It’s almost time to kick off the fantasy hockey season. As most of us prepare for our drafts by seeking out every expert mock-draft and projection we can find, we often overlook many of what makes a fantasy hockey team successful.
Nearly any hockey fan can select a Sidney Crosby or Steven Stamkos in the first round. Most of us are smart enough to know that Erik Karlsson is by far the most productive defenseman or that Henrik Lundqvist or Carey Price will play a lot and provide excellent goaltending statistics.
The mistake even the most knowledgeable hockey fan makes during a fantasy draft is over-thinking in the later rounds. Too often we get seduced by the highly touted rookie who will usually be a boy playing among men, or the injury-prone forward who has superstar potential if he would just stay healthy, only to be disappointed and left looking upward from our position in the standings.
This season, I propose a different late-round strategy. There are several well-established players who can provide good value outside the first few rounds. They have proven to be consistent, productive and all have a certain upside as well. For various reasons, many of these players are not “sexy” picks and thus fall farther down the draft board than they should.
If you can snag a few of these players, you’d be complementing your star players with a good amount of depth and still retain some of the upside needed to win your fantasy hockey league.
Here are my top 10 most undervalued players in fantasy hockey for the 2014-15 season.