Now that our annual fantasy hockey seasons have come to a collective end, I thought this week would be a great time for some reflection. Every year is guaranteed to have its fair share of both breakthrough stars and underachievers alike. A lot of times a player's performance is heavily influenced by their team environment and how much chemistry they can form with their linemates. There's a ton of factors that can move the needle on a player one way or the other. Let's check out some players who have stood out this season, for better or worse!

Booms

Kirill Kaprizov (LW- MIN)

So right off the bat I'm getting a little weird with things by highlighting a rookie. When trying to come up with "breakthrough players", you don't usually think of a first-year player, but in this case, I think Kaprizov fits the bill perfectly. Coming over from the KHL, Kaprizov entered the year with a decent amount of hype. However, playing on a Wild roster that hasn't exactly been known for its offensive production in recent memory kind of tampered my expectations for the Russian rookie. There's been a ton of KHL players who decided to take their talents to North America in years past, and sometimes the transition is not always a smooth one. 

In 55 contests this season, Kaprizov potted 27 goals and added 24 assists for a total of 51 points. Safe to say the transition wasn't a problem as he was on pace for a 76-point campaign had we had a full 82 game season. Kaprizov has managed to develop great chemistry with his linemates Victor Rask and Mats Zuccarello. Another thing for fantasy owners will love is his power play deployment, which saw him play an impressive 61.8% on the man advantage. He averaged just a hair under three shots per game which is right where you hope to see your fantasy forwards at. While not a traditional rookie in the sense of age, Kaprizov is still only 24 and right in the prime of his career. There's still room for growth with this player, so be excited as a fantasy owner because the sky’s the limit for Kirill the Thrill!

Chris Driedger (G- FLA)

This is another odd pick, but like Kaprizov, I think is also warranted. Chris Driedger got his big break last season making 12 starts for the Panthers and posting an impressive 7-2-1 record with a sparkling 2.05 GAA and a save percentage of .938. In his limited time with the team, he clearly made a good impression. Fast-forward back to this season and Driedger has been able to sustain those elite numbers through double the playing time he had in the year previous. In 23 games this season, Driedger has a 14-6-3 record with a 2.07 GAA and a save percentage of .927 and even three shutouts to boot!

It's definitely been a platoon situation in Florida with Driedger and Sergei Bobrovsky sharing the crease. Although Bobrovsky has had the lion's share, Driedger has still made enough starts to be a useful goalie for fantasy owners. As long as you had another start to share time with, picking up Driedger off waivers would have been a fantastic supplemental add for your team this season.

That being said, going forward things might get a little dicey. The Panthers decided to call up major goaltending prospect, and World Junior gold medalist Spencer Knight late in the regular season. I'm very curious to see how the Panthers handle this situation going into next season. Bobrovsky is still pretty early into his massive contract extension, so it would be hard to imagine that he goes anywhere. Driedger has been somewhat of a revelation for Florida this season and definitely deserves a shot to play semi-regularly. But, at the same time it seems like the Panthers are set on Knight being the future franchise goalie. Driedger's contract is up after this year and I'd be surprised if he was back in the Sunshine State next season. It will be worth keeping an eye out where he lands as that could be the difference of whether he could be a fantasy mainstay or if this season was just a case of catching lightning in a bottle.

Busts

Dylan Larkin (C-DET)

When I had this article in mind, this is the first name I thought of. Yes, he plays on the Red Wings, who have been a hot mess in recent memory. And yes, he did battle through some injuries this season. But with all that in mind, I still can't help but to be disappointed in his fantasy production this season. In 44 games Larkin scored a mere nine goals and added 14 helpers for a total of 23 points. That's certainly not the performance you were hoping out of your team captain and franchise player. While the raw results aren't great, there's still reason to be hopeful Larkin can turn it around.

He still is averaging three shots per game, which is a great clip. While it's still down comparatively from his breakout campaign in 2018-19 when he was averaging 3.8 shots a game, it's still a respectable number. Another thing about this year was his shooting percentage was an abysmal 6.7 percent. He's never had a super high shooting percentage, but I think staying under seven percent is unsustainably low. Watch for that number to climb next season. He's also a lock for top power play, so he's always going to have sufficient opportunity to get power play points for your fantasy team as well. Over the past few seasons Larkin had also made strides in his ability to win draws, but that number regressed a fair amount this season too. He went from 52.4 percent faceoffs won down to 49.5 this year 

While things certainly trended in the wrong direction for Larkin in the 2020-21 season, there's still a ton of time for him to find his game and turn things around. With Steve Yzerman as the helm in Detroit, the general consensus is that the Red Wings will be improving sooner rather than later, so hopefully Larkin is a byproduct of that. And above all else, Larkin still possesses some of the best speed in the NHL, and unless that changes, he will always have the potential to be a special player.

Patrik Laine (LW-CBJ)

There were some high expectations heading into this season for Finnish sniper Patrik Laine. He was on the last year of a two-year bridge deal, and many people were anticipating a big year from him going into free agency this summer. Things certainly changed quickly though, as he was dealt by the Winnipeg Jets early in the season to the Columbus Blue Jackets for center Pierre-Luc Dubois. It was pretty much doomed after that if we're being honest. The combination of Laine and coach John Tortorella was like water and oil. Tortorella demands the best out of his players and wants maximum effort on both ends of the ice. Between the intense expectations of his coach and the constant line shuffling, you can kind of see why Laine floundered in his new environment.  Add in the fact that the Blue Jackets were already a pretty dismal team offensively and you have the perfect recipe for a bust.

Between his time in Winnipeg and Columbus, Laine netted 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 total points in 46 games. Perhaps most alarming was his shots per game average, which dipped down to a mere 1.8 shots per game. Laine has been an average three shots per game player his entire career, so to see this number drop below two is not a good sign. It will be fascinating to see where he lands this offseason. I'm confident he can find a home where he will thrive and get back to being an elite goal scorer, but this season definitely hurt both himself and fantasy owners alike.

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That wraps up our look into some booms and busts of the past fantasy season. Going forward in the offseason there will probably be more reflection on the season that was, so if you find that appealing be sure to check back on Sundays for more Geek of the Week articles! Until then, everyone enjoy the start of the NHL playoffs!