Just as much as there are going to be undervalued players in your fantasy hockey draft, there will be overvalued players. These are players who are ranked too high and who you should avoid drafting at those spots. Injuries, age, and changing of teams all play a part in players getting overvalued. But the big one is certainly players coming off outlier seasons where they overperformed. This is not likely to happen again. Younger players don’t fall into this category because there isn’t enough of a track record to go off of.
Examples of overvalued players who went too high in drafts last year are Nazem Kadri, Johnny Gaudreau, and Jonathan Huberdeau. All had very good seasons in 2021-22, but not only saw changes in scenery, but two of them had outlier seasons, inevitably coming back to Earth last season. We are now going to take a look at four overvalued players who fall into this category so you can avoid them where they’re ranked.
4 OverValued Players for 2023-34 Fantasy Hockey
Alex Killorn, LW, Anaheim Ducks
Alex Killorn has gone from playing in the top six on the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Anaheim Ducks. His new team finished in last place last season and only scored 209 goals. While the goals should go up considering the team upgraded a bit and will be healthier, there won’t be nearly as much talent.
Killorn might not play on the top line with Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras, and he is coming off a career year where he scored 27 goals and 64 points. Killorn is likely to drop to around 50 as he will also be 34 years old when the season starts. He might get more power-play points than did on the Lightning, but probably not a lot more even playing on the top unit.
Bo Horvat, C, New York Islanders
Bo Horvat finished last season with 38 goals and 70 points. Although it was a great season, he set career highs but declined offensively in a major way once he got to the New York Islanders. This was bound to happen since the team is naturally more defensively focused. He should get top-line duties beside a very good player in Matt Barzal. Unfortunately, even he hasn’t been able to come close to the point total from his rookie season. While Horvat had 1.1 points per game on the Vancouver Canucks last season, he dropped to 0.53 on the Islanders. He should land somewhere in between, but likely on the lower end since he’s now on the Islanders and not the Canucks. He has less of an impact fantasy-wise outside of putting up points even though he’s defensively responsible.
Linus Ullmark, G, Boston Bruins
Linus Ullmark has always shown he’s a strong goaltender, but last year was incredible. Nobody saw that season from the Boston Bruins coming, and there is a very unlikely chance they come close again. The Bruins got much weaker defensively, losing a couple of defensemen as well as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Both of their top two centermen were very good two-way players. The Bruins won’t have the fewest goals against this season and Jeremy Swayman should split the starts with Ullmark. Last year’s Vezina Trophy winner will be one of the top goalies picked. Let someone else make the mistake of thinking he can replicate a 1.89 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.
Josh Morrissey, D, Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets got worse this offseason first and foremost. They lost Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler while Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck could very well be traded before the trade deadline. Josh Morrissey will have a very difficult time repeating his performance last season. He tied for second in scoring among defensemen with 76 points and also scored 16 goals. The power play will be weaker and so will his overall support in putting up points. The 28-year-old is in his prime, but he isn’t a game-breaker who can do it by himself. His previous career high in points was 37. While I don’t see his numbers falling that low, 50-55 is a likely landing point. His points went up last season, but his hits and penalty minutes dropped.
Related: How to Construct the Best Fantasy Hockey Roster
While those are four of the most overvalued fantasy hockey players to avoid in drafts where they’re ranked, there are sure to be many more disappointments throughout the season. Be cautious of players who went to worse teams.
Got a different take on fantasy hockey’s most overvalued players? Throw some shade in the comments below.