If you are here for fantasy playoff advice, you should be looking here at last week’s final guide.
If you are looking for keeper suggestions, then welcome: you are in the right place.
To bookend our fantasy hockey coverage (and thank you besties for reading and supporting this year), we’re going to look to the future. The idea is to highlight players who will be valuable for years to come, as you consider keepers for next season.
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We don’t want to waste your time telling you the obvious: Connor McDavid, Matthew Tkachuk, Cale Makar, and Quinn Hughes are all worthwhile keepers. Instead, we want to focus in on up-and-coming talent, outside of the top tier headlined by Connor Bedard.
Wyatt Johnston, C/RW, DAL
Johnston is an all-around fantasy contributor, who is only going to get more productive. As it is, he is a super-efficient scorer at five-on-five in Dallas. He is a strong fit in their middle-six with Logan Stankoven, and has shown that he can be a strong complement on the top line with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. The latter could be where he slots more often next year. Between his volume shooting and recent consistency on the scoresheet, Johnston brings a ton of long-term potential.
Wyatt Johnston wasted no time. 👀
15 seconds in and the @DallasStars are up 1-0. pic.twitter.com/XfYijhRJFz
— NHL (@NHL) March 15, 2024
Lucas Raymond, LW/RW, DET
Just when it seemed like the Red Wings were ready to turn the corner, Detroit started to stumble in early March. But Raymond helped fuel the turnaround and picked up the pace with Dylan Larkin sidelined. The winger is on his way to superstar status and should keep building on that next year — especially if Detroit adds more support around him this offseason.
Logan Cooley, C, ARI
For young players, sometimes it’s not how one starts the year but how they finish. Cooley’s start was fine in Arizona, but it’s his late-season push that really stands out. He is starting to hit his stride more often and consistently, with nine points over his last nine games. While there are obviously some roster concerns in Arizona moving forward, we expect him to emerge as more of a star next year. If you’re a manager whose keeper picks will occupy their 2023-24 draft slot, you likely scooped him up in a later round, which should make him a steal for next season.
Logan Cooley nets his first career hat trick 🔥🎩 pic.twitter.com/sL3io7DcY8
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 29, 2024
Seth Jarvis, C/RW, CAR
Jarvis is bringing the oomph that the Hurricanes have needed. He’s already notched career numbers across the board in all three scoring categories, with seven games (at the time of this writing, prior to Thursday’s matchup) to go. That production, paired with his two-way play, has made him a top-six mainstay and reliable all-situation threat for Carolina. That brings a ton of value from a keeper standpoint in itself, and that obviously only heightens if the Hurricanes end up extending Jake Guentzel.
You need to stop and watch this goal by Seth Jarvis pic.twitter.com/1wBGAvnvnp
— x – Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 30, 2023
Nick Suzuki, C, MTL
Suzuki took his game to another level this season. On the surface, there’s his scoring which is up about 0.40 points per 60 in all situations from last year. His goal scoring has a lot to do with that and it all stems from his shot. Suzuki’s picked up his shot volume slightly, but the real difference is where he is shooting the puck from. The jump in shot quality helps balance out some of the red flags of his inflated shooting percentage. That, paired with his overall improvements at five-on-five on both ends of the ice, have made him a really effective two-way center for the Canadiens. Montreal may stay relatively top-heavy again next season, but the expectation should be more of Suzuki with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, a combination that has had a lot of success for them.
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Brock Faber, D, MIN
There are a few picks from Minnesota, outside the obvious in Kirill Kaprizov. Matt Boldy stands out as a long-term option. And for managers not tied to a keeper for more than a single season, Joel Eriksson Ek also brings some intrigue. The 27-year-old isn’t your typical keeper, but there are two reasons to consider him: his offensive growth over the last few years and the fact that John Hynes is willing to deploy him between Kaprizov and Boldy to make a super-powered top line.
But in our eyes, the best option is back and defense. Faber probably won’t win the Calder, but there is a good reason why he is in contention for it. He has been excellent defensively in a challenging role. And now in the second half of the season, he is showing a more offensive side of his game with power play deployment. Having the support of Jared Spurgeon next year will help with the defensive burden, and he could easily keep earning those minutes on the top unit to keep his scoring up.
Noah Dobson, D, NYI
It hasn’t been an easy season for the Islanders, but Dobson’s breakout is the biggest takeaway to come from it. The defender really was making his case to be in the Norris conversation in the first half of the year. While there have been some dips, he is still in the top-10 in Net Rating among defenders at a plus-13.8. We expect him to keep growing from here, especially if the team around him can improve this summer. At the very least, a full season of Patrick Roy, who has helped elevate this team defensively, and a bounce-back year from Ilya Sorokin should benefit players like Dobson in 2024-25.
Bowen Byram, D, BUF
With the Sabres, there are a few young players to pick from. Up front, JJ Peterka is the standout option after being one of the most consistent players in Buffalo. But on the backend, managers could go three ways. Owen Power has been the premier puck mover of the Sabres’ blue liners, but Byram and Rasmus Dahlin probably will get more favorable power play time moving forward. That gives those two the edge. You can’t go wrong either way if you have either one on your roster, because we expect them to be high-end options for years to come. But Byram is the one who brings the most intrigue, especially after he has the time to adjust to both his new team’s systems and playing in a top pair capacity.
Evan Bouchard, D, EDM
Bouchard will once again quarterback the top power play unit next year. That means opportune minutes with Connor McDavid and Draisaitl, and guaranteed production moving forward. But overall, Bouchard’s rebound from a dicey start and overall growth into a difference-maker on the blue line deserves a lot of credit. This season he has the second-best Offensive Rating among defenders when accounting for his usage (which includes his quality of teammates). That translates to being a prime fantasy defenseman who can lead any roster’s blue line.
Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS
Lastly, let’s shift back to the blue paint. The most obvious keepers back in goal are bonafide number ones, like Connor Hellebuyck and Igor Shesterkin. But maybe Swayman can join that list of true number ones depending on how the Bruins proceed this summer. The most likely path at this point could include extending Swayman and moving Linus Ullmark for cap relief (and maybe some help down the middle). That would lead to even more usage for Swayman, who will set career-highs by season’s end in usage. Sometimes a goalie’s numbers can drop off when their role expands, but Swayman has eased into this expanded usage which should set him up for success next year. Just maintaining his level from this year would be valuable, considering his 0.916 save percentage and 17 goals save above expected (prior to Thursday night’s game).
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Honorable mentions: Leo Carlsson, Rasmus Dahlin, Thomas Harley, Cole Caufield, Jesper Bratt, and Matt Boldy
Data via Evolving-Hockey, HockeyViz, HockeyStatCards, AllThreeZones, and NaturalStatTrick. This story relies on shot-based metrics; here is a primer on these numbers.
(Top photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images, Sam Hodde/Getty Images, Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images),
