Edmonton's Isaac Howard appears best Fantasy sleeper puck of 2025-26 season
The Fantasy Hockey season is fast-approaching with players quickly looking across the league for breakouts, busts and sleepers. The sleeper picks are one of the most important aspects of Fantasy sports as players are looking to get a deal on a player based on a late round pick in the draft. We currently don't have rankings as it's so early into the season but we feel confident that this player will be undervalued.
The Calder race for next season has a clear face to lead the way in Montreal's Ivan Demidov but a name that should be a top most people's list is Edmonton's Isaac Howard. The former Michigan State Spartan was dealt to the Oilers after being drafted to Tampa Bay with a path to the NHL not being clear for the Wiscousin native.
At 21 years old, Howard has been deemed one of the best rising prospects in the sport with the trade needing to be done as many reported his talent was too good to keep bottled up at the collegiate level or at the AHL any longer. The Oilers firmly believe this as well with early lineup reports having Howard in a crucial role.
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Not only is he in the top six, Howard is listed alongside Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid on the team's top line. He is also listed to play on the second power play unit for a team that is coming off back-to-back conference titles. The top end talent that has carried the Oilers to two straight Stanley Cup finals will almost certianly play a massive impact on Howard's development and see his numbers soar to rare heights for a rookie.
Over the course of his three NCAA seasons, he developed significantly, starting as a middle-six player with 17 points in 35 games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. After transferring to Michigan State, he elevated his play, averaging a point per game over 36 appearances in his second collegiate season. He then built on that momentum with a breakout campaign last year, tallying 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points in 37 games.
Howard’s impressive play last season earned him a spot on Team USA at the IIHF World Championships and may be a sign that he’s on the verge of a breakout year with the Oilers. A realistic projection for his rookie season could see him scoring between 15 and 20 goals, with assist totals ranging from 15 to 30, depending on how well he meshes with players like McDavid and Hyman.
In terms of overall production, a reasonable expectation would place him in the mid- to high-40 point range, similar to what Frank Vatrano, Elias Lindholm, or even Hyman posted last season. That said, Howard’s ceiling is significantly higher than most players likely to be drafted around him. If everything clicks, he could push into the 50–60 point range, potentially mirroring Dylan Guenther’s breakout campaign with Utah last year.