The Athletic asked its beat writers to answer one “burning question” in the fantasy hockey category for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and Max Bultman offered the following:
Detroit Red Wings: What does Moritz Seider have in him for an encore — and how many points will he hit?
It’s certainly not going to be easy for Seider to top his stellar rookie season, in which he chipped in 50 points from the blue line en route to the Calder Trophy. But if he’s going to top it, it has to start with an improved Red Wings power play. Detroit converted on just 16.3 percent of its man-advantage opportunities a year ago, and while Seider did pick up 21 of his 50 points on the power play, that number could grow if the Red Wings find a way to be better five-on-four. Interestingly, the coach in charge of the power play, Alex Tanguay, was the only one retained from the previous staff, but you can still expect Detroit to revisit its approach under new coach Derek Lalonde. By this point, you can feel good that Seider is going to bring production (and hits, if you play in a bangers league), but a better power play could take him one level higher. — Max Bultman
Continued (paywall);
Update: Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin also offers a “bold fantasy hockey prediction” regarding Seider:
Moritz Seider finishes as a top-three fantasy defenseman in banger formats.
Even the rookie version of Seider finished as the No. 11 fantasy blueliner in my scoring system. His Calder Trophy campaign included 50 points, 187 shots, 151 hits, 161 blocks and 0.0 missed games. He’s established himself as a horse at both ends of the ice, which will keep his workload in the 23-minute range at worst, and with the Red Wings adding more talent around him, he should rack up additional assists, particularly on the power play, where UFA signee David Perron is a wizard.
