Let’s talk sleepers. We’re not talking fantasy hockey sleepers for 10- and 12-team public leagues. We’re talking deep-league sleepers. Leagues of 16-24 (or even 32) teams are becoming more and more common. Rosters have become larger, often seeing proper 23-player rosters. As a consequence, player pools are more and more depleted.
You’re going to need to do more research. Dig deeper into NHL rosters, and training camp notes to find lesser-known names. , names that carry real potential to come out of nowhere.
Most folks when they do a fantasy draft have a player or two up their sleeve hoping he’s not on anyone else’s radar. Drafting a sleeper no one else has on their list carries significant allure. Those sleeper picks are a big reason drafts are so much fun. You can double on that fun when that little-known name blows up into the sleeper success story of the year.
In most of the shallower, 10 or 12-team pools, the GMs have similar names on their draft board. With more information available every year those fantasy hockey sleepers aren’t the same as they used to be.
I’ll do my best to avoid those names. The names listed here will target pools in the 14-20 team range.
Without further ado, here are five deep-league sleepers to consider for your draft.
5 Deep-League Sleepers for 2023-24 Fantasy Hockey
Oliver Kylington – D – Calgary Flames
This selection feels a little fringe as far as deep league sleeper goes. He did put up a .42-point per-game pace in 2021-2022.
Then a couple of things happened. First, Calgary traded for Mackenzie Weegar. Second, Kylington missed all 2022-2023 due to injury. The interest in Kylington has faded. In some pools he won’t be a sleeper, in others he’s on the periphery and could be available.
There is solid upside if you happen to nab him. He may start slow, knocking the rust off. This might open up a window in some pools to pluck him off the waiver wire.
A couple of years ago there was a debate between Kylington, Andersson, and Jusso Valimaki. There was a division on which was the higher ceiling prospect. Experts flip-flopped between Kylington, Andersson & Jusso Valimaki. While it may not happen this year, Kylington does have 50-point potential.
If you’re searching for a defenseman to round out your line-up, you could do worse than Kylington. There is a legitimate chance he hits double-digit goals and breaks 40 points.
Ty Dellandrea – RW – Dallas Stars
With 109 games under his belt and the signing of Matt Duchene, this sleeper pick might be a year too early. Duchene appears to have pushed Dellandrea down the lineup. That said, Dellandrea started to find chemistry with Tyler Seguin. Having Seguin as your third-line center isn’t the end of the world.
Picked 13th in 2018, the spotlight on Dellandrea has faded over the past couple of years. His ascension to becoming an NHL regular has taken longer than fantasy owners prefer to wait. Owners lose interest.
If he sticks with Seguin as his center he could see 50 points on the third line. Without exposure to the first power play unit, it is hard to think he can give fantasy owners much more than this. He has a lot to prove in training camp. The Stars are a deep team. He isn’t assured of a spot on the second unit right now either.
This will push him down draft boards and off many. The offensive pedigree is there but he’ll have to bully his way up the lineup. Nothing is going to be handed to him.
Henry Thrun – D – San Jose Sharks
It is rare to look at an NHL roster and have no clue who the defenseman will be on the first power-play unit. Well, that is exactly the situation we have here.
In the last two off-seasons, the Sharks have traded Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns. They have no obvious replacement on the power play.
Selecting Thrun is a big risk. He’s not even assured an opening night roster spot. Fresh out of Harvard there’s a 50-50 chance he spends, at the least, the start of the season in the AHL.
Let’s take a quick look at the other options; Mario Ferarro, Matt Benning, and Jan Rutta. None of these names scream power play. Thrun did not look out of place in the few games he played to end the 2022-2023 season. He’s still a dark horse though.
He wasn’t the most dominant defenseman for Harvard, but he’s solid and can run a power play. It’s hard to predict any defenseman putting up much more than 40 points for the Sharks.
Pavel Dorofeyev – RW – Vegas Golden Knights
Some players just give you a guttural feeling. Dorofeyev is one of those for me. There’s something about his game that grabs me.
Keep an eye on training camp as his spot in the lineup is not secured. He should land on the third line to start the year. It’ll be interesting to see who his center is though. He split time with William Karlsson and Nicolas Roy. Although at 5-on-5, I don’t suspect his offense will be affected much either way.
The real key is injuries. Mark Stone has missed regular time over the last couple of years. His skill set should give him first crack at an injury replacement in the top six.
The one, basic marker I look for with first and second-year players is shots per game. I steer away from forwards that can’t produce over two shots per game early in their career. In 18 games, Dorofeyev had 40, for 2.2 per game. The key will be for him to make 2.2 his shots per game floor and push to 3 per game, which translates to 246.
Forty points seems like a solid benchmark in what should be his first full NHL season. Given the opportunity, he could push past 50.
Wade Allison – RW – Philadelphia Flyers
He’s been a personal favorite prospect of mine for the last three years. Hampered by injuries, it’s been hard to gauge his potential.
His real value is in leagues that count hits. He’ll give owners there over two to three hits per game and close to a block per game. In college, he was close to a point per game player. Before his call up he had 17 points in 28 games, or .61 points per game.
As I mentioned while discussing Dorofeyev, my main flag with forwards is shots per game. With 89 in 60 games, he only averaged 1.5 per game. Over 82 games that’s 124 shots; that’s not going to cut it. He doesn’t have to jump to 3 per game this year, but I’d be content with a bump to 1.8 or 1.9 per game.
When I think of stat line comparisons I think of Lawson Crouse. A big hitter that doesn’t take huge penalty minutes, but can give you 40-50 points. It might take Allison a year or two to hit 50, but 35-45 this year, don’t count him out.
In deep multi-cat leagues, that’s a great 4th line option.
Some of these deep sleeper options could double off as short-term streamer options when they get hot. Food for thought.
I’ll leave you with two bonus names and a quick comment on each.
Alexandre Texiere – RW – Columbus Blue Jackets
It wasn’t that long ago he was a fantasy hockey darling. After taking a hiatus in 2022-2023 to play closer to his family, the expectation is he’ll return to the Blue Jackets. We keep waiting for him to pop. Hopefully, the reasons for taking leave have been resolved, and positively. There’s a deep, low-percentage chance Texiere goes off and busts through 50 points.
Matthew Phillips – RW – Washington Capitals
This is more a hope than a reality. He was a deep-dive prospect I picked up a few years ago. All he has done is produce points at every level. Last year, there was a lot of chatter that he just needed a real opportunity. We won’t dive into the politics of Calgary not playing rookies last year. Rumors are Washington is looking for an offensive forward. If only he could get a legitimate opportunity and run with it. Odds are he gets bottom-six minutes and doesn’t play a full year. The hope is he steals a roster spot and goes off. If you’re desperate, take a run at him.
Give me a follow on Twitter @doylelb4 where you’ll find as many hiking musings as you will fantasy hockey.
Also check out these late-round bargains for more traditional 10-12 team leagues.