For most of you, the fantasy season has ended and you've either won or lost you championships. Congratulations to those of you that won, and to those that lost there is always next year. Some leagues won't officially conclude until May 1^st (some leagues run their finals for 2 weeks and have opted to add the final game of Winnipeg vs Seattle), so some owners out there still have a few more days left of fantasy hockey. To those of you who are in that boat, soak it all up while its available, the summer is going to be long, and we will all miss fantasy hockey during that period.

Before I get into the full details of who you can look at keeping as members of your fantasy squad going into next year, I am going to list a few players that those of you who are still competing in your league's championships can look at to help give you some depth for the final days of the season. As always, your league may operate differently than others, so please make sure you know your format before taking any sort of advice from anybody.

With that out of the way, I'll move into discussing some of the players that I believe will carry a lot of value next year. This list is not going to be including the must roster players like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, etc., it's more so going to be players that are realistically able to be traded for, aren't the clear-cut superstars of the league, and possibly some of the more forgotten about assets in the NHL. Like always, my lists aren't done in any set order, and the positions listed come from the main website of the National Hockey League.

* With this group of players being labelled as players that you can use as building blocks for your rosters next year, for the contracts I will be listing what their status is at the start of the season. Example is William Carrier, a guy who technically has three years left on his current contract (includes the rest of this season), I will label him as a guy who has two years left given the context of the article. Contract lengths will be looked at from the start of the 2022-2023 season. *

#1) Radko Gudas– D – Florida Panthers

Contract: $2.5M – 1 Year remaining
Roster Percentages: 18.9% ESPN, 55% Yahoo, 55% Fantrax

Most salary-cap leagues that I am in and from what I've seen others take part in score based on categories, so a player like Gudas is amazing to own. Yes, that isn't a typo, he had 355 hits in a single season, 4.6 hits per game is a very high clip to produce at meanwhile holding steady with almost 120 blocks and keeping his average TOI over 18 minutes. That level of TOI is around the area I try to keep me starting roster players at most times, obviously that isn't always possible, but I believe that is around the mark where they start to not be a big hinderance to your TOI category. Even for leagues where you score based on points earned for various contributions, if your league gives you points for hits, he is a player to keep on eye on. He may not earn you much in the way of pure scoring, he will help you lock down the peripheral categories without breaking a sweat.

#2) Jakob Chychrun – D – Arizona Coyotes

Contract: $4.6M – 3 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 64.1% ESPN, 46% Yahoo, 76% Fantrax

Being a member of the Arizona Coyotes certainly does come with limitations when it comes to producing in the standard O-Zone metrics, sure he had a slow start to the season, but I wouldn't be concerned with a player of his talent. There were rumors that he was going to be traded at the trade deadline, as we all know that didn't happen. If he does become a permanent fixture in Arizona, surely that team will start putting it together and figuring it out with control of the puck. Expect Chychrun to be a major part of that system if he stays there, if not you can expect his traditional numbers to go up. Overall, he is a player that has shown glimpses of being able to produce 40+ point seasons, but when you pair that with being a player that averages just under 23 minutes a night, along with producing over a block and a hit per game (1.4 and 1.08 respectively) he is an elite asset to own. The injury history is concerning obviously, but we all know he is a tremendous player and to make less than $5-million per season and still do what he does, he is worth retaining in your leagues.

#3) Pavel Buchnevich – LW – St. Louis Blues

Contract: $5.8M – 3 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 92.2% ESPN, 84% Yahoo, 96% Fantrax

Buchnevich is currently one of the hottest players in the NHL, he plays alongside some pretty incredible players and honestly, Buchnevich came in firing on all cylinders this year. I'm not sure if anyone expected him to produce at this rate; I know I didn't expect it. I'm sure the Blues are happy that they have him now. Playing in the top-six of St. Louis is a pretty good position to be in considering some of the other guys around you, some being Robert Thomas, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jordan Kyrou, Ryan O'Reilly. A player that makes just under six million per season being over a point-per-game has a lot of value in any league. He is producing at a rate that some of the $9-million players are, the point of a salary league is to roster the most effective roster for the amount that you're spending on said roster. This is his first season of producing over 48 points, but Buchnevich isn't poised to regress hard going into next season. This is a player that I would personally hold onto as he has a controllable cap-hit, and a few years left on his contract.

#4) Drake Batherson – RW – Ottawa Senators

Contract: $4.975M– 6 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 88.7% ESPN, 53% Yahoo, 90% Fantrax

While the Senators are still average (to put it kindly), they do have a lot of bright spots on their team, even outside of the top guys like Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, and Tim Stutzle. A player like Drake Batherson is going to be a key part of whatever success that team has. He is a core piece of their top-6 and can provide scoring in bunches when required. With his injury, he was limited to just over half of a season, but he still managed to produce at a point-per-game rate. When you can do that alongside of other young players, you're a legit talent. Batherson is spoken about like he is a winger who can make a great pass but can also burn an opposing goalie with a world class shot, he still throws his weight around to produce just over two hits per game. Given the amount of money he is owed each year, along with the level of production that you can expect to see from him going forward, this is a player I would like to roster going into next season especially if you believe that the roster can take a step forward and start producing at a higher level.

#5) Tyler Toffoli – RW – Calgary Flames

Contract: $4.25M– 3 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 33.1% ESPN, 51% Yahoo, 82% Fantrax

Since the Flames acquired Tyler Toffoli, he has been a fixture in their top-six, and he has been used as the secondary scoring option behind the trio of superstars in Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, and Matthew Tkachuk. Through the first 37 games of the season with Montreal, Toffoli had 37 games and 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) with an average of 17:31 minutes per night. Through the last 35 games of the year with the Flames, Toffoli put up 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) with a time on ice average of 15:06. His production hasn't really changed, even with the demotion of being a secondary player in Calgary as opposed to the main piece in Montreal, and a smaller amount of ice time. Based on that, I see that as a player that is still finding a way to get on the scoresheet, even with a smaller role. Toffoli is now playing on a team with better players around him to help account for that reduced role. Let's not get it mistaken though, Toffoli is still a very talented player, but it never hurts to play with others that are good as well. Toffoli makes a small amount of money, in comparison to some other guys who play the same role and has a good number of years left. With his low roster percentages, I could see a reality where he may be available as a free agent in your league.


While these aren't the only players, I would consider trading for, or retaining going into next season, these are some of the ones that don't cost very much and the ones that have been producing in effective ways in comparison to what they cost to roster. This was a very exciting season with a lot of talented players finally putting it all together and becoming star players this year. Hopefully next season can be just as fun, and once the season is officially concluded, I will be posting my main salary-cap league roster on my Twitter account (@JamieMolloy_DH) and explaining the rationale behind why some of the players are rostered!