Breakout Candidate: None
I can’t just pick someone for the sake of picking someone, can I? I can see prospects Ivan Ivan or Nikita Prischepov making a bigger impact, but their fantasy value is virtually nil.
A contending team with a pretty bare pipeline – top prospect Cal Ritchie was traded to Long Island for Brock Nelson – means what you see is what you get. The Avs will likely usher in some young players to round out the bottom six, such as Nikita Prischepov and Ivan Ivan, but none of them are expected to make much of an impact.
The notion that 33-year-old journeyman T.J. Tynan might have a regular role while Logan O’Connor recovers from injury speaks loudly. There may be the odd streaming option when one of their bottom-sixers moves up to play with MacKinnon – more likely than not it’s Victor Olofsson – but those are short-term band-aid solutions for managers scouring the waiver wire on a random weekday or daily fantasy games.
Buy Low Candidate: Gabriel Landeskog, LW
Anecdotally, I know some managers who’ve locked onto Landeskog either as a keeper or a draft target for this coming season. But for leagues that haven’t paid as much attention, Landeskog is a potential buy-low target after missing the entire 2024-25 regular season. Fantasy rankings that emphasize the previous season’s performances might lose him in the shuffle. His playoff performances were really encouraging and he possesses a lot of upside as a mid-round draft pick for goals, power-play points and hits.
Riser: Martin Necas, RW
Necas is a known commodity but this is his opportunity to take his game to the next level. Remember he was the scoring leader for a brief period early in the season, and part of the reason he was traded from Carolina was his contract ask. Now that he’s in his contract year, this is his chance to prove it. Necas’ quiet finish – zero shots in three of his final five regular season games and one goal in seven playoff games – dampened his stock despite being a point-per-game talent.
Skating alongside MacKinnon, he has a good chance to build upon his career-best 83 points from last season – the question is if it’s closer to 90 or 100. One thing to keep an eye on early in the season: shot volume. I thought he became a passenger with MacKinnon, but the reality is he needs to shoot much more to replace Rantanen’s production, and that’s what the Avs will ask of him. Higher shot volume on an explosive offensive team will give him a chance to score 30 goals for the first time in his career.
Faller: Ross Colton, C/LW
The top six just looks crowded. Colton’s an excellent role player who has value in multi-category leagues for his hits, and occasionally faceoffs, but if he’s not skating in the top six or on the power play, it’s tough for him to generate points. A 20-goal, 150-hit season from Colton is on the high end of reasonable returns, and it’s unlikely he gives fantasy managers any more than that. I don’t even think he’s worth a reach in the late rounds because the Avs’ top six looks pretty set, and there are players with more upside worth reaching for.
All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com, moneypuck.com, hockeyviz.com, allthreezones.com, hockey-reference.com, eliteprospects.com unless otherwise noted.