Fantasy hockey rankings 2022-23: Sleepers, breakouts and busts from proven NHL model

The 2022-23 NHL season will begin with the 2022 NHL Global Series on Oct. 7-8 when the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks go head-to-head in a pair of games at 02 Arena in Prague. That means you’re running out of time to prepare for your 2022 Fantasy hockey drafts after what has been a busy offseason. After finishing second in the NHL in points (115) and outscoring every forward in hockey last season in Fantasy points on CBS Sports, Johnny Gaudreau moved on from the Calgary Flames and signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets in a move that shocked the hockey world.

Gaudreau is one of the NHL’s most elite offensive players, but how will his Fantasy hockey value be impacted by going from a Calgary squad that racked up 111 points last season to a Columbus squad that only managed 81? A reliable set of 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings can help you figure that out and also identify potential 2022 Fantasy hockey sleepers, breakouts and busts. Before making any 2022 Fantasy hockey picks, check out the Fantasy hockey rankings 2022-23 from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Last year, the model predicted that Blues wing Vladimir Tarasenko would significantly outperform his 2021-22 Fantasy hockey ADP of 196. The result: Tarasenko went on to score 34 goals and dish out 48 assists for his first ever 80-point season and was a top-75 player in all of Fantasy hockey. It also predicted that Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov wouldn’t live up to his top-30 ADP overall and he finished with just 31 points and a plus/minus of -20 to finish as the No. 81 defenseman in CBS Sports Fantasy hockey leagues.

The model was created by Mike McClure, a predictive data engineer and professional daily Fantasy player with almost $2 million in career winnings. He’s used his prediction model to simulate the entire 2022-23 NHL schedule 10,000 times and identify the top Fantasy hockey sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them.

McClure’s model takes factors such as player history, schedule, injuries and matchups into account to create the most unbiased 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings possible. Now the model has zeroed in on the 2022-23 NHL season, ranked every player, and found the top sleepers, breakouts and busts. See every pick here.

Top 2022-23 Fantasy hockey picks

One of the 2022-23 Fantasy hockey busts SportsLine has identified: Panthers center Sam Reinhart. The 26-year-old is coming off a career-high 82 points in his eighth NHL season and it’s clear that a move from Buffalo to Florida has helped revitalize his career. Now he’s been the No. 61 player off the board overall and the 16th center taken on average in 2022 Fantasy hockey drafts. 

However, he’d never produced more than 65 points in a season before last year and had scored 50 points or fewer in five of his six full seasons in Buffalo. Reinhart scored 16 of his 33 goals on the powerplay last season and while he’ll still play an important role on that unit, that might not be goal-scoring production you can rely upon in 2022-23. That’s why the model ranks him outside its top 80 players overall for this season.

Another surprise: Kraken center Matty Beniers is one of the model’s top Fantasy hockey breakouts. Beniers was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, making him the first-ever selection of the franchise. He’d opt to go back to Michigan for his sophomore season and posted 20 goals and 23 assists in 37 games before turning professional and showcasing an ability to get to high-traffic areas in a 10-game stint in the NHL.

Beniers scored three goals and dished out six assists in those 10 games with the Kraken and played an active role on the team’s powerplay unit. Now he enters the 2022-23 season looking like arguably the team’s top offensive threat with a sure role on the top line and first powerplay unit in store. He has a current 2022 Fantasy hockey ADP of 157 but the model ranks him inside its top 120 players for the season.

How to find proven 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings

The model has also made a surprising call on new Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau after he led the NHL in points and led all forwards in Fantasy scoring a season ago. It also features a stunner in the top 10 you won’t want to miss. You can only see the latest Fantasy hockey rankings 2022-23 here.

So what’s the exact value of every NHL player in the 2022-23 Fantasy hockey rankings? And what surprising player cracked the top 10? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy hockey rankings, all from a DFS pro who has won almost $2 million in his career and has simulated the entire NHL season 10,000 times, and find out.