Fantasy Hockey Post Mortem

June 9, 2008 7:00am CDT

Detroit Red Wings, (54-21-7), 1st place


FORWARDS

In a development that surprised absolutely no one, Detroit's dynamic duo of C Pavel Datsyuk (31 goals, 66 assists, 97 points) and LW Henrik Zetterberg (43-49-92) blew opponents away all season, finishing fourth and sixth in league scoring en route to leading the Wings to the President's Trophy. Both were among the top-ranked fantasy hockey players all season, and it's easy (or difficult, depending on how you look at it) to argue that one or the other had a better year statistically. Datsyuk led the league in plus/minus at +41 and PP assists with 30 and finished second in overall assists with 66, and he also scored 10 PP and six game-winning goals. Zetterberg, on the other hand, finished fifth in goal scoring (43) and plus/minus (+30), sixth in PP goals (16), and launched the second-most shots on goal in the NHL (358), in addition to popping in seven game-winners. Either way, you can't go wrong, and the two are a lock to be first-rounders in most fantasy drafts in the fall. Wingers Dan Cleary (20-22-42) and Jiri Hudler (13-29-42) were the next-highest-scoring forwards on the team, with Cleary notching his second straight 20-goal campaign in only 63 games; Tomas Holmstrom (20-20-40) and Mikael Samuelsson (11-29-40), also RWs, weren't far behind, with 40 points apiece. Holmstrom's numbers were down from previous years because he only played 59 games, but Samuelsson slumped badly this year and could be in for a big year in 2008-09. C Johan Franzen (27-11-38, including 14 PP goals) finished the season on fire, scoring 15 goals in 16 games and carrying that momentum into the playoffs, where he became a go-to guy for the Red Wings; his upside is enormous, and he should be a popular pick come fall. Another contributor who stepped it up this season was C Valtteri Filppula (19-17-36), who more than doubled his offensive output from last year. In general, you can't really go wrong with any of these guys, who all get PP points and have great plus/minuses.

DEFENSEMEN

Nicklas Lidstrom: need I say more? Try 10 goals, 60 assists, and 70 points on for size, not to mention a +40, 29 PP assists, and a solid 76 games played; not his best season, sure, but can you get any more consistent in terms of stellar fantasy seasons than Lidstrom, easily the best defenseman in the game right now? Brian Rafalski (13-42-55), a smart off-season free agent signing by Detroit, had a career year playing on the potent Wings power play, scoring a career-best 13 goals (including 10 on the power play!), and equaling or nearly equaling career highs in points (55), PIM (34), and shots on goal (175). Don't forget about that +27, either. Niklas Kronwall (7-28-35, +25) is perhaps the league's worst-kept secret, especially after this playoff season, and his 35 points in just 65 games are simply the tip of the iceberg of what promises to be a long and successful NHL career. Chris Chelios (3-9-12) isn't much of a fantasy factor any more, but Andreas Lilja (2-10-12) registered 93 PIM. Brad Stuart (6-17-23) came over at the deadline and could finally reach his offensive potential in a full season in Motor City next year.

GOALIES

In one of the more intriguing goalie situations of 2007-08, Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood started an equal number of games (40) and had nearly identical end-of-season stats: Hasek was 27-10-3 with a 2.14 GAA, .902 SV%, and five shutouts, while Osgood was 27-9-4 with a 2.09 GAA, .914 SV% and four shutouts. Osgood and Hasek were first and third in the NHL GAA leaders, although neither cracked the top 15 in save percentage or wins. If you had both on your team, consider yourself blessed, but otherwise, for much of the season you either had fantasy gold or a benchwarmer, a potentially maddening situation. Even though Osgood was the man in the playoffs, there will always be a question mark surrounding the Detroit goaltending situation as long as Hasek-Osgood remains the tandem.

Fantasy MVP: Nicklas Lidstrom

Fantasy Flop: Dominik Hasek