2024-2025 NHL Season Preview: Sleepers

Below is a list of fantasy hockey sleepers for the 2024-25 NHL season. A lot of the players below could fall under the breakout section of the fantasy hockey draft kit, but I decided to list them here as sleepers. In fact, some of the players listed below are in the breakout section of the kit.

I shared a few players I view as undervalued, which is technically the definition of a sleeper. A sleeper is a clickbait term. The following players are players I think will outperform their average draft position.

You’ll also see several deep-league sleepers for those playing in the deepest of leagues, or those in 32-round best ball drafts. These are players I believe will become fantasy relevant in 2024-25. Finally, I listed a few players buried down the rankings at Yahoo. Some of the players have more value in leagues with hits and blocks, and I identified those players below.

2024-2025 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers

Tommy Novak, C, Nashville Predators

Novak has been sneaky good over his last two seasons and with the arrival of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, he should take another step. He has 17 and 18 goals over the past two seasons, and he’s fresh off a career-high 45 points. He’ll lose some time on the top power play, but he should open up the season playing with Stamkos and Marchessault.

Fabian Zetterlund, W, San Jose Sharks

Don’t shy away from the Sharks at the end of your drafts. They won’t win a lot of hockey games, but they may score a few goals with the likes of Zetterlund, Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Granlund, along with rookies Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. Zetterlund had a career-best 24 goals, 44 points and 16 power play points in his first full season with the Sharks. We saw that he’s not afraid to shoot the puck (204) or throw his body around (120 hits). 

Cutter Gauthier, LW, Anaheim Ducks

The fifth overall pick from 2022 had two very good seasons with Boston College, and now he’s ready for the show. The winger scored 38 goals and added 27 assists in 41 games last season. Gauthier is a volume shooter who will score a lot of goals in the NHL. He played one game at the end of the season with the Ducks after getting traded to Anaheim mid-season, and he had one point with three shots. Cauthier and Leo Carlsson are two players who should play together and two players you should have shares of. 

Alex Laferriere, RW, Los Angeles Kings

The rookie only had 12 goals and 23 points in 81 games, but he had a strong finish which found himself playing on the top line. He should open up the season inside the top six with some of the departures in Los Angeles. He combined for over 250 shots and hits, which is an added element to his game. 

Jake Neighbours, W, St. Louis Blues 

Neighbours’ shooting percentage may take a hit, but he still has 25-goal upside. You have to love the 138 hits he threw last season and the production on the power play (14 points).

Kirill Marchenko, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets 

Marchenko’s shooting percent normalized in his sophomore season, but he still scored 23 goals. He has 44 goals through his first 137 games, and 16 of those goals have come on the power play. Marchenko should be leaned on more in Year 3. 

Other Candidates

Tyson Foerster, C/RW, Philadelphia Flyers
Will Smith, C, San Jose Sharks
Andrei Kuzmenko, W, Calgary Flames
Matthew Knies, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs
Anthony Duclair, LW, New York Islanders
Morgan Frost, C, Philadelphia Flyers
Yegor Chinakhov, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets
Jake Walman, D, San Jose Sharks 
Cam Fowler, D, Anaheim Ducks
Connor Ingram, G, Utah Hockey Club
Logan Thompson, G, Washington Capitals
Joey Daccord, G, Seattle Kraken

Deep Sleepers

Kirby Dach, C, Montreal Canadiens
Sean Monahan, C, Columbus Blue Jackets
Anthony Mantha, RW, Calgary Flames
Max Pacioretty, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs
Reilly Smith, RW, New York Rangers
Connor Zary, C/RW, Calgary Flames
Victor Olofsson, LW, Vegas Golden Knights
Taylor Hall, LW, Chicago Blackhawks
Ivan Fedotov, G, Philadelphia Flyers
Anthony Stolarz, G, Toronto Maple Leafs
Justus Annunen, G, Colorado Avalanche

Undervalued

Mike Matheson, D, Montreal Canadiens

If you hung out with me last season, you had Mike Matheson, so you already feel me on this one. Matheson finished as a top-10 fantasy hockey defenseman, and there’s no reason to think he can’t do that again. Matheson touched career highs in goals (11), points (62), power play points (23), shots (186), hits (187) and TOI (25:33) in his first full season in Montreal. Lane Hutson may join him on the power play and there’s a chance he takes over PP1 late in the season, but Matheson should continue to touch all categories. 

Jake DeBrusk, W, Vancouver Canucks

Despite a down year last season, DeBrusk has at least 19 goals in five of his past six seasons and 25-plus in three seasons. He bounced around on line 1, 2 and 3 over the past couple of seasons in Boston, but he should be locked into a top six role in Vancouver. I expect him to play alongside Elias Pettersson and he should get a crack at PP1. DeBrusk is a volume shooter and has nearly 200 hits in his past two seasons. 

Gabriel Vilardi, C, Winnipeg Jets 

Vilardi scored 22 goals and picked up 36 points in 47 games in his first season with the Jets. He played a career-high 17:00 per game and notched 14 points on the power play (nine goals). When he was active he was decent, but he couldn’t stay in the lineup and he’s had issues staying healthy in his career. However, the price is cheap, and we’ve yet to see his ceiling. 

Other Undervalued Players

Tyler Toffoli, W, San Jose Sharks
Mikael Granlund, C/RW San Jose Sharks
Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, Chicago Blackhawks
Boone Jenner, C/LW, Columbus Blue Jackets
Darnell Nurse, D, Edmonton Oilers
Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida Panthers
Radko Gudas, D, Anaheim Ducks
Jacob Trouba, D, New York Rangers
Alec Martinez, D, Chicago Blackhawks 
Jacob Markstrom, G, New Jersey Devils
Samuel Montembeault, G, Montreal Canadiens