NHL Fantasy Hockey Mid-Season Awards

With NHL play taking a pause for the All-Star Weekend, here are the picks for the mid-season fantasy hockey awards.

With the NHL taking a pause, it's a good time to review the season so far. While fantasy hockey is a proxy for real life, it's not always an apples-to-apples comparison. 

Miro Heiskanen, for example, is a franchise-level defenseman and a perennial Norris candidate, but his fantasy value often falls short of his real value because he doesn't put up gaudy offensive numbers. This is why a player such as Evan Bouchard holds more value even though every single (sane) hockey GM would take Heiskanen over Bouchard. 

It would seem incongruous to value and pick the top fantasy players the same way I would pick them if I were building a real hockey team. The list of winners below are based on a similar criteria to the NHL's annual awards but also taking into account their relative values in fantasy hockey.

Best Fantasy Scorer (Art Ross)

Nikita Kucherov, RW, Lightning, 85 points in 49 games

Kucherov edges Nathan MacKinnon as the top scorer in fantasy. In any other season, Connor McDavid easily wins this award, but a slow start to the season puts him nearly 20 points behind.

Kucherov heads into the break as the league's scoring leader and edges MacKinnon in PPG (11-7) and PPP (37-32), two of the harder categories to fill in fantasy. MacKinnon only beats Kucherov in leagues that count faceoff wins, but note MacKinnon is still well below average in the dot, and RW still tends to have fewer elite fantasy options than C.

Best Fantasy Goal Scorer (Rocket Richard)

Auston Matthews, C, Maple Leafs, 40 goals in 46 games

There's no debate with this one. Matthews is on pace for 70 goals. He's scored 30 of his 40 goals at even strength, a testament to his 5-on-5 play, shooting efficiency and not having to rely on special teams to boost his stats. 

Best Fantasy Player (Hart)

J.T. Miller, C/RW, Canucks

The 'best fantasy player' will depend on your league settings, but if we're talking about a player who can be elite in multiple categories, including both scoring and bangers, it has to be Miller. He's fifth in the league in scoring, fourth in total shots, fifth in faceoff wins and tracking for a second straight 200-hit season. Tack on RW eligibility at a historically thin position in fantasy, and he's the most versatile elite player you can roster.

Miller isn't spoken in the same breath as MacKinnon, McDavid, Matthews or Kucherov (and he shouldn't in real life), but he's a sure-fire top-10 player in multi-category leagues having yet another outstanding season. 

Best Defenseman (Norris)

Cale Makar, D, Avalanche, 58 points in 44 games

With apologies to Quinn Hughes, but Makar has the edge with more shots on goal and more blocked shots. The margin, however, is tiny, and both will head into the 2024-25 fantasy hockey season ranked 1-2, and either order would be acceptable.

Best Goalie (Vezina)

Thatcher Demko, G, Canucks, 26-8-1, .920 SP, 2.44 GAA, 5 SO

Given how consistently good the Canucks have been, Demko edges Connor Hellebuyck. Demko heads into the break with more saves (976-940) and tied with Connor Ingram and Tristan Jarry with a league-leading five shutouts. 

Most Well-Rounded Forward (Selke)

Sidney Crosby, C, Penguins

As the league leader in faceoff wins (634), tied-13th in plus-minus and 23rd in league scoring, this is about as close as you can get to a proxy for the Selke. What tips the scales in Crosby's favor over J.T. Miller, who has a slightly better plus-minus (+21 to +19) and more points, is Crosby's SAT% at 56.8 percent compared to Miller's 49.0 percent. 

I know some fantasy leagues already track takeaways and giveaways -- what a beast Pavel Datsyuk would've been -- and it won't be long before more nerdy leagues start incorporating possession metrics. 

Best Rookie (Calder)

Brock Faber, D, Wild

Faber heads into the break just four points behind Connor Bedard and already edges him in power-play points (9-8). Considering the lack of quality and consistency from season-to-season on defense in fantasy hockey, Faber's all-round excellent in point production, shots and blocks, he's a no-brainer pick.

Best Banger (Anti-Lady Byng)

Brady Tkachuk, C/LW, Senators

It's so ironic and hilarious that the league has an award for the most gentlemanly player, but in fantasy hockey we value the total opposite. 

It's not just about penalty minutes, however, which is why this is always Tkachuk's award to lose. With 21 goals, 40 points, 124 hits and only one of two players to reach triple digits in PIM already, Tkachuk remains the ultimate banger.