Detroit Red Wings: Fantasy Hockey Report

The Detroit Red Wings players do not fare well in opening fantasy hockey rankings.  You actually won’t find any Red Wing player in the top 100. Let’s talk about who you should target on your team.

Dylan Larkin to no one’s surprise, ranks as the most desirable Detroit Red Wings player for fantasy hockey this season.  Larkin will be found listed somewhere between 100-175 overall.

One of the first places I looked was Yahoosports.com. Yahoo has Larkin ranked 146th overall near the likes of Corey Perry and Eric Staal.  Staal had a monster season last year for the Minnesota Wild.  Staal scored 42 goals and accounted for 76 points.

I think that rating is much too weak for Larkin.  The problem is Larkin being a center.  Center is such a deep position in the NHL and fantasy hockey.

NHL.com has Dylan Larkin plugged in at 122nd overall.  That places Larkin a little better than Yahoo and closer to where I initially thought he would be.  If Larkin can find the back of the net on more of a regular basis, his value then will break into the top 100 fantasy players.

More from Red Wings News

• Detroit Red Wings forward Carter Mazur injured in Prospect Tournament
• Detroit Red Wings: What does Klim Kostin’s role look like in 2023-24?
• Detroit Red Wings: 3 players who will make biggest impact in first year
• The Detroit Red Wings need Andrew Copp to start fast in 2023-24
• Detroit Red Wings had a busy off-season; but was it enough?

The second best fantasy hockey Detroit Red Wings option is Anthony Mantha.  NHL.com has Mantha ranked 170th overall.  Mantha should be drafted as a depth winger on your fantasy hockey club.

Mantha brings flexibility as you should be able to plug him into your line-up on either the right-wing or the left-wing.  Mantha has 30 goal potential, expect Mantha to reach that mark this season.  Mantha has some fantasy value in large hockey pools and deep fantasy hockey leagues.

NHL.com has Mike Green ranked at 198.  If power play points are a scoring column in your league, Mike Green will have a little bench value for you. Usually, leagues only ask you to start four defencemen a night, if this is the case, Mike Green will struggle to find his way into your lineup.

In fantasy leagues where you are asked to start 6 defencemen, Mike Green will be a nice value selection for you.  Remember, to check your scoring settings for “Power Play Points.”  Mike Green will struggle to gain any value without that scoring column.

A dark horse to target will be Thomas Vanek.  Similar to Anthony Mantha, Thomas Vanek will be starting options on either wing for your team.  Vanek will score between 20-25 times, with a lot of his production on the power play.

Gustav Nyquist and Thomas Vanek really shouldn’t be on your in fantasy hockey to start your season, unless you’re in a 12 or 14 team league. If either of those players happens to get hot, grab them off of the waiver wire.

Detroit Red Wings players you want to draft but should stay away from;

Jimmy Howard/Jonathan Bernier, steer away from the goaltending in Detroit during your fantasy hockey drafts.  Both goalies will be splitting time, and both will be inconsistent at times.  Both Detroit Red Wings goaltenders will be ranked in the bottom third of the entire NHL.

Let’s face it, Detroit just isn’t going to win many games.  The goaltender stats in fantasy can earn you a lot of scoring columns.  I’d urge you to grab a pair of top goaltenders after the elite scorers have been selected.

Andreas Athanasiou, another forward you will be tempted to select and another one for fantasy purposes you should stay away from.  He doesn’t shoot enough and hasn’t been able to show the ability to score on a  nightly basis as of yet.  Andreas likely won’t be drafted in your league, if he starts well pick him up.

Filip Zadina is another player Red Wings fans will be eager to draft.  Stay away, Zadina we are all excited about, wait and see how he starts out.  Zadina will be available as a free agent you can head to the waiver wire and grab if he can immediately start scoring.

Many of the remaining Detroit Red Wings players will grant you little to no value this season in your fantasy hockey leagues.

Players to target in net early would be;

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck, Braden Holtby, after those three are off the board be sure to aim towards Toronto Maple Leafs Frederik Andersen.  Andersen will have a lot of wins and will also face a tonne of shots.  The Leafs give up plenty of chances and Andersen saves most of them which will win you another scoring category.

Be sure to target the Connor McDavid‘s, Sidney Crosby (puke), Alex Ovechkin‘s, Steven Stamkos, etc. in the early rounds.  A couple of somewhat under the radar high-value forwards are Anze Kopitar in LA, Nikolaj Ehlers & Patrik Laine with the Jets.  Also, Kovalchuk is back in the league playing with Kopitar; you should find him somewhere around the 8th round.

After the Erik Karlsson‘s, Brent Burns and Drew Doughty‘s and P.K Subban’s of the world are gone start looking towards; John Klingberg in Dallas, Seth Jones in Columbus, Ekman-Larsson in the desert.  There seems to be good value in the mid rounds of your draft for an offensive defenseman. Good Luck!