Fantasy Hockey Last Minute Draft Tips

It's nearing the end of summer and you need your hockey fix. Training camps started in the third week of September and fantasy pool drafts have been taking place since then. There is no better day in the year than Fantasy Draft Day. It's an adult version of Christmas. It's tough falling asleep the night before and you look forward to the day for weeks. Each player you pick is like a present, some turn out to be a ten-speed bike you ride with joy for a decade, while others are like the ugly sweater you get from your aunt on Christmas.

Rule No. 1 - Center Caution, Goalies Worth Gold, Stockpile D

Here are some tips to rely on during your draft. I'm going to start out with some strategies for all pools. You can wait to take your centers in pools that distinguish centers, left wingers and right wingers. Now, if you are picking in the first five, definitely take Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews. Those picks are no-brainers. But if any of those players are not available…wait! There are so many good centers that can be drafted in later rounds (Robert Thomas comes to mind from last season), that you are better off taking goaltenders, defensemen and wingers, and filling out that part of your roster before grabbing a center. Trust me, there will be plenty available.

I like taking goaltenders first. There are not too many that you can count on every year and that will be a big advantage as most pools have goaltending as 25-40 percent of the categories and you only need two or three to fill out your roster, rather than the six forwards and four defensemen. That gives you a big advantage most years, taking stars like Igor Shesterkin, Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

I always try to take a defenseman in the second round, a strategy that gives me a top-notch goalie and defenseman. I also prefer taking a couple of more blueliners by the sixth round. While it will look like the team is weak at forward, there are so many good forwards remaining to fill out your squad, unlike the blue line, where the number of offensive defensemen is limited. It's all about positional scarcity. 

Rule No. 2 -- Advice for Daily Leagues

If you are playing a daily transaction league, it is more important to watch the schedule than ever. The NHL plays a heavy schedule on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday during most weeks of the season. That's where a bulk of your points will accumulate. It is always good near the end of your draft to look not only at good players but also at who is playing for teams like Anaheim, the Rangers and Islanders, teams that play a lot of Sunday games. Troy Terry had 54 points in 76 games last season, while Ryan O'Reilly had 69 points in 82 games. But Terry was likely more valuable in a daily transaction league as he had three goals and 11 points in 16 Sunday games, while O'Reilly had a goal and three assists in six games. This season, the Ducks play 17 Sunday games while the Predators play only five.

Staying with daily transaction leagues, don't be afraid to take the backup goaltender on a good team late in the draft. The Rangers led the NHL with 114 points last season. I had Igor Shesterkin as my No. 1 goaltender and then took Jonathan Quick late. Quick started 26 games in 2023-24, going 18-6-2 with a 2.62 GAA and a .911 save percentage. He was instrumental in helping win plenty of weeks with his stats as he averaged playing once a week.

Rule No. 3 -- Bounce-back Years

Don't underestimate taking good players who were injured the previous year. Patrick Kane only played 50 games in 2023-24 but still managed 47 points (a .94 points-per-game pace). He was tied for 142nd in points but was 57th in points per game. That's a big help if he manages to play a full season. Kyle Connor was similar as he has always been a big points producer, but injuries limited him to 61 points in only 65 games last season.

Rule No. 4 - Auction League Advice

In auction leagues, the best strategy is to bid high and low. Pay a lot for a couple of the best players, take some in the $25-30 range and then wait for all the bargains at the end of the draft (trust me there will be bargains). I like leaving about $25 to take my last eight players. If you are playing in a deep, deep league and drafting 300-400 players, there will still be 300-400 players remaining after the draft is done. That is a huge free-agent pool and you will definitely get some hot players in the first few weeks to replace some of your less productive cheaper players. Make sure you select a great goaltender and defenseman -- like I stated earlier. Go after better defensemen and get cheaper forwards near the end. There were 39 forwards between 50-60 points last season, leaving you with plenty of choices near the end of most drafts.

Rule No. 5 -- Don't Overlook Hits/Blocks

In roto-leagues, where you play between 8-10 (or more) categories, realize that every category is just as important as any other category. Winning goals is the same as finishing first in hits, blocks or plus/minus (whatever categories you play). Some teams will go all out to win goals and assists and forget about the other categories. Don't do that. If you play plus/minus and have the choice near the end of the draft of two or three players, take the player on the better team.

Rule No. 6 - Breakout Candidates

In most pools, I like taking second or third-year players who were drafted very high and had a tough time their first year or two in the NHL. Alexis Lafreniere is a perfect example. He was selected first overall by the Rangers in 2020 and had three tough seasons to begin his career. But last year, he finally broke out, picking up 28 goals and 29 assists. Expect a lot more this season. Breakout candidates this season are Juraj Slafkovsky, Mason McTavish, Dylan Guenther, Wyatt Johnson, Logan Cooley, Shane Wright and David Jiricek, to name a few. Not all of them will work out, but you should be able to select two or three who will perform well above their draft spot.

Best of luck to everyone playing fantasy hockey this season.