These four players are exceeding expectations. Discover who's making significant fantasy gains and poised for even greater success down the stretch.
These four players have already outplayed their pre-season draft values, but could their stock rise even more in the final stretch of the regular season?
Juraj Slafkovsky, LW/RW, Canadiens
Slafkovsky entered the 2025-26 season as a popular sleeper pick, offering 50-point and 200-hit upside. The question was how Slafkovsky’s ceiling really was, and how long it would take for a talented young Habs team to put it all together.
The Slovak power forward ended up delivering, scoring at a career-best 64-point pace and trails only Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield in average ice time per game among Habs forwards. His talent is evident and so is his ability to take over a game singlehandedly; look no further than his performance for the Slovaks at the Olympics with seven points in four games, and he’s a big reason why they reached the semis.
He's been superhuman for the national team, scoring 14 points in 11 games at the Olympics and 17 points in 22 games at the World Championships. When the NHL resumes play, Slafkovsky has a chance to carry over and even elevate his play. He’s going to continue to be a key cog for the Habs’ playoff push and a top-50 player in multi-category leagues for the rest of the season, and potentially a top-25 player next season.
Yakov Trenin, C/LW/RW, Wild
Move aside, Kiefer Sherwood, there’s a new sheriff in town. With 286 hits so far this season, the eighth-highest hits per 60 minutes rate (min. 20 GP) and playing meaningful minutes for the Wild, Trenin has the ability to singlehandedly tip the scales in the hits category.
Sherwood had 20-goal potential on a Canucks team that lacked quality depth, but having been traded to the Sharks, it’s highly unlikely he’ll get the requisite playing time – especially on the power play – to maintain his scoring pace. He’s also way off last season’s record-setting pace in hits (462), and trails Trenin by 72 total hits.
For managers looking for hits, Trenin has emerged as the best option by far, and an increase in playing time – he’s played at least 16 minutes in three of the four games before the Olympics – ensures that the gap between him and Sherwood will continue to widen.
Darren Raddysh, D, Lightning
Raddysh’s offensive play shouldn’t be all that surprising considering what he did last season filling in for Victor Hedman, but going forward, it looks like he will continue to be that guy for the foreseeable future. He’s scoring at an 87-point pace and ranks fourth in points per game among defensemen, ahead of Cale Makar, Lane Hutson and Adam Fox.
Sweden’s national team coach, Sam Hallam, has taken a lot of heat for his coaching decisions dating back to 4 Nations, and we will likely find out more about Hedman’s condition when he returns to the Lightning. He did not play a single shift in the quarterfinal against USA after getting injured during warmups, so why dress Hedman if he wasn’t going to play anyway? It was reportedly a lower-body injury, which would appear to be unrelated to the elbow injury that sidelined Hedman earlier this season.
If Hedman is injured and will miss more time, then it’s Raddysh all the way for the rest of the season. He’ll quarterback an insanely good power play and could be a top-10 fantasy defensemen next season if he re-signs with the Lightning and permanently supplants the 35-year-old Hedman as PP1 QB.
Brandon Bussi, G, Hurricanes
Frederik Andersen may have earned back some goodwill with some fine performances for Denmark at the Olympics, but he still has a long way to go to reclaim his status as the Canes’ starter.
Bussi, who recently signed a three-year extension, will be their top option for the rest of the season and perhaps going forward. Bussi played five of the Canes’ six games prior to the break, and may see a similarly significant workload if Andersen continues to struggle in the NHL.
For much of the season, the Canes had been reluctant to give Bussi the bulk of the playing time; if the idea was to keep him fresh for a more significant workload in the final months of the season, then now’s the time to give Bussi the net with 25 games to go.
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