Fantasy Hockey Who's Hot, Who's Not: Matthews, Nylander Lift The Maple Leafs, Panthers Stars Struggle

The fantasy hockey season is well underway and it's time to recap which players are heating up and who has performed well below expectations.

The Toronto Maple Leafs got a huge boost from their top players that have caused their fantasy values to skyrocket early in the season.

Meanwhile, some big-name players from the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers have been ice cold to kick off the year, causing some potential concerns for the long-term outlook of their fantasy season.

Let's take a look at who has been hot and who has not:

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 GP, 3-6-9, 3 PPP, 11 SOG, 3 Hits, 4 Blocks

William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 GP, 3-5-8, 3 PPP, 10 SOG

A season after Auston Matthews scored just 27 goals, the Maple Leafs captain is now on pace for 54 goals after scoring two against the Colorado Avalanche in a thrilling 6-3 road win.

It's been a rocky start but this is a great sign for a team that was very pedestrian offensively, ranking 16th in goals per-game last season. Matthews, in particular, has looked as good as he's been in quite some time, needing just six games to score 10 points this season; last season, it took him 13 games.

Nylander continued where he left off and remains the Maple Leafs' most dynamic offensive player. He's their current scoring leader with 11 points and dating back to last season has scored at a 104-point pace; he would've been only the ninth player to score at least 100 points last season. 

Matthews' fantasy draft value slipped to 14.7 ADP on Yahoo due to concerns about his declining production and health. He might be a top-five player this season. Nylander, meanwhile, has been a great value pick for multiple seasons now as a consistent point-per-game player. His 42.8 ADP this year ranked behind less proven players such as Cutter Gauthier (32.3 ADP). 

Dylan Garand, New York Rangers: 2-1-0, .945 SP, 1.20 GAA, 1 shutout

With Igor Shesterkin out for the year, and Joonas Korpisalo and Spencer Martin still on the shelf, the Rangers have little choice but to turn to their 24-year-old rookie. Ironically, the Rangers had waived and assigned him to the minors earlier this season because they felt he needed reps, and he wasn’t going to get many if Shesterkin was the starter. 

Following Shesterkin's injury, Garand was one of the most popular pickups in fantasy and he made good with a relatively stress-free, 19-save win against the Vancouver Canucks. The results have been great but he’s still untested, facing a combined 43 shots in his two starts. The sample size is still small, but it’s been very good.

Fantasy managers should roster Garand now. He'll be the Rangers starter as long as he can win games, and don't be surprised if he runs away with the job considering Korpisalo's recent work (3.15 GAA past three seasons) and Martin's standing as a fringe NHL goalie.

The Rangers have been one of the biggest surprises this season, heading into Thanksgiving Monday tied for second in the league with 10 points. There also might be 31 NHL general managers kicking themselves for not getting Garand for free when they had the chance. 

Mikael Granlund, Anaheim Ducks: 3 GP, 2-4-6, 3 PPP, 10 SOG, 4 Blocks, 27 Faceoff wins

Victor Arvidsson, Detroit Red Wings: 5 GP, 3-1-4, 3 PPP, 15 SOG

Granlund, 34, and Arvidsson, 33, are offering lots of fantasy value for a pair of old guys who were undrafted in most Yahoo leagues.

Granlund has been a wizard on a very good first unit for the Anaheim Ducks, who almost never leave the ice and the reason why their power play currently ranks second in the league. The newly-minted Ducks captain has plenty of fantasy value as long as he remains on PP1. 

Arvidsson is doing what he does best: shooting the puck and scoring goals. The biggest difference for him is ice time, averaging 18:25 per game compared to 14:36 in 69 games with the Boston Bruins last season. This could be a season where he scores 30 goals again. 

The Dallas Stars apparently went to work over the summer to see how they could be better on offense despite ranking ninth in GF/GP last season, but they fooled everyone and currently rank 27th this season.

It's been boom or bust, scoring nine goals against the Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks but only two against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues. 

Wyatt Johnston, who score 45 goals last season, has yet to score his first this season through five games. The Stars have a big back-to-back, home-and-home series against the Avalanche, who are averaging 5.2 goals for per game, the best in the league.

Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers: 5 GP. 0-0-0, 12 SOG, 11 Hits

Brady Tkachuk, Florida Panthers: 5 GP. 0-0-0. 12 SOG, 19 Hits

Neither Sam Reinhart nor Brady Tkachuk have scored a point yet this season. Not having Aleksander Barkov obviously hurts, but these were two players who were going to help carry the team. At least both Tkachuk and Reinhart (surprisingly) are providing shots and hits, showcasing their fantasy value in multi-category leagues. 

It's certainly been a tough season so far with injuries, but the Panthers have some favorable matchups – Canucks visit on Thursday, Seattle Kraken on Saturday – that should allow their offense to get going.

The Panthers play nine of their 13 games in October on the road, and they know it's all about the long game so winning the regular season doesn't matter as much as having gas left in the tank in June. Fantasy managers have been let down so far, but it's still quite early in the season.    

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