The Hockey News’s Jake Tye posted a fantasy hockey preview for the Detroit Red Wings, whose roster’s hard to pin down given Dylan Larkin’s uncertain place within the next GM’s vision for this year’s Red Wings team.
Nonetheless, Tye suggests that Simon Edvinsson is primed for a breakout, and Tye also believes that two Wings should merit candidacy as “sleeper picks”:
Sleeper: John Gibson & Emmitt Finnie
Many goaltenders in recent years have proven that age is just a number, and Gibson is looking to do the same. After a strong first season in Hockeytown, the 33-year-old enters the final year of the eight-year deal he originally signed with Anaheim back in 2018.
He’ll look to build off that solid season with a chip on his shoulder as he plays for his next contract. With Cam Talbot gone in free agency and Detroit bringing in Daniil Tarasov as a one-year backup, Gibson should have plenty of runway, and he’s a strong bet to outplay his current 140th-overall average draft position, along with other netminders being taken ahead of him like Dustin Wolf, Tristan Jarry, Pyotr Kochetkov and Philadelphia’s tandem of Joseph Woll and Dan Vladar.
Finnie, meanwhile, was one of Detroit’s biggest surprises last season, developing rapidly from a seventh-round pick and AHL grinder into a full-time NHL regular at just 21 years old. The Lethbridge, Alberta native steadily improved his production at every level, earned a spot on Detroit’s opening-night roster, and finished his rookie campaign with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points while playing all 82 games.
With another offseason of development ahead, Finnie has the potential to keep climbing, likely remaining a top-line option alongside Larkin and Raymond, with 45-plus points within reach. Owned in just three percent of Yahoo leagues, he’s an intriguing low-cost, high-reward option to watch on the waiver wire.
Continued; I’m not sure that Finnie will still be on the Wings’ top line, but he’s established himself as someone who drives play as a relentless forechecker, and that gives him a leg up on the competition.
