Analyzing your favourite Canucks players in fantasy hockey

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 01: The Vancouver Canucks celebrate after a goal by Conor Garland #8 during the third period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on January 01, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 01: The Vancouver Canucks celebrate after a goal by Conor Garland #8 during the third period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on January 01, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
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With the 2022-23 NHL season just a few days away, let’s look at where some of your favourite Vancouver Canucks players stand in terms of their Yahoo Fantasy sports app percentages and predictions.

The Top Dogs

Coming in at the top, the Canucks have two players that have been rostered by 100% of Yahoo Fantasy Hockey users. To no one’s surprise, those two players are Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller.

After registering career-highs in goals (32), assists (67) and points (99) last year, the American-born forward is ranked 22nd overall fantasy hockey, while Hughes comes in at 48th overall and eighth among all defenders, just behind the Detroit Red Wings sophomore, Moritz Seider.

Hughes produced a total of 68 points last year, but just eight of those points were goals. There’s no doubt that Hughes is one of the more lethal offensive blueliners in the game, but still wants to improve on that statistic, as discussed in a recent interview on the 32 Thoughts Podcast.

“For me, I was happy with how my year went and I think they [Canucks] were too. For me, it’s more mental. I think Roman Josi had 110 more shots than me and I think that’s a crazy stat.”

After Miller and Hughes, the Canucks have two more players that fall in just below the 100% rostered mark in Thatcher Demko (99%) and Elias Pettersson (98%).

Demko is ranked 59th overall while also collecting the title of eighth-best ranked goalie for this season. Due to his position on the team, he is a safe pick to play at least 50 games this season, with the 60-game mark also well within reach depending on how well back-up Spencer Martin performs.

Yes, many readers are probably wondering why Demko isn’t on every roster but, according to Yahoo, only three netminders have been picked up by 100% of fantasy league players: Andrei Vasilevsky, Igor Shesterkin, and Jacob Markstrom.

After last season’s display, Demko was in the top 10 for wins but got out-shadowed by 13 different goalies in save percentage and 19 different ones in GAA.

In terms of Pettersson, the young Swedish centre is ranked just above Hughes at 47th overall following his 68-point season last year.

Every year, the expectation for Pettersson is to become a certified All-Star but, so far in his career, he has had his fair share of struggles.

Pettersson is projected to collect 609.80 fantasy points. Compare that projection to someone like Miller, who is predicted to get 745.70 points, and you can see why Pettersson isn’t on everyone’s roster.

Things To Prove

As expected, the Yahoo Fantasy roster percentages drop significantly for Canucks following Miller, Hughes, Demko and Pettersson, with Brock Boeser taking spot number five.

Boeser has been rostered by 77% of fantasy owners, indicating that Boeser still has something to prove after his 46-point season last year.

The forward is ranked 98th overall and, due to his recent injury status, is likely still a free agent in many fantasy leagues. He is predicted to score 503.20 points, which would be an improvement over last year’s 455.50 point tally, but his comeback might be slower than expected given the nature of his injury.

Boeser was initially slated to miss 3-4 weeks following successful hand surgery and, as we’ve seen before, these recoveries are never straight forward.

A recent example of this is Pettersson.

After returning from a wrist injury, Pettersson seemed to be a very different player and needed quite a bit of time to find his game again.

Prior to his injury, however, Boeser admitted to having big plans for this season, particularly when it came to hitting the elusive 30-goal mark, so we’ll see if the Minnesota native can make up for lost time once he returns to the line-up.

“This is the year. That’s all I got to say. This is the year.”

Coming in at 76% rostered, we have Bo Horvat, who is ranked at 102nd ahead of Dylan Larkin and Brayden Point.

The highlight of Horvat’s season last year was scoring 31 goals, so fans are hoping that the captain will be able to replicate this production.

Despite being slotted in as the team’s third-line centre, Horvat might still be a valuable pickup for deeper leagues, as he could see time on the team’s penalty kill, while also striking chemistry with some of the newer forward additions this year.

High Expectations

Next up, we see Vasily Podkolzin, who has been rostered by 56% of fantasy players.

This might come as a surprise after scoring just a total of 26 points last year, while also having a poor preseason with just one point in four games, but it still seems that Podkolzin has left an impression on hockey fans all over the world as one of the more enticing sophomore players this year.

Ranked 143rd in the NHL, Podkolzin’s combination of physicality and skill is great upside for fantasy owners looking for hidden gem utility players.

Last season, Podkolzin amassed 288.50 fantasy points in 79 games. Although his production was not something to shout about, his big body presence was felt nearly every night, which could be a sneaky add for fantasy owners.

The Russian trend continues on for the Canucks with Andrei Kuzmenko.

Ranked as the 1708th best player in the NHL, it seems that a handful of fans are buying into the potential of the 26-year-old and what he can achieve playing for the Canucks.

With no prior NHL experience, Kuzmenko will be a popular name in Vancouver this season, especially following his impressive preseason showing of two goals and two assists.

Moreover, Kuzmenko notched 20 goals and 53 points in the KHL last season, all of which has led to his 33% roster addition.

Yahoo predicts that Kuzmenko will score 343.10 fantasy points this year. This would be a low output for a player that is almost guaranteed a top-six spot on the team from the get-go, so only time will tell to see if Kuzmenko can shatter those projections.

Other Honourable Mentions

Conor Garland is rostered by 28% of owners and is expected to produce 514 fantasy points.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been picked up by 19% of fantasy players and is projected to be on a similar course to last year with 373.80 points.

Both Tanner Pearson and Nils Höglander are each rostered by 1% of fantasy players,

Tyler Myers is on 5% of fantasy rosters for this year.

Ilya Mikheyev has been added by 4% of owners in their respective leagues.

Next. What to expect from newly acquired defenceman Riley Stillman. dark

What are your thoughts on the fantasy hockey rankings for the Canucks this year? Let us know in the comments!

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