomical amounts he delivered this season. 

16. I mentioned keeping an eye on Andrei Kuzmenko a couple of weeks ago when he picked up a few points, but I didn’t think he’d be this productive. Kuzmenko is now up to 16 points in his past 12 games and has really found a perfect spot with Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar. As mentioned earlier, the Kings are one of only two teams that play three times next week, so grab Kuzmenko if he’s still available. 

17. We probably aren’t giving Darcy Kuemper enough praise for the way he’s played. It’s not easy joining a new team as a goalie at age 34 and performing well, even one as strong as the Kings, but Kuemper has easily exceeded expectations. He just went 15 games without allowing more than two goals, and he owns the third-best save percentage in the NHL.

18. Where do you draft Matthew Knies next season? He has a chance to finish with close to 30 goals and 200 hits on the year, and there just aren’t that many players like him. A lot depends on what happens in Toronto this summer. If Mitch Marner stays and that top trio sticks together, Knies will be someone to target high in drafts for leagues that count hits. We’ve seen players be productive next to Marner and Auston Matthews but none that bring the physicality and have the ceiling of Knies. 

19. If you’re someone already making notes for next year, put Marco Kasper on your radar. He’s likely going to be a mainstay in the Detroit Red Wings’ top six in the future, has notched 18 goals this season as a 21-year-old and is piling up the hits. Kasper is only scratching the surface. 

20. It was awesome to see Gabriel Landeskog back in action this week. We still don’t know where this is going to lead or if Landeskog is going to eventually make it back to the NHL full time, but this was a great first step. The dedication to work himself back after almost three years is quite something. Here’s hoping we see him in the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring.

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