Youth is king in fantasy hockey, with maybe the exception of grit categories. 

Quite often in fantasy drafts, we look at veteran players for PIM, hits and blocked shots. This is usually because there isn’t enough information on grit categories in other leagues. Aside from PIM, the AHL doesn’t have that information on its website. Same with many of the junior leagues.

That lack of information means many fantasy general managers will lean toward what they know. This is a sound strategy, but the end of the season is a great time to review the rookies that performed well in those grit categories.

Below are the top 10 rookies in grit categories for the past season. The top two names stand out as the next great peripheral players, but the rest also deserve consideration in dynasty leagues. Success as a rookie doesn’t guarantee they will still be in the NHL in a couple of years, but they are worth keeping an eye on. 

One thing to keep in mind for next season is that most rookies who excel in grit categories are around 24 or 25 years old, which makes sense when you think about it. After spending seven or eight years in the minors, the player wants to make an impression when he is called up to the big leagues. If he is going to be stuck on the third or fourth line, he is not going to get many scoring opportunities, but he can get involved in a fight, throw a hit or block a shot.

10. Michael Pezzetta

Pezzetta quickly became a crowd favourite in Montreal this past year, but he might be one of those players who won’t be in the big leagues in a couple of years as the Habs go with more skill as their young players develop. He played only 51 games this past season, but finished with 81 PIM (fifth among rookies) and 156 hits (sixth). He didn’t contribute much elsewhere and averaged fewer than eight minutes a night. It’s also interesting to note that he toned down his fighting under new coach Martin St. Louis, picking up only one fighting major and 13 PIM in 21 games with the new coach (although he still had 71 hits). If. St. Louis is discouraging fighting, this would make Pezzetta a one-trick pony next season. 

9. Parker Kelly

I picked up Kelly in one of my dynasty leagues that includes all of these grit categories, but he was constantly sent to the AHL and called back up. As I didn’t have any more space in my minor leagues, I was forced to drop him. It was especially frustrating when he was called back up and someone else in the league picked him up. However, you can only count on Parker for hits, where he had 131 in 41 games. His 60 PIM looks impressive until you do a deeper dive and realize that 40 of those PIM came in only three games, meaning you can’t rely on him as a consistent PIM producer.

8. Brandon Duhaime

Duhaime played in 80 games this season, but it would be easy for him to be a fourth line/healthy scratch bubble player next season, depending on what the Wild do this offseason. The 25-year-old Duhaime had 122 PIM and 201 hits this year, one of only two rookies to record at least 100 PIM and 200 hits. He was always a multicat player in the AHL and NCAA, but his ice time dropped as the season went along. This offseason, the Wild may choose to bring back Nicolas Deslaurier, who is an older version of Duhaime. A rookie such as Vladislav Firstsov or Marco Rossi making the team will also push Duhaime down the line and potentially out of the lineup. 

7. Nicolas Meloche

Meloche saw action in 50 contests this year and was valuable in all 50 of them. He finished with 39 PIM, 158 hits and 54 blocked shots. He had only two games where he failed to pick up a hit. He had at least five hits in 13 games, including an 11-hit game on January 29 against the Panthers. Interestingly, three players on this list played for the Sharks this year, and it could have easily been four if I included Jonah Gadjovich, who had 74 PIM and 104 hits in 43 games. I don’t know if that’s just a case of the players that were called up from the minors or the grit style of the Sharks, but will a new general manager want to switch to more skilled players? The team had 11 players averaging at least 1.5 hits per game, eight players with at least one block per game and three players with at least 1.5 PIM per game.

6. Jeffrey Viel

Despite playing in only 34 games, Viel finished third among rookies with 114 PIM. The leader had 130, but played 81 games. The 3.35 PIM per game by Viel is the most by a rookie since Zac Rinaldo in 2011-12. Viel also finished with 84 hits, an average of 2.47 per game. Not too shabby from someone averaging fewer than nine minutes per game. He picked up at least five PIM in 12 of his 34 games, reaching the 10 PIM mark on three occasions. He spent part of the season in the AHL, missed 16 games due to an upper-body injury and was a healthy scratch for 10 of 15 games for the Sharks in April. If we knew he might play in 60-plus games next season, he’d be much higher on this list.

5. Martin Fehervary

This was one of the bigger surprises of the season. After spending most of last season with the taxi squad, there were doubts if he would even start the year in the NHL and if so, if he would spend all season in the big leagues. He was slotted on the top defensive pairing with John Carlson right from the start and never looked back. While averaging under 20 minutes per contest, Fehervary quickly became a valuable resource for hits and blocked shots, finishing with 251 hits and 117 blocked shots. 

4. Jacob Middleton

The Sharks/Wild defenseman (he was dealt to Minnesota on March 21 for netminder Kaapo Kakkonen) might have led all defensemen in many of these grit categories if he had played the full season, but he still managed to be productive in only 66 games. He finished with 82 PIM, 118 hits and 124 blocked shots. He produced almost every single night, only twice finishing a game with zeroes in both hits and blocked shots, and in one of those games, he played fewer than five minutes as he got into a fight early on and then was injured late in the first period. 

3. Dysin Mayo

Mayo came close to accomplishing a tough feat this past season, nearly averaging two hits and two blocked shots per game. Only eight players managed that feat this year, and no rookie has met those marks since Stephen Johns in 2016-17. In 67 games, the Coyotes defenseman finished with 129 hits (1.93 per game) and 133 blocked shots (1.99 per game). He averaged almost 21 minutes per night and was most often used as a defensive-minded player alongside Shayne Gostisbehere. It also helps that he played 59 per cent of all of Arizona’s shorthanded minutes, which can help raise the blocked shot tally. That 59 per cent is the most by a rookie since the NHL started keeping track of that statistic in 1997-98 and was the 12th highest among all players this season. 

2. Moritz Seider

The Calder Trophy winner is already on everyone’s radar thanks to his 50 points in 82 games, making him the third rookie defenseman to reach that mark since 1993-94. However, it’s his production in peripheral categories that should have fantasy hockey general managers salivating. Not only did he put up 187 shots, but he also had 34 PIM, 151 hits and 161 blocked shots. He was the only rookie to reach 30 PIM, 100 shots, 100 hits and 100 blocked shots and led all rookie defensemen in shots and blocked shots. Add in his value in other categories (21 power-play points and two shorthanded points) and Seider is someone who can contribute in almost every fantasy category. 

1. Tanner Jeannot

It should be no surprise that Jeannot holds down the top spot on this list. It almost feels unfair to compare him to other rookies since he was among the statistical leaders even when you include veterans. His 130 PIM was third among all players. His 318 hits were second. He also finished with 64 blocked shots, a high number for a forward and ninth in the league among non-defensemen. His 124 shots were a nice bonus, but he was also able to contribute offensively with 24 goals and 41 points. As a perk, he also had two power-play goals, three power-play points and two short-handed points. He also had 14 fights, which led the league.