Here are the 10 best contracts in (fantasy) hockey…

Last week, we looked at the worst contracts in the NHL. This week, I decided to go in the other direction, and focus on players who bring a lot to the fantasy table for relatively good cap hits.

As mentioned before, one of the keys to being a successful cap league manager is to get players who have great cap hits and contribute in a lot of different areas.

To make this a bit easier, I decided I wouldn't include any entry level deals, and I'm going to use cap hits for next season, so some free agents and restricted free agents have not been considered for this list.

I'm also focusing on guys whose cap hit are more of a surprise. Sure, pretty much everyone knows John Tavares has a great cap hit at $5.5 million, or Crosby can be a steal at his cap hit depending on your settings. But for the most part, I tried to stay away from the superstars.

By the way, if you owned every guy on this list for next year, your team cap hit would be around $28.15 million, an average of $2.8 million per player. And you would be in contention to win almost every category in your league.

10. Martin Hanzal

Hanzal is one of those sneaky guys who will secretly win you fantasy hockey championships. He brings a lot to the table, scoring 15 goals, 25 assists, 73 penalty minutes, five power play goals and two game-winning goals. He's also one of the best faceoff guys in the league, with a 54.5 winning percentage. That's a bargain at $3.1 million.

9. Bryan Little

Little is one of the more underrated fantasy performers. Lost among the buzz of Dustin Byfuglien, Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler, Little has quietly turned himself into a top-line player capable of putting up decent fantasy numbers.  He just had a career year, but owners have been seeing a steady increase in fantasy numbers for a few years. This year, Little had 23 goals and 64 points, a plus-eight (one of the best on the team), eight power play goals, two shorthanded goals and 58 penalty minutes. And somehow, five players on the Jets make more than Little's $4.7 million. 

8. Braden Holtby

Holtby struggled at times this season and lost his starting job twice, but the 24-year-old is still seen as the goalie of the future in Washington. In just 48 games, Holtby posted a respectable 23-15-4 record and a .915 save percentage. While that may not be top 10 goalie material, his cap hit surely is. Holtby is signed for another season at $1.85 million, giving him great value in cap leagues.

7. Victor Hedman

A potential-Norris candidate, Hedman had a great season, and many think he can only get better. This past season, the 23-year-old had 13 goals, 55 points (which was fifth in the league among defencemen), a plus-five, 53 pims, three power play goals, two game-winning goals and 170 shots. He's signed for $4 million for the next three years, so even if he plateaus from here on out, he's good player in a cap world.

6. Max Pacioretty

Signed for five more seasons at just $4.5 million, it didn't take long for Pacioretty to show he's a bargain in the league. His 39 goals was fourth in the league, and his 11 game-winning goals was tops. He also put up 21 assists, 35 penalty minutes, a plus-eight, 10 power play goals and one shorthanded goal. He also put 270 shots on net which was 10^th in the league. He's slated to be on the top line for the next few years, and it's tough to find a top line winger who can get 35-plus goals for less than $5 million.

5. Kyle Okposo

People like to make fun of the Islanders lack of success, but they have a knack for finding guys for cheap cap hits and letting them go before they cost too much (see Parenteau, P.A., and Moulson, Matt). Okposo falls into the category now. A few years back, he put up 52 points, but since then, he's been a 40-point guy. This year, he managed to break through in a big way. He put up 69 points in just 71 games, but had 10 points in 12 games once John Tavares went down with an injury. They best news for cap leagues is he's signed for just $2.8 million for the next two seasons. So even if he does regress next year to 45-55 points, that's still a good cap hit.

4. Gustav Nyquist

We all know of Nyquist's accomplishments this year. With half of the Wings on the IR, Nyquist almost single-handily brought the team into the playoffs. In just 57 games, he finished with 28 goals, 48 points, a plus-16, six power play goals, and six game-winning goals. Next season, Nyquist will be making just $950,000. While the jury is still out if he can repeat his big year, even half of what he accomplished this year is great for his cap hit.

3. Derek Stepan

With a team including Brad Richards, Rick Nash and Chris Kreider, it's Stepan who is proving to be the offensive leader of the Rangers. This year, the 23-year-old was second on the team in points with 57, second in plus-minus with 12 and third in shots with 199. Last season, Stepan led the team in points, plus-minus and game-winning goals. In 2011-12, he put up 51 points, a plus-14 and four game winning goals. And he's making a little more than $3 million next year.

2. Ben Bishop

The Vezina trophy-candidate is due for a big pay raise, but it won't be coming for a little while yet. Bishop, who is signed for another season at $2.3 million, really broke through in his first season as an NHL starter. He finished in the top 10 for most of the major goalies cats, including wins (fourth with 27), saves (eighth with 1,625), save percentage (seventh at .924), goals against average (seventh at 2.23), shutouts (fourth with fifth), minutes played (seventh at 3,586) and even penalty minutes (10^th with four).

1. Radko Gudas

Gudas brings pretty much everything you would want in a defensive defenceman, and helps fantasy owners win many of the peripheral categories. He's a prime example why you need to be careful when you calculate points per cap hit. This past season, Gudas was third in the league with 273 hits, 33^rd with 138 blocked shots, and sixth with 152 penalty minutes. His three goals, 19 assists and plus-two were a bonus. The best thing is he is signed for just under $1 million for the next two seasons.