The 2024–25 fantasy season is coming to a close this week, with the final leagues wrapping up their championship weekend tomorrow. In our third annual end-of-season fantasy awards, we’ll take a look back at the season that was and hand out awards for the very best and very worst of fantasy in 2024–25.
We’ll be giving our awards for the Forward MVP, Defence MVP, Goaltender MVP, Rookie MVP, Biggest Bust, and Best Waiver Addition of the year. It was a bit of a slower year in fantasy, with only three players hitting the century mark so far and only one 50-goal scorer.
Forward MVP–Nathan MacKinnon
Honorable mentions: Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov
There were no surprise candidates here, with Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, and Nikita Kucherov being easy picks. The biggest surprise is, of course, Connor McDavid failing to even land a nomination. It was a tough season for the world’s best player, and he failed to make the same impact he usually does.
Nathan MacKinnon takes home the crown for the second straight season, sitting tied for the NHL lead in points with 116, first for assists with 84, first for shots at 320, and second for power play points at 38. No other forward in the NHL finished the fantasy season top three in all four categories. For good measure, he added on 32 goals. MacKinnon was the easy pick here.
Kucherov and Draisaitl deserve a ton of credit as well, though. Kucherov currently sits tied with MacKinnon with 116 points, is second behind MacKinnon for assists, and first for power play points with 44. Draisaitl, meanwhile, carried the Oilers this year and will likely be the only 50-goal player of 2024–25. He also ranks third for points and first for power play goals.
Defenceman MVP–Cale Makar
Honorable mentions: Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes
Like his teammate MacKinnon, Cale Makar repeats as the defenceman MVP. He was head and shoulders above every other defender this year, and it wasn’t really close. His 92 points are currently 16 higher than the next closest defender, and his 30 goals are 10 more than the next closest player. He’s currently the NHL defence leader in points, goals, assists, power play points and is second for shots. His 2024–25 season is arguably the best ever by a defenceman.
Zach Werenski also deserves massive props for his career year, going from an ADP of 115 to the second-best defenceman in fantasy this year. He’s currently the only defender not named Makar to hit the 20-goal mark and is first in the NHL for shots from the blue line and second for points.
If it weren’t for a nagging injury, Quinn Hughes could’ve given Makar a run for his money. With only 65 games played this year, he still ranks third in the NHL among defenceman for points, second for assists, and second for power play points.
Goaltender MVP – Connor Hellebuyck
Honorable Mentions: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Filip Gustavsson
Just like both names above, Connor Hellebuyck also repeats as the MVP at his position. This time, however, he did it in an even more dominant fashion. Hellebuyck ranks first in the NHL for wins at 45 and is the only goalie with 40+ wins. Among starters, he also ranks first for save percentage, first for GAA at a ridiculous 1.99 GAA, and first for shutouts at eight. No one even came close to topping Hellebuyck this year.
After a down year in 2023–24, Vasilevskiy returned to the top as one of fantasy’s best goalies in 2024–25. His 37 wins, save percentage, GAA, and shutouts all trailed only Hellebuyck among starters. Filip Gustavsson earns a nod as the final nominee. The Wild starter was drafted at an ADP of 145 but currently sits seventh in the NHL for wins, third for shutouts, and fourth for save percentage.
Biggest bust–Alexander Georgiev
Dishonorable Mention: Elias Pettersson, Zach Hyman
Alexander Georgiev was easily the biggest bust in fantasy. Even though his ADP was down at 55 and as the ninth goalie off the board, his horrific 2024–25 season still earns him the nod as the biggest draft-day bust. Georgiev currently has just 15 wins, ranking 38th in the NHL among goalies. Among goaltenders with at least 30 games played, he ranks dead last with a pitiful .872 save percentage. His 3.79 GAA also ranks last. By December, Georgiev wasn’t even worth rostering.
Elias Pettersson was a close second, being drafted at an ADP of 22 but currently ranking 148th in the NHL for points with only 45. He’s also tallied just 15 goals, a number that ranks tied for 188th in the NHL. Zach Hyman earns the final nod. After a career-best season in 2023–24, his numbers fell off a cliff despite his sky-high ADP of 23. He’s currently sitting on just 27 goals and 44 points, miles away from his 54-goal, 77-point output from last season.
Best waiver addition: Kirill Marchenko
Honorable Mentions: Dylan Holloway, Mackenzie Blackwood
For this award, I only considered players drafted in less than five percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Kirill Marchenko narrowly wins this award over some other great options. The Columbus youngster was virtually undrafted in every league coming into the year after a 42-point 2023–24 season. If you were lucky enough to be the first to catch on to his breakout year, you picked up a top 40 fantasy forward for free. Marchenko is currently sitting on 31 goals and 71 points in 75 games, along with 199 shots. Those are numbers you expect from one of your first couple picks in fantasy, not a waiver claim.
In the runner-up spot, I’ve got former Oiler Dylan Holloway. Not much was expected of Holloway after leaving Edmonton via offer-sheet last summer, but he’s come out of nowhere and has had a tremendous season. He’s out injured at the moment but posted 27 goals, 63 points, 178 shots, and 165 hits. A category coverage stud like that would normally cost a very high pick.
Lastly, Mackenzie Blackwood earns the final nod. Thanks to a trade from the lowly Sharks to the high-powered Avs early in the season, Blackwood went from waiver fodder to a must-own starter in fantasy. He’s posted 28 wins, four shutouts, and a .913 save percentage after being an afterthought in drafts.
