Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin posted a 300-player list of fantasy hockey performers, and here are where the Red Wings’ players finished on his list:
64. Dylan Larkin, C, Red Wings: Point-per-game production and a nice shot total await, but he has missed double-digit games in three of his past four seasons. Time to officially slap the injury-prone label on him. He’s an 80-point player who gets you 70 because of time missed.
75. Lucas Raymond, RW, Red Wings: Kudos if you believed in the talent like I did. We deserved the breakout last year. It came with a shooting percentage of 19.0 and merely ordinary contributions in multi-cat fantasy formats. Raymond is great, but he’s a bit more valuable in real life than fantasy.
87. Moritz Seider, D, Red Wings: Argh. I thought he would be a multi-category fantasy king by now. But Detroit holds his ceiling back by (a) giving him incredibly tough minutes and (b) keeping him off PP1. So we have to settle for “only” 40 points, 200 hits, 200 blocks and 150 shots.
91. Alex DeBrincat, LW, Red Wings: He’s as durable as can be, which makes his 25-goal, 65-point floor bankable. But where did the goal-scoring ceiling go? DeBrincat’s finishing has evaporated the past couple years. I’m hoping he gets back to 40 goals, but he hasn’t even scored 30 since 2021-22.
103. Patrick Kane, RW, Red Wings: Showed last season that he wasn’t finished. Far from it, as he flirted with a point per game. I’m keeping his ranking conservative because the injury risk hasn’t gone anywhere. He’ll carry it for the remainder of his Hall of Fame career.
141. Cam Talbot, G, Red Wings: He’ll get every chance to start for a Wings team hellbent on making the playoffs. On the other hand, Detroit is a vastly inferior defensive club to L.A., meaning Talbot’s rate stats could slip even if his volume stats don’t.
183. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, Red Wings: The upside is gone, but he’s a safe bet to play more than the 15:44 he averaged with Florida. His game-breaking ability is dwindling at 32, but the increased minutes could help him deliver another season in the 55-60-point range.
259. Erik Gustafsson, D, Red Wings: Has always been an efficient scorer, and it appears he’ll get a look running Detroit’s PP1 ahead of Seider. A solid late-round sleeper if you prefer to wait on defensemen.
274. J.T. Compher, C, Red Wings: He’ll be good for at least half a point per game and not much else. Empty calories.
Continued; discuss at your leisure.
