The next team in the 2023 Fantasy Hockey Sleeper series is the Winnipeg Jets to close out the Central Division. This team is going to be interesting as they made the playoffs last season with the help of some good players but changed their look around quite a bit. The moves don’t seem to be done just yet for the retooling Jets either. This will greatly impact certain players’ fantasy hockey values.
There are specific players that, if others are traded before the season or mid-season, will get a massive bump. Coming off of strong seasons, let’s see if these sleepers on the Jets can repeat success in larger roles and with even more opportunity. The Jets have the type of lineup that can change around quite a bit this season. Here are three fantasy hockey sleepers to keep an eye on in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Jets Sleepers for 2023-24 Fantasy Hockey
Cole Perfetti
Cole Perfetti earned a spot in the top-nine on the Jets last season without question but missed 31 games. This, of course, hurt his chances at the Calder Trophy and really putting up big numbers. He did, in fact, score eight goals and 30 points though, solid for a first-year contributor. The Jets acquired Alex Iafallo, Gabe Vilardi, and Rasmus Kupari in the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal, and it impacts Perfetti in that two of the three will likely get second-line roles ahead of him.
Perfetti is the future and will be the first one to get a bump up to the top six if Mark Scheifele and/or Nino Niederreiter are traded. I would argue that he can even earn a spot on the wing to start the season ahead of Niederreiter. This could spread out the scoring as well. With Blake Wheeler and Dubois gone, Perfetti could also see an uptick in power-play time. He was able to record five points last season without the benefit of playing on the top unit. I believe he will avoid the sophomore slump and come back strong from his injury.
Gabe Vilardi
Vilardi was likely the piece the Jets were most happy to get in the Dubois deal after a breakout season. Unfortunately, his season was cut short by 19 games, or we would have been able to see the full extent of the breakout. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old put up 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games in what we can only assume was his last real chance on the Los Angeles Kings. It turned out that it was his final season anyway, but he vastly improved his value.
Last season Vilardi was one of the best waiver wire pickups you could find throughout the season. He played on the wing the majority of the time, so there is some uncertainty with him likely centering the second line. While his faceoff percentage isn’t good, that will be something that is worked on. We have to assume that he plays the full season for the Jets and is able to come close to 25-30 goals and 60 points. He’ll have a sizable role on the team this season.
Laurent Brossoit
The Jets made a smart move in bringing back Laurent Brossoit to the place where he found the most success in his career. After moving on to the Vegas Golden Knights, he kind of got lost in the shuffle. This was especially true when he started on the injured reserve and had to play games in the AHL. He found his way back later in the season and went 7-0-3 with a 2.17 GAA and .927 SV%. He also got in some playoff games, but his stats weren’t as good.
Brossoit proved that he is still a very capable goaltender last season though. Playing behind Connor Hellebuyck, fantasy hockey rankings won’t have Brossoit very high. There is a good chance that Hellebuyck gets traded mid-season. This means there will be a good amount of games down the stretch for the current backup, Brossoit. He will provide starts and wins if no goalie comes back in the probable trade.
Related: 2023 Fantasy Hockey Team Preview: Washington Capitals
The Jets are a team with some interesting players and options that could really help your fantasy hockey team. With the uncertainty of how the season will go, these sleepers are some solid options to keep in mind later in the draft and on the waiver wire.
Make sure to check out all of the sleepers and breakouts of the 2023 fantasy hockey season!