Fantasy Hockey Sleepers: Pacific Division: Oilers and Kings

With the calendars closing out September and training camps underway, 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 by looking at the Atlantic Division, then discussing the Central Division — each of which was completed. We moved on to the Metro Division review, which now is being followed by the Pacific. As noted, two teams are covered in each column. To simplify it, we are going alphabetically by first team name rather than by nickname. We continue our Pacific Division review by covering Edmonton and Los Angeles in this column.

Edmonton Oilers

Where will Connor Brown play? A torn ACL last year limited to Brown to just four scoreless games in Washington after two subpar seasons in Ottawa. Brown inked a one-year, $4 million deal with Edmonton this offseason.

Why would Brown sign with the Oilers? That’s easy; Connor McDavid, that’s why. But it’s not just the chance to play with McDavid, but it’s the chance to potentially on a line with his former junior teammate and rejuvenate his career.

Presuming Brown’s knee is fully sound, if he sticks to the right of McDavid, well…you can fill in the rest. That upside potential makes him a very sound possible sleeper pick. Calling Evan Bouchard a sleeper pick doesn’t work, as he took a major step forward after Tyson Barrie was dealt to Nashville and showed in the playoffs how much of a scoring threat he is.

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Los Angeles Kings

Quinton Byfield was the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, but he has yet to live up to that lofty selection status. He split time last season between the AHL and NHL, failing to dominate at the upper level. Byfield’s usage and deployment did him little favors last season.

Blessed with size and speed — coupled with his high draft pick status — Byfield will get every chance to succeed. He looks to be penciled in on the top line next to Anze Kopitar to start the season. If he can’t succeed there, then the concern level will rise dramatically. Kevin Fiala is waiting behind him and we call know what he can do offensively.

On the blue line, Drew Doughty is still the man, rebounding for a few down years to post 52 points last season. Brandt Clarke spent most of last season with the OHL’s Barrie Colts, playing nine games in the NHL. With Sean Durzi now in Arizona, a full-time lineup spot awaits Clarke. He likely will be eased into action, seeing third-line duty and second-unit power play action, but his offensive upside warrants a look.

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

St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets

Metropolitan Division:

Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets

New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders

New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals

Pacific Division:

Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames