Fantasy Impact: 7 Forwards Whose Values Increased Significantly This Summer

A list of seven forwards whose fantasy hockey value increased significantly during the off-season after they switched teams.

July 1 sizzled, even when it was deemed a poorer-than-usual class of free agents. There were over 150 players who signed new contracts, totalling over $600 million in total dollars. Some of the signings and a few trades certainly moved the needle from a betting standpoint, but the fantasy impact is more about the individual than the team.

Here are seven forwards whose fantasy value increased significantly with their new teams.

A big theme of this year’s free agent class is players betting on themselves. Brown’s stint with the Caps was short-lived, lasting just four games before an ACL injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. The 29-year-old winger became a bona fide top-six role player with the Sens, and he was Canada’s best player and scoring leader on the gold-winning squad at the 2021 World Championships.

Brown’s fantasy value is getting a humungous boost because he will be re-united with Connor McDavid, having played together in the OHL with the Eerie Otters. Brown was a prolific scorer playing alongside McDavid, leading all major junior leagues in scoring (128 points) and was named the OHL’s most outstanding player in 2013-14. Brown actually scored more points than McDavid during their two seasons together, 197 to 165.

While Zach Hyman was a fixture on McDavid’s wing last season – leading to an 83-point career season for Hyman – it’s conceivable both Hyman and Brown will play on McDavid’s wings. There are enough goals to go around, and McDavid, a left-hand shot, now has two right-hand shots who can play either wing to dish the puck. Note Hyman and Brown have experience playing together with an elite center – Auston Matthews – and the results were quite good. Hyman’s really good at retrieving pucks and Brown can set up for McDavid.

If Hyman can turn into a point-per-game player with McDavid, so can Brown. Since Brown’s 2022-23 season was cut short and signed an under-the-radar, one-year deal with a cap hit of $775,000 (the AAV is $4 million including bonuses), it’s likely he won’t be on the minds of most fantasy GMs. Brown is a diamond in the rough and taking a shot in the middle rounds in a 10-team league is not a reach.

The hype surrounding Drouin has not been this high since he was drafted third overall a decade ago. Make no mistake, re-uniting Drouin with former Halifax Mooseheads running mate Nathan MacKinnon should give Drouin the necessary boost to get his once-promising career back on track. Drouin hardly ever shoots the puck and he’s a poor finisher (career average: 1.8 shots per game and 8.6 S%), but his pass-first mentality will suit MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen just fine.

We should be wary of reaching for Drouin in the middle rounds since he’s still got a lot to prove as a top-six winger, and it’s really easy to talk Drouin into the “so overlooked and underrated, he’s overrated” conversation. However, Drouin, who had been firmly off the fantasy radar since his third season with the Habs in 2019-20, is worth the gamble in the late rounds for his ability to rack up assists and power-play points. It’s worth noting Ross Colton should get a bump in fantasy value, too, though the change isn’t as significant as Drouin’s, who is trying to go from rags to riches.

No former MVP feels as unwanted as Hall – “trade is one for one” will live in infamy – who will be playing on his fourth team in six seasons. That feeling is shared in the fantasy hockey community; in 13 seasons, Hall has scored more than 27 goals just once in his career. The remedy is the incoming Connor Bedard, from whom great things are expected right away as the most hyped prospect since the other Connor.

It's hard to gauge how Hall will mesh with Bedard, but this is not the first time Hall has played both mentor and sidekick; Hall was the Oilers’ leading scorer with 26 goals and 65 points in McDavid’s injury-shortened rookie season. That season, Hall saw his point per game pace increase from 0.72 to 0.79, so the bump from playing with the first overall pick is real.

Hall’s not a good finisher, but cleaning up Bedard’s rebounds or simply facilitating Bedard off the rush will help Hall put up points. If you’re going after Bedard in the draft, you might as well go for Hall as well, and, obviously, don’t do it in keeper leagues. A 60-point season from Hall isn’t out of the question and he’s gone from fantasy afterthought to a mid- to late-round pick by virtue of the Bedard bump.

Let’s be clear: Newhook is not a bust, he’s just not developing as fast as the Avs would like. Newhook was given chances to play in the top six but inconsistency and a lack of assertiveness on the offensive end forced the Avs to go in a different route. Newhook, who will turn 23 next January, will enter his third season and his current career trajectory is a better match for the Habs, who have a young squad and remain years away from contending.

The Habs’ young core is thriving under Martin St-Louis, and he’s just the guy to unlock Newhook’s massive potential. There’s no pressure for Newhook to play center with Nick Suzuki, Sean Monahan and Kirby Dach already in those spots, and more importantly, Newhook will get the necessary ice time to develop. Expect more ice time, especially with offensive-zone starts, and more shots on goal, which are two big ingredients in the recipe to success for a breakout season.

Like Brown, Pacioretty’s stint with his new club was short, spanning just five games due to two Achilles’ injuries. The sample size was good, but far too tiny, and Pacioretty opted for a fresh start with the Caps on a bonus-laden contract like Brown with the Oilers. Injury woes aside, Pacioretty remains an elite finisher. He’s played just 92 games over the past three seasons – yikes – but with 46 goals, he ranks 12th in the league in goals per game and eighth in shots per game (min. 35 total goals) during that span. Snipers who can shoot at a high volume and convert their chances are rare.

Pacioretty is a high-upside, second-line left winger behind Alex Ovechkin with the potential to easily hit 30-35 goals. Ovechkin will demand most of the attention from opposing defenses, and the Caps have three playmaking centers in Nicklas Backstrom (who is finally healthy), Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dylan Strome to pair with Pacioretty.

It’s worth noting Pacioretty has always scored most of his goals at even strength – his career-high is 10 power-play goals – so playing on the second PP unit is not a huge damper on his fantasy value, not to mention power plays are new head coach Spencer Carbery’s specialty. Don’t forget about Pacioretty in the late rounds.

Rodrigues will get a chance to play significant minutes as the Panthers slowly nurse their top players back to health. Eetu Luostarinen suffered a broken leg, Sam Bennett played through an injury and Matthew Tkachuk broke his sternum during their Cinderella run to the final. Their status for the upcoming season will be clearer when training camp opens, but it’s highly unlikely the Panthers will be 100 per cent healthy to start the season.

That’s paved the way for Rodrigues log top-six minutes, and he’s been a spectacular depth player for both the Pens and Avs over the past two seasons playing up the lineup. He can play any forward position and shoots the puck a lot, and in his current environment firmly puts him in 25-goal, 50-point territory, something only 74 forwards achieved last season.

If only the fantasy community has as much confidence in Zadina as he does in himself. The 23-year-old Czech winger drafted sixth overall in 2018 has scored only 28 goals in 190 games in his career, including just three in 30 games last season. He left over $4.5 million in base salary on the table to mutually terminate his contract with the Wings and subsequently signed a one-year deal worth $1.1 million with the Sharks.

If we’re considering recent history, Zadina is not on the fantasy radar, but he has a chance to revitalize his career on the Sharks, who lack scoring forwards. Zadina is assured of a chance to play in the top six, and either Logan Couture or Tomas Hertl would be a massive upgrade over Joe Veleno, whom Zadina played with much of last season. Zadina is expected to be fully recovered from a lower-body injury that ailed him last season, and there’s plenty left to prove. Don’t waste a pick on Zadina just yet, but certainly keep an eye on him throughout the season.

All positions courtesy Yahoo! Sports. All advanced stats courtesy naturalstattrick.com.