As part of Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit, Geoff Ulrich has broken down his Fantasy Hockey Sleepers for 2024:

Last week, we released the full Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit for 2024, which included overall ranks for the top 150 players.

A lot of those top players will get tons of exposure and analysis before the season begins, making the edge in drafting in those early rounds a little harder to exploit. The good news is that the NHL is an 82-game marathon and having depth on your roster, and knowing which players to target in the late rounds in drafts-–and on waivers during the season-–can provide a huge advantage as the season wears on. 

Before we jump into it today, be sure to check out our positional rankings for the following:

Today we’re going to focus exclusively on those late-round sleepers who have the upside to potentially blow their draft-day ADPs (Average Draft Positions) out of the water this year and return some great fantasy value.

Sleepers for Fantasy Hockey 2024

Morgan Frost, C, Philadelphia Flyers (Yahoo ADP: 294)

Frost is a creative, playmaking center entering his fourth season with the Philadelphia Flyers. He’s averaged around .56 ppg over the last two seasons but has bounced around the lineup a lot, often taking on a lower-six role for games at a time.

When he has been given top six minutes Frost has shown the upside to dramatically improve and potentially even become a point-per-game player. Last year he set career highs with 11 power-play points and 3 power-play goals, and looks set to start the year on the top PP unit for the Flyers, while also playing in between talented rookie Matvei Michkov and 28-goal scorer Owen Tippett.

Frost averaged 1.76 ppg in his last two years of junior and with Sean Courerier anchoring the top line, the undersized center should have a shot to excel against other teams' second units and outperform his ADP this season.

Fabian Zetterlund, W, San Jose Sharks (Yahoo ADP: 344)

The Sharks lineup looks a lot better this season. That’s what happens when you get consecutive top picks in the NHL draft, and one of them turns out to be the number one overall pick.

Playing alongside Macklin Celebrini, Zetterlund should be in a spot to post career numbers this season. He finished last year with a bang, scoring 12 points in his last 13 games and eight goals over his last 18 games (0.44).

Still just 25, the former third-round draft pick has shown the ability to excel against top competition and will undoubtedly be playing on a much deeper roster than he was last season. Despite all the positives and the fact he’s the Sharks' first-line winger, he’s still available very late in drafts and a player who looks poised to put up some career numbers.

Viktor Arvidsson, W, Edmonton Oilers (Yahoo ADP: 159)

Arvidsson isn’t necessarily that deep of a sleeper, as anyone who plays in the Oilers' top six forwards is going to get a lot of attention. Still, the former King and Predator is going deeper in drafts than fellow free agent signee Jeff Skinner and offers some good upside at his current valuation.

Arvidsson is a shooter at heart and is very good at getting pucks on net at 5v5, averaging 3.18 shots on goal per game between 2021-22 to 2022-23 with the Kings. He may not get a ton of power play time given the increased depth for the Oilers at forward this season, but he’s never been overly reliant on special team exposure to produce points or goals.

Playing alongside an elite playmaker like Leon Draisaitl (or McDavid if lines get juggled) there is serious potential for him to hit the 30-goal plateau again (something he’s done twice) and potentially even push for a career year.

Kevin Lankinen, G, Vancouver Canucks (Yahoo ADP: 320)

It’s become quite clear that Thatcher Demko (knee) is not going to be in the plans for the Canucks to start the season, and the potential for a much longer absence exists. A lot of people are looking at last year’s playoff hero Arturs Silovs to carry the load while Demko is gone, but the recent signing of Kevin Lankinen kills that theory for me. 

Lankinen has never been an established starter, but has put together stints as a solid backup in Chicago and Nashville. Still just 29, Lankinen even outperformed Jusse Saros in Nashville for small stretches and has a SV% over .910 over the last two years.

Vancouver was a solid defensive club last year and with Silovs having such a small sample size of pro play, it’s Lankinen who may be the Canuck goalie to own early in the year and provide the best rate of return. 

Other Names to Watch:

  • Tommy Novak, C, Nashville Predators
  • Sean Durzi, D, Utah Hockey Club
  • Juraj Slafkovsky, W, Montreal Canadiens

Deep Sleepers for Fantasy Hockey 2024

Justus Annunen, G, Colorado Avalanche (Yahoo ADP: 310)

The Avalanche are riding with Russian Alexandar Georgiev again in net and the 28-year-old has produced back-to-back seasons with 38 or more wins. Georgiev’s play did dip last year, however, as he was far less efficient than he was in 2022-23, posting just a .897 SV% on the season (vs .919 the year prior). Georgiev has played a lot of hockey the last two seasons and has had patches where he was likely overworked, which led to bad play.

That should lead to more starts for Justus Annunen, who was stellar at points last year posting a .928 in 14 appearances. Annunen is just 24 so I’m not sure we’ll see a full takeover this season but, certainly, if Georgiev starts slowly Annunen could work his way into a 60-40 or even 50-50 time split, which would make him a very valuable fantasy commodity on a team like Colorado.

Nikolai Kovalenko, W,  Colorado Avalanche (Yahoo ADP: 1031)

Kovalenko is the son of former NHL winger Andrei Kovalenko who was a former 30-goal scorer with Edmonton back in the 1990’s. The younger Kovalenko was a 6th-round draft pick for Colorado who broke out in the KHL, scoring at nearly a point per game in that notoriously low-scoring league between 2022 and 2024.

He has good versatility and with Colorado’s lineup in major flux thanks to injuries and the current Valeri Nichushkin saga, Kovalenko looks likely to get a long look on their second line to start the season.

As a true sleeper, he’s going undrafted at this point, so you don't need to worry about him in drafts necessarily, but if he does start the season in the Avalanche top six, and produces, he is the kind of player you want to be “before the crowd” on for waivers.

Lane Hutson, D, Montreal Canadiens (Yahoo ADP: 926)

Hutson is an undersized defenseman who will be in Montreal’s starting lineup to begin the year. He projects as their most offensively skilled defenseman and should see significant power-play time given his skillset.

It’s also worth pointing out that he didn’t look out of place in two games played last season, where he earned over 20 minutes of ice, in both starts and landed an assist in both starts as well. It’s hard to say what his true upside is, but if he gets the majority of power play minutes for Montreal, he could outperform and become a great backend produced for redraft teams this season.

Other names to watch:

  • Philip Broberg, D, St. Louis Blues
  • Anthony Stolarz, G, Toronto Maple Leafs

More Fantasy Hockey Analysis for 2024