(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)
Again with the lists. This time, fantasy experts took their shot at predicting players that will drop in production and be this season’s busts. A few Golden Knights were unfortunately selected in Sports Illustrated’s newest list of fantasy flunkies.
One of the first players SI cautions fantasy GM’s to steer clear from is Vegas’ left-handed sniper.
Max Pacioretty (Golden Knights) ESPN: 67 | NHL: 68 | CBS: 81
Let’s get this out of the way: Max Pacioretty went berserk in the playoffs, scoring five goals in seven games, and he dominated when playing with Mark Stone and Paul Stastny. That as much as anything is fueling the hope that Pacioretty will become a 30-goal scorer again. Turning 31 in November, Pacioretty hasn’t surpassed 22 goals and has missed 34 games in the last two seasons. He’s no longer a threat to record lofty shot totals, making his floor lower than other players in his range.-Sportsnet
The next Golden Knight to skip in your fantasy draft according to SI, could be considered VGK’s most reliable player.
Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights) ESPN: 68 | NHL: 24 | CBS: 22
How many more good years can Vegas get out of Marc-Andre Fleury, who is turning 35 this year, while also expecting him to carry the lionshare of the workload? While the departure of defenseman Colin Miller isn’t a death blow to Vegas’s defense, it also doesn’t do Flower any favors. His career has been revitalized since joining the Golden Knights (64 wins, 2.40 goals against average, .919 save percentage) and his potential “bust” label is based more on his longevity than his ability. Avoid reaching for Fleury in early rounds when his value should be much safer as a second-tier goalie.-Sportsnet
Albeit a soft critique from Sports Illustrated, but beyond his age, I doubt Golden Knights fans agree with their reasoning. Las Vegas loved watching Colin Miller rip shots on net, but let’s be honest, his departure won’t hurt Fleury. It’s fair to be concerned with the 34-year-old goalie’s workload but I’m assuming the coaching staff has a preservation plan in place for 2019-2020.
SI also has low expectations for Patrice Bergeron, Mark Giordano, and Pekka Rinne. The common theme with all of these players is age, and it makes sense in a young man’s league. As we’re watching this summer, RFA’s are taking over.
As for us, we’re expecting big years out of Mark Stone, Jonathan Marchessault, and Shea Theodore. Ken decided to embarrass himself and give point predictions a go for VGK’s top five forwards and three defensemen.
Ken’s Point Predictions
Forwards
Mark Stone – 73 points (31 G, 42 A)
Jonathan Marchessault – 68 points (35 G, 33A)
William Karlsson – 67 points (23 G, 44 A)
Max Pacioretty – 52 points (23 G, 29 A)
Paul Stastny – 51 points (11 G, 40 A)
Defensemen
Shea Theodore – 42 points (14 G, 28 A)
Nate Schmidt – 40 points (11 G, 29 A)
Jimmy Schuldt – 21 points (3 G, 18 A)
Mark
Agree about preserving Fluery. We need a good back up, I think Subban is a good choice. Fluery will never say he needs a day off, so Gallant and Co. need to make that call. They key to this season is having Glass, Whitecloud and Schuldt steping up, we need these guys being productive. Their is no need to keep them at Chicago. Play em or get draft picks, their time is now, IMOP !!
A Fan
I have some concerns about Max, I don’t think his numbers will be as good as Ken mentioned. Subban as the back-up could hurt us over the season I feel. I also felt Gusev would have been a great addition, should have figured out a way to sign him. Why hasn’t Schuldt been signed yet? Send Holden packing and bring up a couple of the young D’s. This is going to be a very interesting year, can’t wait for it to start.
Nathan
VGK isn’t built on producing fantasy hockey darlings. It’s a team that cares about the points in the win column and not who puts the goals/assists on the board. I play a ton of fantasy sports at various levels and across three sports and there is a clear distinction between great actual player vs great fantasy player in most cases.
Look, there are stars at both (see Kucherov or Ovechkin as hockey examples). You often hear “take the points” in the daily fantasy pundit articles and podcasts, meaning this guy will score and everyone will own him, but don’t get cute trying to find someone else to do better, just take the points and move on.
At the end of the day if this actual team plays well it probably doesn’t include top line fantasy stars, that’s not how it’s constructed. Fantasy results and real life team wins are not comparable. I’d rather be a 100 point team made up of 50 point players than a 70 point team made of one 100 point player.
Faith Dunphy
Well said!!
schmitty 88
si can stick it
Gary G Elder
I have been telling people the Knights are relying too much on MAF. Now that his defense is being shredded and replaced with rookies and a 37 year old guy who makes everyone around him worse, it will be interesting to see what happens. VGK has no viable replacement for MAF and no money to get one. This article also left off that Pac is a – player. Pac scored most of his playoff goals when Vlasic was injured. I am also expecting Karlssons numbers to continue to decrease now that he has his contract.
Cody
Fleury is still top 5-7 goalies in the league.