Fantasy hockey breakout players for 2024

As part of Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit, Geoff Ulrich broke down his fantasy hockey breakout players for 2024:

Last week we released the full version Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit for 2024including the overall rankings of the top 150 players.

Many of these top players will receive a ton of insight and analysis before the season begins, making it a little more difficult to capitalize on the early-round draft advantage. Ranks can help us prepare for drafts, but they also don't tell the whole story. When we as drafters know which players have the best chance or are capable of outperforming their current ADP (average draft position) by several times, we can make better-informed decisions when choosing between multiple players.

Before we get into that today, be sure to take a look at our position rankings for the following:

Today we're focusing solely on the breakout players who have the potential to potentially boost their draft day ADPs this year and return great fantasy value.

Candidates for the 2024 Fantasy Hockey Breakout

Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars (Yahoo ADP: 47)

Johnston is just 21 years old, entering his third full season with the Stars, and looks like a player on the verge of achieving big things. Despite often playing on the second or third line last season, Johnston managed to post a career-best point total, increasing his point total to 41 over his rookie year.

Johnston is a versatile player and now looks like he'll start the season on the front line following Dallas' retirement Joe Pavelski. If we're being honest, Johnston had already replaced Pavelski in the Stars' top six in the second half of last season and made a name for himself in the playoffs, where he scored 10 goals in 19 games. However, since the veteran is no longer there, there should also be more power play time for the third-year player, who scored 85% of his points at regular strength last year.

I would like to see him develop into at least a PPG player this year and finish the year as a top 30 fantasy producer.

Logan Thompson, G, Washington Capitals (Yahoo ADP: 172)

When I was making our goalie rankings for the year, I always felt like I wasn't ranked Logan Thompson high enough – even after being ranked G19 in our full season rankings, which is about 6-7 spots higher than most people have him.

Thompson has never played more than 42 games in a season, but the former Golden Knight has started 78 games over the past two seasons and has a career .912 SV% and four shutouts in 94 career starts. At 1.80 m tall, he is considered one of the tall, athletic goalkeepers who can handle the rigors of a heavy workload and still put up solid numbers.

Charlie Lindgren He's projected to be a 1A option for Washington, but he's smaller in stature, has worse career stats in a comparable sample size and was missed in the playoffs last season.

Thompson should be given leeway in the starting lineup, and if he starts well, he could rack up 55 starts and 30-plus wins, making him a prime breakout candidate for the new season.

Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa Senators (Yahoo ADP: 196)

Sanderson plays on a team that has some great top talent Brady Tkachuk And Tim Stützle and is expected to play on the Senators' top pairing and top power play unit early in the year. With a larger stature (6'2″, 203 lbs) and another year of maturity under his belt, he also distinguishes himself as a player who can handle a larger workload and should improve his time-on-ice (TOI) stats again, after playing an average of 23 minutes per game in the 2023-24 season.

The Senators' offense will need to take at least a small step forward for Sanderson to break out, but he should be able to surpass his 28 assists from last season – and has already proven to be an above-average shooter for his position is . With his current ADP, he is the type of player whose chances I want to bet on in 2024/25.

Gustav Forsling, D, Florida Panthers (Yahoo ADP: 93)

From a fantasy perspective, Forsling could be what you would call a “by attrition” winner this season. It's over Brandon Montourwho ate up a lot of power play time for the Panthers last year, and which they also brought in Adam Boqvist As a potential replacement, Boqvist has yet to show enough consistency to secure a long-term contract or qualify for more than 52 games in a single season.

In short, the Panthers will replace Montour largely through home production and for a while Aaron Ekblad will likely take over back-end duties on PP1, Forsling is also expected to see an increase in usage – and given Ekblad's injury history, he may be asked to do more.

Forsling has put up 41 and 39 points over the last two seasons, respectively, with just 8.7% of those points coming on the power play. If his special teams production skyrockets, he could move into the top 15 fantasy producers on the back end, giving him major breakout potential in 2024-25.

Andrei Kuzmenko, RW, Calgary Flames (Yahoo ADP: 203)

Kuzmenko scored 22 goals in 72 games last year, split between Vancouver and Calgary. The 28-year-old's performance faltered after his breakthrough 39-goal season in 2022-23, but with Calgary's lack of pure goal scorers, Kuzmenko should have the opportunity to get big minutes on the top line and on the power play every night collect .

I expect this to be a bit of a lost season for the Flames franchise in general, as they currently have over 300 points to make the playoffs according to DraftKings Sportsbook, but if they don't acquire any more young talent as the season progresses , Kuzmenko should have a place at the top all season.

Bottom line, he's a solid mid-round pick who will likely fall further back in the draft than he should, considering he's in a good position to return to his 2022-23 production level.

Alex Laferriere, RW, Los Anegles Kings (Yahoo ADP: 565)

Laferriere only scored 21 points in 81 games last season, but the fact that he was able to break into the Kings' deeper lineup and play a full season for the big club shows how much appreciation LA has for the 22-year-old.

The Kings' depth chart also favors Laferriere at the moment, as they seem hell-bent on keeping LW Kevin Fiala on the second row, meaning Laferriere will start the season on the top row next to it Anze Kopitar And Adrian Kempe– where he also spent a large part of his time towards the end of last season.

Laferriere was a solid scorer in college and with his ice time likely to increase by 20% or more this season, his status as a breakout player appears strong heading into the new season.

Other names to keep an eye on:

• Owen Tippett, LW, Philadelphia Flyers
• Dylan Strome, C, Washington Capitals
• Jake DeBrusk, LW, Vancouver Canucks
• Connor Ingram, G, Utah Hockey Club

More fantasy hockey analysis for 2024