The NHL reveals fantasy projections for the top-6 ranked Maple Leafs players
The 2023-24 NHL regular season is just over a month away and you know what that means - the return of fantasy hockey. Fantasy hockey is add another level of intrigue and excitement to the season. I'm sure that most who are reading this have played fantasy sports in the past, but for those who haven't, the goal is to draft a team comprised of star players from any of the 32 teams in hopes of scoring higher than the opposition.
Last week, NHL.com released its fantasy projects for a number of Maple Leafs players. If you have a league set up and plan on drafting any Leafs, here are the point totals that NHL.com is projecting for the 6 top-ranked Leafs players.
10th ranked Auston Matthews - 110 points
17th ranked Mitch Marner - 105 points
29th ranked William Nylander - 90 points
42nd ranked John Tavares - 85 points
100th ranked Tyler Bertuzzi - 73 points
118th ranked Ilya Samsonov - 34 wins
Naturally, we should probably expect Matthews to go long before 10th overall. Nearly everyone is of the mindset that Matthews had a down year, the result of a number of nagging injuries. Just one year prior, Matthews amassed 60 goals and 106 points. A return to form is expected with a healthy Matthews this season.
Nylander is coming into a contract year and has not yet inked an extension, unlike Matthews, who committed 4 more years to the Leafs this summer. Nylander put up a career best 87 points last season, but with the distraction of contract negotiations and media pressure this year, I'm not so sure I'd bank on 90 points from the Swedish winger. There may very well be better options available at #29 overall.
Tyler Bertuzzi at 73 points would land him a career-best season, but I firmly believe that if his health holds up, he'll exceed 73 points. Just a pair of seasons ago, the feisty forward racked up 30 goals and 62 points playing on an awful Detroit Red Wings team. If he's saddled up next to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner this season, exceeding 80 points is not a stretch - health permitting. He's a high-risk, high potential reward gamble at 100th overall.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 3 | 210 ANSWERS The NHL reveals fantasy projections for the top-6 ranked Maple Leafs players Which Leafs will you be targeting in your NHL fantasy draft? | ||
| Matthews and Marner only | 66 | 31.4 % |
| 16, 34, 88 and 91 | 33 | 15.7 % |
| The core 4 and Rielly | 58 | 27.6 % |
| As many as I can possible draft | 53 | 25.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
