Breakout Candidate: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW
As it stands, Lekkerimaki could open the season in the top six with Evander Kane on the second line with Conor Garland on the third line with Teddy Blueger. The talented Swede is a skilled perimeter player who showed flashes of offense with six points in 24 games last season and will get an earnest shot to become a full-time regular.
He is currently the Canucks’ only notable prospect on offense who can be expected to make some impact in fantasy, and look for him to play PP2. The drawback will be his limited playing time as the Canucks have a glut of wingers who can move up and down the lineup as needed.
Buy Low Candidate: Thatcher Demko, G
The demise of Demko seems far too premature. His current 95.2 ADP on Yahoo seems a little low considering he has the potential to provide outsized value equivalent to a Filip Gustavsson or Darcy Kuemper, both of whom are being taken 40 picks higher on average.
Injuries are a concern and Kevin Lankinen is a threat to steal playing time, but when healthy, Demko can be an elite netminder. Over the past three seasons, Demko ranks 9th in goals saved above average per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 among goalies with at least 4,000 minutes played, and not far behind Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Riser: Elias Pettersson, D and Aatu Raty, C
‘D-Petey’ as he’s called amongst Canucks fans, was a revelation after a late-season call-up. With all-round ability, he has the tools to be a top-four defenseman with some PP2 upside.
Raty, acquired in the Bo Horvat trade, is slated to be the fourth-line center but could play higher in the lineup should injuries arise, in particular to Filip Chytil. While neither player have any fantasy value at the moment, they’re two noteworthy young players who could climb the depth charts over the course of the season and find some value as a streaming option.
Faller: Nils Hoglander, LW
It’s not good that Hoglander will likely begin the season on the shelf due to an ankle injury, and time’s running out for the pesky winger to find a top-six spot in the Canucks lineup. He scored just eight goals last season after scoring 24 the season before, and his trade value seems to be quickly fading; it’s been rumored in the past that the Pens and Canes are fond of him, but his development has stagnated and it remains to be seen if he can be a second-line complementary winger or destined to be in the bottom-six as an undersized puck hound.
Regardless, given the acquisition of Kane and long-term commitments to DeBrusk, Boeser and Garland, Hoglander might be the odd-man out. He is in the first-year of a three-year contract worth $3 million per season, which the Canucks might already regret.
All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com, moneypuck.com, hockeyviz.com, allthreezones.com, hockey-reference.com, eliteprospects.com unless otherwise noted.