The 2022-23 NHL season officially began on Friday when the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators squared off in Prague. The North American opener is Oct. 11 and Fantasy hockeys drafts are still going on all across the country. One team trying to erase the memories of a terrible season is the Philadelphia Flyers, which are expected to struggle again this year. The Flyers have a roster loaded with young players, which could create multiple 2022-23 Fantasy hockey breakouts.
So what should your 2022 Fantasy hockey draft strategy look like as the North American opener approaches on Oct. 11? A reliable set of 2022 Fantasy hockey rankings can help you identify potential 2022 Fantasy hockey sleepers, breakouts and busts to ensure you get maximum value out of every pick. Before making any 2022 Fantasy hockey picks, check out the Fantasy hockey rankings 2022-23 from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, the model predicted that Blues wing Vladimir Tarasenko would significantly outperform his 2021-22 Fantasy hockey ADP of 196. The result: Tarasenko went on to score 34 goals and dish out 48 assists for his first ever 80-point season and was a top-75 player in all of Fantasy hockey. It also predicted that Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov wouldn't live up to his top-30 ADP overall and he finished with just 31 points and a plus/minus of -20 to finish as the No. 81 defenseman in CBS Sports Fantasy hockey leagues.
The model was created by Mike McClure, a predictive data engineer and professional daily Fantasy player with almost $2 million in career winnings. He's used his prediction model to simulate the entire 2022-23 NHL schedule 10,000 times and identify the top Fantasy hockey sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
McClure's model takes factors such as player history, schedule, injuries and matchups into account to create the most unbiased 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings possible. Now the model has zeroed in on the 2022-23 NHL season, ranked every player, and found the top sleepers, breakouts and busts. See every pick here.
Top 2022-23 Fantasy hockey picks
One of the 2022-23 Fantasy hockey busts SportsLine has identified: Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. The 10-time All-Star finished with 44 total points last season (13 goals, 31 assists), which was his third-lowest career total out of the nine seasons that he's played at least 70 games. He also had a modest shooting percentage of 5.7% despite firing off the second-most shots of his career (456).
His shots on target percentage dipped to 49.8%, down from his final year in St. Louis during the 2019-20 season, when he put 53.8% of his shots on net. Pietrangelo finished with plus-minus of 7 last year, which was also the fourth-lowest mark in the 10 years he's played at least 70 games. His decline in effectiveness on the ice is one of the reasons the model projects him to have a major disparity between his production versus his 2022 Fantasy hockey ADP just outside of the top 65 overall players.
Another surprise: Lightning center Brayden Point is one of the model's top Fantasy hockey sleepers. He was dealing with a torn quad during the 2022 playoffs, but he has made a full recovery from that injury. Point missed 14 of the Lightning's last 16 playoff games, which contributed to his team's loss to Colorado in the Stanley Cup Final.
He racked up 28 goals and 58 points in 66 regular-season appearances, and he also had five points in nine playoff matchups. Point was cleared before the beginning of training camp, so he should be in good form entering the regular season. He has scored at least 20 goals in five straight seasons and came up just short of his fourth 60-point campaign, making him one of the most consistent Fantasy hockey picks on the board. SportsLine's model has identified him as a sleeper that is being selected 60-plus spots too low in most drafts.
How to find proven 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings
The model has also made a surprising call on new Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau after he led the NHL in points and led all forwards in Fantasy scoring a season ago. It also features a stunner in the top 10 you won't want to miss. You can only see the latest Fantasy hockey rankings 2022-23 here.
So what's the exact value of every NHL player in the 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings? And what surprising player cracked the top 10? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy hockey rankings, all from a DFS pro who has won almost $2 million in his career and has simulated the entire NHL season 10,000 times, and find out.
