top fantasy players thus far

[scoop 3,429]

I like the Victory Hockey Fantasy League-- rather, I like the idea of it. I'm not a huge fan of the format, but I do think what we have is probably one of the easiest ways we could run it. Could the scoring be tweaked? Maybe. Everyone is playing the same game, though. Everyone knows the scoring system going into the draft, and if you look back at past seasons, you can see what type of players are likely to get a lot of points. As much as I personally feel like my strategy is optimal, my results show that I'm no expert. I'm certainly not going to let that stop me from writing about it, especially since I don't intend this as much of an opinion piece. I'm just here to write about some of the top performing fantasy players at each position group (defense, forward, goalie).

 

Forwards

Asher Reinhart (TOR) - 4.32 fantasy points/game
It comes as no shock to me that Asher Reinhart is the number one fantasy forward despite not ranking in the top 30 in points. He does have an impressive 17 goals, but he doesn't get many fantasy points from hits. They key to Reinhart's fantasy success is the lack of defense on the Toronto roster. Reinhart has 65 shots blocked, which puts him at 15th in the league. That is a remarkable number for a forward. The addition of Rusty Knale to Toronto's roster may have a slightly negative affect on his shots blocked total, but I don't think it will be too impactful to knock him out of the top three.

 

Pekko Viitanen (SEA) - 4.30 fantasy points/game
Second among forwards is another offensive leader for a weak team in Pekko Viitanen. While he doesn't have quite the lack of support to be the fantasy star that Reinhart is, Viitanen has the advantage of playing on the second line, which is also why he shines over teammate Frank Funk Jr. Viitanen has managed an above-average number of shots blocked for a forward, but he also brings in 21 goals, 23 assists, and 73 hits to get a good bit of scoring from every stat.

 

Duncan Idaho (MOS) - 4.05 fantasy points/game
Being on a bad team can help your fantasy value quite a bit, but Duncan Idaho is showing that players on good team can get it done as well. His offensive stats are almost identital to Viitanen, with just one fewer assist, but he has more hits and fewer shots blocked. Idaho is definitely the more relevant player when it comes to the VHFL, though, as he will be on a team in every group, unlike Reinhart and Viitanen.

 

Defensemen
Zeedayno Chara (NYA) - 4.72 fantasy points/game
The top fantasy player overall, Zeedayno Chara's success should not come as a surprise. The Americans have a good offense, but it isn't one that is loaded with top-notch forwards. This gives Chara the opportunity to play a role in the offense, while also being the physical player that he is. He is first among defensemen in hits and is third overall in shots blocked. Combined that with his 30 points, and you have the best fantasy player.

 

Matty Socks (CHI) - 4.63 fantasy points/game
Similar to the forwards, the second best defenseman is someone who is better offensively than the player ahead of him. Socks has 12 goals and 24 points, which puts him near the top of all defensemen offensively, but he edges out those peers with his respectable hit and shots blocked totals. His offensive stats have not quite been enough for him to match Chara, but the gap between those two is much smaller than the one between Socks and the the next best fantasy players.

 

Victor Grachev (WAR) - 4.30 fantasy points/game
Third among defensemen, and fourth overall, is Victor Grachev. He very much fits the mold of the type of defenseman you want to look at when drafting: he's physical, he's on a team that's not too good that his shots blocked will suffer, and the forwards on his team aren't too good to keep him off of the score sheet. Grachev isn't a leader in any stats, but he is all-around a good fantasy player as a phsyical defensemen who contributes to his team's offense.

 

Rusty Knale (TOR) - 4.42 fantasy points/game
I'm including a fourth defensemen because he demonstrates how defense rules fantasy. He joined the Toronto Legion in the middle of the season, but his third-highest fantasy points-per-game has him on pace to finish below just four forwards. Rusty Knale is not a particularly good player, but had he been on Toronto's roster at the beginning of the season, he would have been an easy selection for a fantasy team. The only real issue with him as a fantasy player is that his stock could drastically decrease if Toronto were to decide to sign several other defensemen of his caliber.

 

Goalies
Markus Emerson Jr. (VAN) - 3.78 fantasy points/start
Markus Emerson Jr. benefits from being on a very good team that still sees him facing a lot of shots each game. Don't get me wrong, he has been a very good goalie, earning 22 wins despite facing more than 40 shots-per-game. He has been the standout goalie as far as the fantasy world is concerned, but to be completely honest, there is not a great deal of separation among goalies.

 

Artem Tretiak (MAL) - 3.51 fantasy points/start

One of two goalies with multiple shutouts, Artem Tretiak ranks second in fantasy points-per-start among regular starting goalies. Although his save percentage is just a few points behind Emerson, Tretiak doesn't face as many shots, and Malmo hasn't been winning games at quite the same rate as they did a season ago.

 

Trent Gibson (HEL) / Aksu Maronen (SEA) - 3.41 / 3.39 fantasy points/start
I don't feel like discussing Trent Gibson and Aksu Maronen separately, but they are both worth mentioning as they represent a different type of fantasy goalie. These are the "not-great goalies who face a lot of shots and therefore make a lot of saves." Saves along aren't worth enough for these guys to be the top goalies, but they are reliable picks.

 

 

 

1037 words; for weeks ending 10/3 and 10/10

[Baby Boomer 727]

9/10 

Wow great article, this is very helpful and nice to see. We can see that you did a lot of research and that you spent a lot of time doing this text. It is very well written and nice to read.

[fromtheinside 1,290]

This is an awesome article, great stuff homie!

[Beaviss 4,957]

Review: Good article and it has a nice added touch of the colors of each team. I learned a decent amount throughout the article by finding out I suck even harder than I thought at VHFL. Good read 8/10

 

[MetalToday 266]

I liked this article, interesting that Pekko Viitanen is only second line with those numbers, I like the in-depth stats and why they are playing so good. I think you should include where you found these fantasy stats as I do not know where to find them lol. I think its interesting that some of the top players have not been taken in my league, but upsetting I decided not to take socks lol. I find it easy to read with the color scheme and the subtitles. However I love this article because I have 2 players on this list, just wish I had more lol. 9/10