Fantasy hockey awards – Scorers, rookies, and surprises who thrilled the fantasy world

Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.comApr 9, 2024, 03:00 PM ET

CloseSean Allen is a fantasy analyst for ESPN.com. He was the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hockey Writer of the Year. You can tweet him @seanard.

It’s time to pass out the fantasy hardware to the hard-working players of the NHL that made this 2023-24 season so much fun to draft, trade and set our lineups in our fantasy hockey leagues.

Fantasy hardware

Fantasy Art Ross Trophy

Finalists: Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov

(Likely) Winner: Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche

We still have another week and change to play out, but MacKinnon has a commanding enough lead that it’s probably safe to call it. Heading into Tuesday’s action, he has 280.8 fantasy points, leading Matthews by 13.9 and Kucherov by 27.2. Interestingly, no goalies came close to even being in the mix this season, which is part of a broader trend discussed in this space a couple weeks ago. As it stands, Connor Hellebuyck will be the top tender and he currently sits 20th overall in fantasy points.

Fantasy Hart Trophy

Finalists: Sam Reinhart (62.9 average draft position), Artemi Panarin (89.7 ADP), Sergei Bobrovsky (166.0 ADP)

Winner:

While Reinhart had a pending-UFA season for the ages and Panarin reclaimed his mojo as the top Rangers threat, Bobrovsky had a massive return to form that parlayed out of his sensational playoff performance last season. If you drafted him late and crossed your fingers that his 2023 playoff performance carried over, you were duly rewarded.

Fantasy Calder Trophy

Finalists: Connor Bedard, Brock Faber, Pyotr Kochetkov

Winner: Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild

This is an easy decision. While Bedard is exactly as billed as a future fantasy superstar, Faber’s emergence as the dominant presence on the Wild blue line in his rookie campaign is arguably more impressive — and it resulted in more fantasy points. Heading into action Tuesday, Faber has 146.9 fantasy points to Bedard’s 128.3. Yes, Bedard…


Source link : https://www.espn.com/fantasy/hockey/story/_/id/39907916/fantasy-hockey-awards-scorers-rookies-surprises-thrilled-fantasy-world

Author : Sean Allen

Publish date : 2024-04-09 20:23:51

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