Fantasy: 5 players to target on the Minnesota Wild
With your fantasy draft just around the corner, theScore's Ian McLaren and Darren Kritzer take a look at 5 players you should consider drafting this season.
Top Targets
Thomas Vanek
After failing to impress as a pending free agent in the Stanley Cup playoffs one season ago for the Montreal Canadiens, Vanek still ended up with a lucrative deal in the offseason, signing a three-year, $19.5-million contract with the Minnesota Wild. Vanek, coming off a 27-goal, 41-assist campaign for the Sabres, Islanders and Canadiens, netted only 10 points in 17 playoff games, failing to find any sort of chemistry with the likes of Tomas Plekanec.
Vanek, who makes his home in Minnesota, is looking to regain his scoring touch with his new team, and should help the Wild improve on their 2.43 goals per game average a season ago.
Expect him to play on a line with Mikael Granlund and good friend Jason Pominville, which should eliminate chemistry issues going forward.
Zach Parise
After appearing in every regular-season game prior to last season, Parise played in just 67 games, missing almost a month with a broken foot, and recorded 29 goals and 27 assists. His 0.84 points per game average was his best since the 2009-10 season. The addition of Vanek to the first power-play unit that will consist of Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon should help his point total.
Parise also recorded a Corsi For percentage of 57.1 and 56.9 when on the ice with Mikko Koivu the last two seasons, so expect to see a similar result.
Proceed With Caution
Ryan Suter
When you here the name Ryan Suter in fantasy, you instantly think of drafting him as a top 10 player, but the 29-year-old ranked just 17th in points by defensemen last season, tied with the New York Rangers' Ryan McDonagh and Andrei Markov of the Canadiens.
Suter did tie a career-high in goals with eight, and recorded a career-high with 150 shots in 2013-14, but his 0.52 points per game average was his lowest since the 2009-10 season.
Suter should improve his offensive numbers this year, but stay cautious if he's still on the board early. Target him around the seventh round.
Mikko Koivu
Playing with Zach Parise on an everyday basis will only bring out the best in Koivu this year (see above with Corsi analysis playing with Parise).
Even though his points per game average of 0.83 was an improvement over his 0.77 from the previous season - in which he played every game, if I might add - he does only provide you with points, as the 31-year-old has failed to score more than 12 goals the last three seasons.
Take A Flier On
Mikael Granlund
After watching plays like this night after night, Granlund might not be much of a sleeper in fantasy, although his eight goals in 63 games last year was a bit concerning.
Granlund enjoyed a successful playoff run, scoring four goals and adding three assists in 13 games, while playing on the top line, so he's shown fantasy owners that playing with the right linemates will help him develop into a potential fantasy star.
Take a chance on him in the middle rounds. A breakout season may be on the horizon.