With the NHL preseason wrapping up on Saturday night and final roster decisions still to come (depending on what time you read this), fantasy GMs have been following the preseason action to determine who might be worth rostering on their squad.

While you can expect the superstars to be ready for the start of the season, there are always surprises from training camp. Oftentimes, a player who had no business making the squad can force a team’s hand based on a strong preseason.

For players who aren’t in any danger of being sent down, a strong preseason can lead to more opportunities during the regular season. Occasionally, there can potentially be a top-six role or power-play minutes for a player where none were originally expected a month prior.

Below are 10 players who had a strong preseason showing. This list will skew toward young players and rookies. It shouldn’t be surprising news that Jack Eichel led the Golden Knights in preseason points, that William Nylander had seven points in four preseason games, or the Sens’ top-six performed well (thanks to what felt like 27 games against the Habs).

While some of these players might turn into surprises this season, there’s no guarantee their strong preseason will translate into regular season success. All too often, no matter how great a player might perform, a team might have certain dynamics that a coach will choose to go with. A player averaging 17 minutes preseason might be getting seven minutes a night along with some healthy scratches, leading to a demotion to the minors/juniors.

10. Jake Neighbours

A year ago, Neighbours had four points in five preseason games, but he was sent back to his junior club after his nine-game trial with the Blues. This year, he has six points in six preseason games, and his chances of sticking with the big club are much better. To be fair, five of his six points came in two games, one against Arizona and one against Chicago, so it’s not like he produced against top teams. However, news stories out of S. Louis are that Neighbours has impressed the Blues’ coaching staff, which is the first step to making the big club permanently.

9. Martin Necas

Two years ago, in the Covid-shortened season, Necas had 41 points in 53 games, a 63-point pace. Last year, he had 40 points in 78 games, a 42-point pace. Necas has been showing up on some off-season lists as a bounce-back candidate this year. This preseason showing could be an indicator as he finished with three goals and six points in three games, including a four-point night against Columbus.

8. Dylan Holloway

The Oilers rookie had an insanely good camp, finishing with four goals and six points in six games. It was good enough that he appears to have made his way onto the team in a top-nine role, with some Oilers blogs and journalists wanting to see Holloway in a top-six role, mostly alongside Leon Draisaitl. The 2020 first-round pick might also be a great multi-cat performer, as he finished the preseason with 20 shots and 13 hits.

7. Andrei Kuzmenko

Because of his age, the rookie Kuzmenko will not be eligible for the Calder trophy, but there’s been little doubt about how good he can be in his first year with the Canucks. Kuzmenko, Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland all had three goals and three assists to lead the Canucks in preseason points, Kuzmenko accomplishing his feat in four games. He looks poised to step in as a top-six forward right off the bat, and with all the hype that came with his signing, it will take a lot for him to lose that spot. Some may not think his preseason was much of a surprise, but considering how some KHL players that have flopped in the NHL (Vadim Shipachyov, Sergei Plotnikov and Nikita Gusev being the biggest examples of the past few years), it was certainly a relief to see Kuzmenko produce instantly. 

6. Calen Addison

In the 2020 season (before Covid shut down the final few weeks of the season), Addison was one of the key pieces in the Jason Zucker trade. Addison already looks poised for a big breakout season. Throughout the preseason, Addison was quarterbacking the top power-play unit, which is a bit of a shocker considering the team employs Jared Spurgeon (whose 14 power-play assists was third on the Wild a year ago) and Matt Dumba (who had 18 power-play points in three of four seasons from 2015-16 to 2018-19), but the team finished middle of the pack last season in power-play percentage (18th overall). Addison finished the preseason with four points in five games and one power-play point.

5. Barrett Hayton

Many fantasy general managers may have given up on the former third-overall pick, as he has yet to make an NHL impact, although it’s easy to forget he’s only 22 years old. His best campaign to date was last year, when he finished with 10 goals and 23 points in 60 games. That’s a 31-point pace. Considering he averaged 1.4 shots per game and finishes as a minus player, he isn’t draftable in most leagues. However, he was much more productive this preseason, finishing with six points in five games while averaging 3.2 shots per game.

4. Shane Pinto

I’ve seen some websites listing Pinto as a dark horse pick to win the Calder this season. However, this preseason could be a precursor of a Calder run as he finished with four goals and four assists in six preseason games. Five of his eight preseason points came with the man advantage, so maybe he can get some power-play time to help boost his numbers. Two years ago, Pinto had seven points in 12 regular season games after he left the NCAA and joined the Sens. Last year, shoulder injuries limited him to five games. A healthy season could go a long way to bringing his fantasy value back up.

3. Vitek Vanecek

Each season, there’s always a team who makes a surprising run to the playoffs, and the Devils should be that team this season. They looked poised to do that last year, but injuries and subpar goaltending did them in. However, the team made big moves this offseason to address their goaltending woes, part of which included acquiring Vanecek. In the preseason, Vanecek led all netminders with four wins, while also finishing with zero losses, a 1.58 GAA, a .928 SV% and a shutout. A month ago, many believed the Devils would go with a timeshare, or that Mackenzie Blackwood would have the chance to be the number one guy. Vanecek should be the top guy all season and could be a sneaky Vezina candidate when all is said and done.

2. Yegor Chinakhov

With the NHL preseason all wrapped up, Chinakhov led the preseason in goals with six, two more than anyone else. He did it in six games, but maybe more telling is that he accomplished that feat by scoring in five of those games, so he doesn’t have one game skewing the numbers. After scoring seven goals and 14 points last season, this could be taken as a good indication of an increase in production this season. He also accomplished the feat on all different lines except the top line, so it looks like he might be able to slot in anywhere. The former shocking first-round pick will be given opportunities to prove it wasn’t a crazy pick.

1. Marco Rossi

It feels as if some of the hype has come off of Rossi in the past couple of seasons. After a tremendous junior career that led to Rossi being selected ninth overall by the Wild, Rossi had a long battle with Covid, forcing him to miss a ton of games and development. Now he’s poised to be a full-time rookie, but it feels as if it’s other young players who are getting all the Calder love (he isn’t a top-five choice in any odds I’ve seen, and numerous times he’s around ninth). To ensure he wasn’t forgotten about, Rossi went out and led all players in preseason production, finishing with nine points in six games. Like Chinakhov, Rossi spread the production around multiple games. He picked up points in five of his six games, scoring two points in four of those games.