Frozen Forensics: Matt Beleskey

Derek Gibson

2015-07-03

USATSI 8587927 154511096 lowres

Matt Beleskey could have good fantasy value in Boston next season. 

Ah yes, July 1st. It's basically the last bastion of sanity for hockey fans. The Cup Final is completed, the draft is completed, and all that was left was that mighty July 1st: the beginning of free agency. This is the time when teams spend like drunken sailors in a foreign port call, lavishly throwing money at players, hoping they're the right fit for their club.

Fantasy owners watch with great anticipation as well. If you're in a keeper league, will one of your players who is an unrestricted free agent, jump ship for the money? Leave behind a great situation (fantasy-wise for you at least), for a less-than appealing set up? This July 1st spending spree was actually quite tame, in all honesty. There were not many "big" names that signed on the dotted line (Phil Kessel being dealt to Pittsburgh was obviously a huge deal). Lots of intrigue for sure, and no player seemed to garner as much anticipation heading into the turn of the calendar than forward Matt Beleskey, the former Anaheim Duck, who was signed to a five year, $19 million deal with the Boston Bruins. Perfect fit right? Rugged, tough winger, who comes in to replace the recently departed fan favorite, Milan Lucic. Will it work? Will he be fantasy relevant? Let's take a look.

Marchand-Bergeron-Connolly

Eriksson-Spooner-Hayes

As you can see, Beleskey has a very good shot of getting significant ice time on a line centered by either Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Using the Dobber Frozen Pool Line Production Tool, I looked into the 2013-14 regular season for Milan Lucic with the Bruins. This past season just seemed like a bad comparable due to key injuries to Krejci that plagued him for virtually the entire season, and Lucic was wildy inconsistent in 2014-15 as well.

EV

IGINLA,JAROME – KREJCI,DAVID – LUCIC,MILAN

38

64.41%

PP

IGINLA,JAROME – KREJCI,DAVID – LUCIC,MILAN

10

16.95%

EV

ERIKSSON,LOUI – KREJCI,DAVID – LUCIC,MILAN

3

5.08%

EV

BERGERON,PATRICE – IGINLA,JAROME – KREJCI,DAVID – LUCIC,MILAN

2

3.39%

Looking at Lucic's production, it's easy to see that yes, he was playing with a future Hall of Famer in Jarome Iginla, but the whole key to that line was Krejci. When healthy, Krejci is a highly-skilled and creative playmaker, and he has that knack of holding onto the puck just long enough to create that extra space for his net-crashing line mates. This is where Beleskey could potentially enjoy some point production. Add sophomore sensation David Pastrnak into the fold, and Beleskey could easily build upon his career high of 22 goals from last season.

Keep an eye on Matt Beleskey in your drafts come September. He could be excellent value in later rounds, and at the age of 27, he could just be hitting his prime as a consistent fantasy producer.

Other reads:

Frozen Forensics: Thomas Vanek 

Frozen Forensics: Ryan Spooner

Frozen Forensics: Steve Downie

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Jun 20 - 20:06 EDM vs FLA

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
MASON MARCHMENT DAL
RYAN DONATO CHI
FABIAN ZETTERLUND OTT
TRENT FREDERIC EDM
MAVRIK BOURQUE DAL

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
JOEL HOFER STL
DARCY KUEMPER L.A
JOHN GIBSON ANA
SERGEI BOBROVSKY FLA
DANIIL TARASOV CBJ

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency WPG Players
25.2 GABRIEL VILARDI MARK SCHEIFELE KYLE CONNOR
15.4 NINO NIEDERREITER ADAM LOWRY MASON APPLETON
12.7 COLE PERFETTI VLADISLAV NAMESTNIKOV NIKOLAJ EHLERS

DobberHockey Podcasts

Keeping Karlsson: Kreider Down South

Elan and Brian check in on the NHL playoffs (and the Keeping Karlsson Playoff Pool), announce a change to the draft rules for Season 11 of the Keeping Karlsson Ultimate Patron Fantasy League (KKUPFL), share thoughts on the one single relevant offseason transaction so far, and put a handful of 2024-25 breakout performances under the microscope to see if they’ll continue into 2025-26.

Fantasy Hockey Life: Montreal Canadiens with Ryan Szporer

Ryan Szporer is back to report on the Montreal Canadiens. Jesse and Victor interview Ryan about returning pros Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Juraj Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Sam Montembeault, and Jakub Dobes. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Jakub Dobes, Cayden Primeau, and Jacob […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Detroit Red Wings with Max Bultman

Max Bultman of the Athletic is here to report on the Detroit Red Wings. Jesse and Victor interview Max about returning pros Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Marco Kasper, JT Compher, Elmer Soderblom, Andrew Copp, Vladimir Tarasenko, Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Erik Gustafsson, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK