With the 2024 NHL All-Star break coming up next week, we are officially entering the second half of the 2023–24 season. With fantasy leagues entering the stretch drive to the playoffs, some late-round gambles or waiver wire pickups have fully established themselves as valuable fantasy assets.
Every season there are a handful of players who come out nowhere to greatly exceed their ADP, or get claimed on waivers after going undrafted and become must-own players in fantasy. This year is of course no different as we’ve seen quite a few players vastly exceed their expected results and provide fantasy managers with tremendous value.
Let’s take a look at the best risers.
Sam Reinhart – Florida Panthers – F
ADP: 78 | Current rank: 10
Coming off a 67-point 2022–23 season, Sam Reinhart was being drafted just inside the top 100 in most drafts. Now three months into the season he’s currently ranked as a top 10 player in fantasy. It’s fair to say no one saw this breakout coming for a 28-year-old Reinhart.
Reinhart is sitting on 36 goals and 61 points just 48 games into the season. His 36 goals are already a career-high, and he’s currently second in the entire NHL for goals behind only Auston Matthews. His current 61-goal, 104-point pace would shatter his previous career-highs.
Reinhart has gone from a nice complementary piece in fantasy to a true superstar league winner as he’s on track to become just the fifth 60-goal scorer of the past 15 years. If you drafted him you’re laughing right now.
Frank Vatrano – Anaheim Ducks – F
ADP: 171 | Current rank: 47
If someone in October told you Frank Vatrano would be a top 50 player in fantasy at the All-Star break, you’d call them crazy. Yet here we are at the end of January and Vatrano has been one of if not the biggest surprises in fantasy this year.
Coming into the season, Vatrano’s career high in goals was just 24 set back in 2018–19 and his career high in points was 41 which he set last year. Now 48 games into 2023–24 he’s already at 21 goals and 34 points just 48 games into the season. With another 34 games to go, he’s on track to shatter his previous career-highs.
He’s also contributing in other ways too, sitting 23rd in the NHL for shots with 153 and 48th among forwards for hits with 76. Vatrano has offered tremendous value and multicategory coverage for a player picked near the end of drafts.
Connor Ingram – Arizona Coyotes – G
ADP: 117 | Current rank: 48
In a year in which many of fantasy’s top goalies have struggled, Connor Ingram has come out of nowhere to become an elite option between the pipes. After going undrafted in almost every league, Ingram currently ranks as a top 10 goalie in fantasy and is the Coyotes go-to starter.
So far this season, Ingram ranks eighth in the NHL for wins, seventh for save percentage, and 11th for GAA among goalies with at least 15 starts. He’s also 11th for saves. He’s currently sitting on more wins than the likes of Tristan Jarry, Logan Thompson, and Ilya Sorokin.
If you were lucky enough to pick up Ingram in your league, you gained a top 10 fantasy goalie for free.
Blake Coleman – Calgary Flames – F
ADP: N/A | Current rank: 63
Blake Coleman has always been viewed as a useful real-life player, but not a fantasy-relevant player. That is of course until this season where he’s currently racking up goals and points and in the midst of a career year at the ripe age of 32. Coleman has racked up 20 goals and 39 points in just 47 games and has already surpassed his previous career-high in points.
He’s currently on track for 35 goals and 68 points which would both be career-highs by a wide margin. After going undrafted in pretty much every league, he’s sitting 31st in the NHL for goals and 57th for points among forwards. Not bad for a player that wasn’t even being drafted a few months ago.
Joel Farabee – Philadelphia Flyers – F
ADP: N/A | Current rank: 74
The Philadelphia Flyers have been the surprise team of the season and Joel Farabee’s breakout year is a large reason for that. Farabee registered just 15 goals and 39 points in 82 games last season but has already surpassed both of those totals just 49 games into 2023–24. He currently sits with 17 goals and 40 points in 49 games and ranks 52nd in the NHL for goals and 55th for points.
As it stands, he has more points than fantasy mainstays like Evgeni Malkin and Brady Tkachuk. He’s also posting shots at a solid rate too, registering right around 2.3 a game. You really can’t get much better value out of an in-season pickup than Farabee this season as he’s on track to hit right around 30 goals and 70 points.
Yegor Sharangovich – Calgary Flames – F
ADP: N/A | Current rank: 109
Yet another Flame who has burst onto the scene in fantasy, Yegor Sharangovich has gone from an afterthought to a top 75 forward in fantasy. After posting just 13 goals and 30 points last season in New Jersey, Sharangovich unsurprisingly wasn’t on anyone’s radar to start the season and was undrafted in pretty much every league.
Despite a slow start with just two points in his first 10 games, Sharangovich has been red hot of late with 32 points in his last 38 games. Since December 1, he ranks 10th in the NHL with 15 goals in 25 goals and 33rd for points with 24. His current pace places him right around 34 goals and 58 points, both easily surpassing his previous career-highs.
Gustav Nyquist – Nashville Predators – F
ADP: N/A | Current rank: 101
After an underwhelming 2022–23 season in which Gustav Nyquist put up just 27 points across 51 games, it seemed like the 34-year-old was no longer a fantasy-relevant player. However, he’s completely turned back the clock this season in the midst of a career year in Nashville.
Nyquist has found some great chemistry alongside fantasy stud Filip Forsberg on the Predators’ top line and is benefiting in a big way. He’s currently sitting with 12 goals and 37 points in 48 games—a full-season pace of 20 goals and 63 points. 63 points would be a career-high and his highest total since the 2014–15 season. If you were able to snag Nyquist on waivers at the beginning of the season you gained a big-time free boost to your team.
Surprising fantasy dominance
There will always be players who step up and outperform expectations. This season has a healthy mix of young talent as well as older players stealing the spotlight with impressive outings. Fantasy managers who took bets on these players are reaping the rewards and can look toward the playoffs with confidence.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
