2024-25 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers – Yahoo Sports

Selecting the right players in the early rounds of a fantasy draft is important, but who you select in the mid-to-late rounds often determines your team’s success. Having good sleepers on your radar is an important tool for the later stages of the draft, but before we get into who you should have on your sleeper list, we first need to define what we mean when we say “sleeper.”

What a sleeper is may seem self-explanatory to many sports fans, but the term gets a little murkier when you have to explain the difference between a sleeper and a breakout candidate — which in this case is important because there is also a breakout candidate article. While there can certainly be some overlap, a breakout candidate is generally poised to reach new heights, usually for the first time in their career, while a sleeper may have already shown what they're capable of but for whatever reason has fallen short of expectations for a meaningful amount of time.

Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida Panthers

Ekblad was selected No. 1 overall in 2014 and has had an interesting career. In terms of pure offensive output, he’s never quite reached the heights of Victor Hedman, Roman Josi or Cale Makar. In fact, he’s only topped 40 points twice in his 10-year career, though he excelled in 2021-22 with 15 goals and 57 points in 61 games. More recently, he was limited to 18 points in 51 regular-season appearances last year due to injury and because he played a more defensive role with somewhat limited power-play responsibilities. With Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson gone, however, Florida could ask Ekblad to be part of the top power-play unit and transition to a more offensive mindset. If he can stay healthy, which has been a recurring issue for Ekblad, he has the potential to have one of his best campaigns.

Patrik Laine, LW, Montreal Canadiens

Laine was the second overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft behind Auston Matthews, and it seemed like it would make for quite the rivalry early on. Both are prolific goal scorers, but while Matthews has reached the 60-goal mark twice, including his 69-goal mark in the 2023-24 season, Laine has scored under 30 goals in every season since 2018-19. Inconsistency has been a problem for Laine, as have injuries. Still, at 26, he’s not too old and gets a fresh start in Montreal after being traded by the Blue Jackets on August 19. Will he turn things around, or even stay healthy enough to get a chance? We can’t know for sure, but considering he’ll be part of a very strong power play alongside Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield, this is the best chance Laine has had in a long time to regain his former glory.

Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Colorado Avalanche

Landeskog probably isn’t a sleeper candidate, but he’s an interesting enough case to be included on this list. Before his injury, Landeskog had established himself as a strong two-way center who could score, set up his teammates, win faceoffs, and play a gritty game. However, he has missed the past two campaigns entirely and won’t be available until the start of the 2024-25 campaign as he has yet to fully recover from his knee injury. While there is no timetable for his return, Landeskog is expected to play at some point this campaign. At 31, he’s still young enough to make an effective comeback and is someone you don’t want to forget. The Avalanche captain would be a steal on draft day if he can regain his former glory.

Reilly Smith, RW, New York Rangers

Smith had some stellar campaigns in Vegas' early days, scoring 68 goals and 167 points in 212 regular-season games over his first three seasons with the franchise, which equates to 26 goals and 65 points per 82 games. He's been somewhat inconsistent since then, coming off a down year with Pittsburgh in which he scored 13 goals and 40 points in 76 appearances. However, after being traded to the Rangers last summer, Smith is slated to play alongside either Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad or Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Either pairing would provide the 33-year-old Smith with a golden opportunity that could see him see a significant increase in offensive production.

Ilya Samsonov, G, Vegas Golden Knights

Samsonov’s career has been a rollercoaster. Originally selected by Washington with the 22nd overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, he seemed like the Capitals’ future at one point, but after a strong rookie performance in 2019-20, he collapsed to the point where he didn’t even receive a qualifying offer in the summer of 2022. Toronto took a chance on him, and he flourished in 2022-23 with a 2.33 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 42 games before collapsing again last season — at one point even getting sent down to the AHL. Still, there’s reason for cautious optimism this year. He joins Vegas, which has a terrific defense, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get significant ice time behind Adin Hill, who has never appeared in more than 35 games and has a notable injury history. Samsonov also has a tendency to bounce back, and could even shine occasionally in 2023-24. As a late-round pick, he's not a bad option to take the risk on.

Victor Olofsson, LW, Vegas Golden Knights

Samsonov isn’t the only player joining the Golden Knights with something to prove. Olofsson signed a one-year, $1.075 million deal with Vegas after scoring seven goals and 15 points in 51 games with the Sabres last season — a far cry from his career-high of 28 goals in 2022-23. Reaching the 28-goal mark likely won’t be in the cards for Olofsson, as he did so while posting a career-high 17.4 shooting percentage, but this could be the 29-year-old’s best season in terms of points, surpassing his previous high of 49 points in 2021-22. Cap constraints have left Vegas a bit thin on the wings, opening the door for Olofsson to play alongside Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev. Given that Olofsson already knows Eichel from his time with the Sabres, that could work out very well. Especially since Olofsson wants to prove he still has a place in the NHL after a disastrous season.

Tanner Jeannot, Left Winger/Right Winger, Los Angeles Kings

At least you know Jeannot will be a solid source of PIM and hits as long as he stays relatively healthy. Even though he played in just 55 regular-season games with Tampa Bay in 2023-24, he still managed 75 PIM and 211 hits. The bigger question is whether he can provide anything significant offensively. He’s failed to reach the 20-point mark over the past two seasons, but he showed some scoring bite in 2021-22 with 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games with the Predators. Now with the Kings, he can reignite some of that offensive prowess. The Kings are deep up front, which should result in Jeannot getting regular minutes alongside Quinton Byfield or Phillip Danault, even if the 27-year-old plays primarily on the third line. It also wouldn't be surprising to see him see a modest increase in ice time compared to his 12:01 average in Tampa Bay last season. All of this isn't to say he's suddenly going to become a great scorer, but it's not out of the question that he could top the 30-point mark, and given what else he has to offer, that jump in production would be enough to make him a nice catch in certain leagues.

Sam Montembeault, G, Montreal

Montembeault would arguably qualify as a breakout candidate as well, but regardless of what term you want to use for the 27-year-old netminder, he has the potential to be a tremendous value pick this year. With a 16-15-9 record, 3.14 GAA and .903 save percentage in 41 games last season, Montembeault may not seem appealing at first glance, but the team in front of him was the problem. In terms of Goals Saved Above Expected, Montembeault has been strong in each of the past two campaigns, so he likely would have had a solid couple of seasons playing for a decent team. With Montreal in position to potentially take a meaningful step forward this year thanks to the continued growth of its young core, coupled with the addition of Laine, Montembeault could finally see some of the rewards that typically come with strong play.