Fantasy sleeper D-man picks for this season?

[Axeman33]

Travis Sanheim

[Axeman33]

Dmen boys, he's looking for Dmen. Note the section and the OP

[PenguinHunter]

Travis Sanheim

Oh I hope you are right!! Would love to see him playing in the NHL... but then if he becomes a sleeper does that mean the Flyers start to score a lot more, or how much time does he eat into Ghost or Provorov.

[Pengwin7]

Most of the great D sleepers emerge when a team has a young, rising offensive D-man that could find his way onto a very dynamic PP1 unit.
Without PPP, its near impossible for a D-man to touch 40pts.
So... I look for a guy that has shown good scoring at even-strength and COULD get increase of PP time.

I like to consider the teams that could use some sort of upgrade on their PP.

Also - its hard to know if we're talking shallow-league one-year type sleepers (i.e. 30pt D-men, who might shoot up to 40+).
Or... are we talking deep-league (24 team x 20+ roster) type sleepers.

I'll do both:

Shallow-league sleepers, guys at <30pts that could pop to 40+pts:
Noah Hanifin, CAR (29pts).
Morgan Reilly, TOR (27pts)

Deeper Sleepers:
Michael Del Zotto, VAN (18pts in 51gp w/PHI)
Esa Lindell, DAL (18pts)
Mike Matheson, FLA (17pts)

If the wheels fall of Zdeno Chara this year, look for Charlie McAvoy to run big ES time incl. PP2 unit in Boston. (and maybe he can supplant Krug if he is as good as I hear)
Erik Johnson is always injured, but one of these years, if he played 75+ and got PP time, he could touch 40pts against with COL.
And... don't be surprised if MON signed the dinosaur known as Mark Streit to simply fill the LH-PP1 spot vacated by Markov. There is 20ppp right their on PP1 aside Weber, and even 40-year olds can tape a pass into Weber's wheelhouse.
NJ intrigues me too... I know Severson has run that PP in the past, and they let that French guy (Auvitu) have a shot there last year.
But Severson is not the long term answer, so others will get a shot. That's one I'll be keeping close eye on in camps.
Last year's NJ D-man PPTOI:
http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?aggr...rt=ppTimeOnIce
http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?aggr...&sort=ppPoints

[Cypher11]

For D, I like Pulock, Lindell and Montour.

[FinnishFlash]

Reilly and McAvoy are the most obvious candidates to me.

Deep sleeper - Santini in NJ

Nobody has taken charge of the blueline in NJ. Santini is a more defensive guy but has a booming shot and is a pretty slick skater. If given a shot, I think he could run with it.

[Mr. Guru]

Now that I got more time.......



Trevor Van Riemsdyk if he can get on that 2nd PP in Carolina (long shot). Same for Connor Murphy in Chicago.

I don't like Erik Johnson in Colorado but Mark Barberio could take over the 2nd PP situation. I also like Barrie for a bounce back to 45+, but thats a different subject.

Lindell as outlined above. Drafted Lindell 2 years ago so Im anticipating him making his mark soon. Had a great rookie campaign but ultimately it comes down to what Hitch thinks. New coach. New system. New assessments. New deployment.

What about Detroit? Nick Jensen might add up some points by default.

In Jersey one of Severson or Moore.....But we've been saying that for years now.

I like Wideman in Ottawa. He'll get a chance to put up 30 points I think.

Sanheim was a good recommendation in Philly.

As mentioned by P7 (I think) Edler, Stetcher or Del Zotto. I might like Hutton the best though.

Than you got Theodore of course. However, it wouldn't surprise me to see Miller take up more PP time.

[Pengwin7]

I don't see Sanheim being a big point-producer this year.
He will, be a good player down the road, but gonna be really hard for Sanheim (LH) to find a PP-role with Flyers rostering Ghost (LH) and Provorov (LH).

Though the Flyers have a great depth of young D-men, one of the bigger issues is that too many of them are lefties.
Their vets have switched over to play RD as lefties, Andy MacD and Streit both did that last year to let Ghost & Provorov play their comfortable left-sides.

D1: Provorov(LH)-AndyMacDonald(LH on right)
D2: _______(LH)-Radko Gudas (RH) [*In past years, MDZ played here... and other if MDZ was inj. This is why he was expendable by PHI, LH-stocked.]
D3: Ghost(LH)-B.Manning (RH)
D7:
The four guys up for the two spots: P.Myers(RH), Sanheim(LH), Morin(LH), Hagg(LH)

Because they no longer have a veteran D-man that can play his "off-side", you may see the Flyers go 4:1 on both PP units, Ghost one one, Provorov on one.
I'd be a bit shocked to see Sanheim supplant either Ghost or Provorov and can't see a non-vet LH being put on a 3:2 PP with Provorov (or Ghost).

Short-term, I like Sanheim & Hagg to make the two spots... with Sanheim getting the D2 spot alongside Gudas.
I do think he'll have to focus on his defensive play before he makes significant strides taking offensive risks.

Long-term, I think Philippe Myers -because he's RH- has an inside track on scoring because they could pair him in the future with Provorov on both D1 and as PP2 LH-RH pairing.
I hedge that Myers won't be viewed NHL-ready, see Hextall AHL comments below, but if he were, he could play D2 pairing with AndyMac and Gudas could pair with Provorov on D1-pairing. Full, natural 3LD-3RD.
It certainly will be B.Manning's last year with PHI so that they can open up another spot, likely a RH spot for P.Myers, by letting RH Manning go. Easy swap for 2018-2019.

Good reading towards Sanheim:
http://www.courierpostonline.com/sto...eim/469839001/

[Axeman33]

I was going to put Myers down instead of Sanheim but I have a hard time seeing him make the team this year coming out of Jr. I do prefer Myers to pretty much all of Phillys young D (the only exception is Provorov) long term as well. I can see Myers spending the majority of time in the AHL this year learning the pro game.

[jordandev]

I would have thought Morin would make the team over Sanheim this year.

[lucafen4]

Zaitsev in Tor. 33pts last near, I still like him to be a 40pt guy. Gardiner, while he had 42 last year, still flies under the radar I think.

I also like Lindell in Dal. and think Stecher will be the PP1 Dman in Van, until Juolevi is ready.

[guyladouche]

Anyone have thoughts about picking up Streit for 1mm in a multi-cat cap league? Hearing mixed reports and where he'll be deployed but he could get some quality minutes just by association

[Pengwin7]

Streit is pretty much a PPA heavy pylon these days that will block some shots. (As evidence, look at his numbers from last year. He had 1g,5a w/PIT and all 5 were on the PP.)
He doesn't shoot, he doesn't score, he doesn't PIM, he doesn't HIT, he'll play maybe 15-16min/gp on third pairing IF/when he does.

Montreal, I think, is going to give him a shot to compliment Weber on the right-point of the PP1.
If that works (and if MON has nobody else that can tape a pass to Weber), they'll keep Streit... if it doesn't, they don't need him.
This all explains the low salary offer.

I think Streit's best value is in cap leagues that are "point" heavy.
He's basically a one-trick pony: PPA - so that's gotta have heavy league weight to roster him. My 2 cents.
Multi-cat/goal-heavy, you can just pass on him... because there are other $1m D6s that will atleast give solid PIM/HIT/BLK.

[STONE.]

Blues fans gush over Dunn.
Not sure he'll make the jump this year, but had a heck of a first AHL season.

Van has their old PP coach back (from the big point years)--not sure who benefits on D though: Stecher, MDZ, or... ugh Edler.

Ryan Sproul a dark horse in Detroit? Put up points in junior... seemed to get some time last year.

[lucafen4]

Will Butcher ... if he lands in a spot that has open PP space (Vancouver)