Now with the Blues, Brayden Schenn could become a dominant fantasy force going forward.

Now that we finished up our series on the best fantasy players by position, I’ll probably be spending most of the time before the season starts identifying undervalued players and giving my thoughts on different skaters. This week, I’ll be taking a look at Brayden Schenn and his potential to provide some of the most fantasy value next season.

Drafted fifth overall all the way back in 2009 by the Los Angeles Kings, Brayden Schenn was a very highly touted prospect as he made his way into the NHL. Tallying 258 points in only 195 WHL games, Schenn’s offensive abilities and NHL potential excited many fantasy hockey poolies. But it would be a slow start for Schenn, as after being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers he seemed to underperform. While there was hope after a 26-point performance in only 47 games (a 45-point pace over 82 games), there was worry that Schenn started to plateau. Following that year, Schenn would continue to fail to break the 50-point mark for the next two season, only scoring a combined 88 points over the next 162 games.

However, during the 2015-16 season (Schenn’s 24-year-old season), he finally put it all together, racking up an impressive 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points in 80 games. Fantasy players who drafted Schenn were able to reap the rewards as he became one of the best fantasy options available. Schenn had always been quite the physical forward (tallying around 200 hits almost every full season) but now he had good enough point totals to make him a force to be reckoned with. And while his points did slightly dip from two years ago to only 55 points last season, he still put up quite the fantasy performance for those expecting another big year from the young forward.

Using our Fantasy Hockey Geek tool, we can see just how well Schenn did last year. For our sample league, we’ll being using an average 12-team H2H Yahoo league measuring G, A, PPP, SOG, Hits, W, SV%, GAA, and SO.

	Position	Rank	FHG Value	G	A	SOG	PPP	Hits
Blake Wheeler	RW	13	65	26	48	259	21	100
Kevin Shattenkirk	D	14	64	13	43	161	27	88
Brayden Schenn	C/LW	15	61	25	30	178	28	189
Joe Pavelski	C/RW	16	61	29	39	233	22	130
Nicklas Backstrom	C	17	61	23	63	162	35	45

Despite relatively low point totals (when compared to the league’s best), Brayden Schenn killed it in fantasy value last year. With a Fantasy Hockey Geek value of 61, Schenn was the 15^th best player out of all skaters and the 9^th best forward. What makes him so great in fantasy hockey circles is his impressive power-play point and hit totals. Schenn’s 17 power-play goals were tied for the most in the league while he recorded the seventh-most power play points out of all skaters. Not to mention, his 189 hits were the 28^th most in the league and tied for the third-most by all skaters who scored at least 20 goals.

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Out of the top 20 fantasy skaters, Schenn was one of the few players who did not score at least 60 points (and the only forward ranked within the top 20 to fail to tally 60+ points). So could you imagine what would happen to his fantasy value if he managed to get his point totals up? Looking at next season, we can use our Fantasy Hockey Geek tool with Dobber’s projections to get a sense of just how much value Schenn might provide next year. Now with the St. Louis Blues, there’s the possibility Schenn might get to line up next to one of the game’s best snipers in Vladimir Tarasenko, and it shows in his projected point totals.

*For our sample league, we’ll being using an average 12-team H2H Yahoo league measuring G, A, PPP, SOG, Hits, W, SV%, GAA, and SO*

	Position	Rank	FHG Value	G	A	SOG	PPP	Hits
Victor Hedman	D	7	81	14	53	179	27	80
Patrick Kane	RW	8	80	35	54	250	31	27
Brayden Schenn	C/LW	9	77	29	41	215	25	204
Kris Letang	D	10	77	13	45	218	23	115
Dustin Byfuglien	D	11	75	14	37	195	20	194

While I think 70 points from Schenn may be a tad generous, the fact remains that there’s the strong possibility Schenn sees a significant boost in his point totals with the Blues. And with that, his fantasy value will grow even higher. According to Dobber’s projections, Schenn will provide the ninth-most fantasy value out of all skaters, ranking higher than forwards like Steven Stamkos, Jamie Benn, and even Vladimir Tarasenko. Schenn has always been a strong fantasy forward due to his peripherals, but if he can increase his points, he may become a much stronger fantasy option next season.

To identify more players with great value in your specific league settings, check out Fantasy Hockey Geek to generate custom rankings tailored for you. With the Season Toolkit, you can use our advanced tools to manage to the top and take down the title. Head to the Dobber Sports Shop and pick it up today!