Fantasy Hockey Sleepers: Blues and Jets

With the calendars flipping to September and training camp just a few weeks away, fantasy hockey leagues have started 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 some may be regressing in other cases. To help you plan, this series of columns will focus on fantasy hockey sleepers, one per team in each division.

Fantasy hockey sleepers mean different things to each person. For some, it’s the hot rookie. For 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 kicked off this series looking at the Atlantic Division, which was completed last Monday. This past Wednesday, we started the Central, which will be followed by the Metro and Pacific. As noted, in each column, two teams are covered. To simplify it, we are going alphabetically by first team name rather than by nickname. The St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets are the focus of this column, completing the Central Division review.

St. Louis Blues:

Jakub Vrana finished 2019-20 as a member of the Washington Capitals with 25 goals and 27 assists in 69 games as his stat line. The future looked bright for the right winger but it started to go south beginning in 2020-21. Vrana fell out of favour in the U.S. Nation’s Capital, and despite 25 points in 39 games, Vrana found himself a healthy scratch in the press box several times.

Vrana looked like he received a new lease on life with a deadline deal with the Red Wings. He posted eight goals and three assists in 11 games and seemed prime to take a major step forward. Vrana suffered a major shoulder injury just prior to the start of the 21-22 season, limiting him to just 26 games. He managed 13 goals and six apples in that stretch and appeared to be on the upswing.

Last year, Vrana entered the player assistance program just prior to the start of the regular season, which seemed to signal an end to his tenure in Hockeytown. After suiting up in just five contests, Vrana was sent to St. Louis, a division rival. He made the most of that opportunity with 10 lamplighters and four helpers in 20 games, raising hopes that a breakout still could occur. Vrana should receive a middle-six role with power-play ice time and still has 50+ point potential if he can stay healthy and put it all together.

Keep an eye on Joel Hofer. If Jordan Binnington scuffles again, Hofer looks to be next in line between the pipes. Hofer showed signs last year of being the Blues’ future in net, that future could be now.

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Winnipeg Jets:

Cole Perfetti, selected 10th overall in 2020, missed 31 games and the last two months of the regular season with an upper-body injury. He played much of the campaign in a middle-six role but there is a chance that turns into more of a top-six assignment in 2023-24. Perfetti showed signs of being ready for a higher-level placement, notching eight goals and 22 assists with 10 of the points coming on the man-advantage in 51 games.

Kyle Connor is locked in as the top-line left winger with Alex Iafallo, acquired from LA in the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal, pencilled on the second line. Perfetti has more talent offensively than Iafallo, who has topped out at 43 points in his career and is better suited to a third-line role. In addition, with the Jets expected to be building for the future, given the rumors of Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck heading out of town at the deadline, seeing what Perfetti can do is paramount.

If Perfetti slides into the top six, a 50-point campaign is certainly feasible. Far from a fantasy hockey sleeper, but if Nikolaj Ehlers stays healthy, a 60+ point season could be in the offering. Despite the trade rumors surrounding the team, Winnipeg has talent but depth could be an issue.

Atlantic Division:

Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres

Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers

Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs

Central Division:

Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars

Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators