Fantasy Hockey Sleepers: Atlantic Division – Bruins And Sabres

With the calendars flipping to September and training camp just a few weeks away, fantasy hockey leagues start to schedule their drafts. Hopefully, you have been keeping up with the off-season moves, rookies added and players looking to take a step forward, while in other cases, some maybe regressing. As a way to help you plan, this series of columns will focus one one fantasy sleeper per team in each division.

Fantasy sleepers mean different things to each person. For some, it’s the hot rookie. Others it’s those who will take a step forward. Some view them as prior year players or acquisitions in new situations enabling that individual to exceed projections or their initial role. For purposes of this series of columns, the focus will mainly be on the latter – those who have a chance to surpass expectations or prior production. I welcome feedback, criticism, thoughts, etc., as one man’s meat is another man’s poison and your view may differ vastly from mine.

We kick off this series looking at the Atlantic Division, which will be followed by the Central, Metro and Pacific. In each column, two teams will be covered. To make it easy, we will go alphabetically by first team name rather than by nickname. In our initial foray, the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres are discussed.

Boston Bruins:

Last year’s President’s Trophy winner has undergone substantive upheaval this offseason. Long-time Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron and second-line center David Krejci retired, leaving a massive gap down the middle. Boston is rumored to be in on Mark Scheifele, presuming Winnipeg deals the top-line pivot, as well as the Elias Lindholm trade mix with Calgary, but if a deal is not consummated, someone has to dress as the top-two pivotmen.

Pavel Zacha, acquired before last season from the Devils, saw a significant spike in production, as he went from 15 goals and 21 assists to 21 and 35, respectively. Currently, he is slated to open the season as the B’s top-line center, which should result in an uptick in output. The player, though, that I want to focus on is Charlie Coyle.

After scoring 16 goals and 44 points in 82 games during the 2021-22 season, he posted 16 goals and 45 points in the same number of games last season. With Bergeron and Krejci no longer in the picture, Coyle moves up the center pecking order in Boston. He is scheduled to man the second-line pivot, affording him additional ice time both at even-strength and on the man-advantage. The rise in each, coupled with skating with more talented wingers, should enable Coyle to increase his output.

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Buffalo Sabres:

The Sabres took a step forward last season and the future most certainly looks bright. After taking major flak over the Jack Eichel situation and ultimate trade, the deal has benefitted both teams. Similar can be said for the Ryan O’Reilly–Tage Thompson trade now that Thompson has blossomed into a major scorer.

Bufalo’s pipeline has started to bear fruit. Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens both took significant steps forward in 2022-23. We saw glimpses of just how good Owen Power should be, the same with John-Jason Peterka. Zach Benson, drafted this year, and Matthew Savoie, a 2022 first-round pick, are rated as top prospects and should be joined by Noah Ostlund who should get the chance to contribute over the next year or so.

The big question is who will be between the pipes. As seen above, Buffalo has the horses to swing a big trade if Connor Hellebuyck or someone of that ilk becomes available. Presuming the team does not go that route, three goalies – Devon Levi, Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – could get a shot at filling the bill in net. If Buffalo is smart though, one netminder – who proved his worth at Northeastern University and in a cup of coffee last year at the highest level should be given the chance to run with the role.

Levi went 17-12-5 with a 2.24 goals against average (GAA) and .933 save percentage (SV%) last season in college. He was even better in 2021-22, notching a 21-10-1 record with a 1.54 GAA and sublime .962 SV%. Levi did not look out of place in the NHL in his short stint last season, going 5-2-0 with a 2.94 GAA and .905 SV%, rebounding after any rough appearances to stone the next opponent. He will have growing pains and may be viewed as slightly undersized, but his pedigree and talent make him the team’s netminder of the future and that clock should start now.