Over the past month, we’ve looked at the Habs and their likely fantasy impact over a full season. Several players that weren’t covered in the individual profiles can still not only fill useful roles for the Canadiens but for your pool team as well. Here’s a look at the rest of Montreal’s projected roster and their potential fantasy impacts.
Goalies
Dustin Tokarski: Assuming he holds onto the #2 job, we should expect more of the same from him as last season, mediocrity. His overall numbers should fall a bit below the league average while playing somewhere between 15-20 games. He’s a handcuff for Carey Price owners but unless your league places a lot of value on goalies, he shouldn’t be owned too often otherwise.
Defence
Nathan Beaulieu: Now that he’s established as a regular, it’s safe to expect a boost in his production. I wouldn’t expect a huge jump though; if he doubled his output from last year, that would be a good step. I don’t see him playing alongside P.K. Subban which many seem to be hoping for and while he should see a bit of PP time, it’s not going to be worth getting excited about. I think he’s a year or two away from really becoming an impact fantasy option.
Alexei Emelin: I keep expecting him to take a step forward offensively but it just isn’t happening. He could stand to be a beneficiary of Andrei Markov’s age in that Emelin could spend some time with Subban but that’s about as far as his scoring upside goes. However, for leagues that have hits as a scoring category, he’s a worthwhile late round addition based on that alone.
Tom Gilbert: He spent some time in the press box late last season and it seems probable that he’ll be there at times again this year. When he’s playing, he’s now confined to a third pairing role with some penalty kill time. He’s a late week plug and play option for head-to-head leagues that have blocked shots as a scoring category (he led the team in blocks per game in 2014-15) but nothing more.
Greg Pateryn: For the first time, he finally has some stability in terms of money now that he’s under contract on one way deals for the next three years. There still isn’t much stability in terms of playing time though. He’s going to battle with Gilbert for the third pairing RD spot and will spend lots of time in the press box. When he’s in, he’ll get your pool team hits but there are more consistent options out there.
Forwards
Michael Bournival: Last season was a disaster for the second year player as he had issues staying healthy and didn’t play much when he did. His speed and defensive awareness are assets and should give him an inside track at the 23rd spot on the roster. Those skills do nothing to help a fantasy team though; don’t pick him in any league.
Jacob de la Rose: I took a look at his situation more in-depth last month. Offensively, he’s not going to bring anything to the table but his hits per game rate was second best among Montreal forwards while he wasn’t bad in the blocks department either. If you’re desperate for help in those categories, he could be a late week plug and play option but he’ll be way more useful to the Habs than a fantasy squad.
Brian Flynn: Short of one very good playoff game, the Habs didn’t get much in the way of offence from Flynn. That’s probably not going to change this season. Even though he signed a two year deal in the summer, he projects as the 13th forward or a fourth line winger. He’s not a bad player and is better than what he showed last year but he has no fantasy value at all.
Torrey Mitchell: It appears the Habs finally have some stability in the fourth line centre role with Mitchell inked to a three year deal in the offseason. It should be noted that his faceoff success was a strong exception to the norm though so don’t rely much on his short-term prowess in leagues with faceoffs as a category. Mitchell provides more upside than most fourth liners do but he’s still a fourth liner which means he’s not worth picking.
Devante Smith-Pelly: He’s a big ‘X-Factor’ heading into the season (Alex Semin being the biggest one). If he’s in shape, I could see him in the top six at times or at worst, the third line which should be more productive than last year. Or, he could be a press box regular. If he shows well in camp, he’s worth a look in the late rounds; he’ll provide plenty of hits at the very least but his offensive success in the past suggests he could be able to pick up some points as well. He’s a lower-end sleeper.
Dale Weise: The offseason additions of Semin and Zack Kassian should greatly reduce the amount of time Weise spends in the top six. While that’s terrific news for the Habs, it’s not for his fantasy potential which takes a big tumble. He threatened 30 points last year but he’ll come up a ways short of that now. He should come in somewhere between 16-24 points while providing plenty of hits. In really deep leagues, he might be worth a look but don’t overreach based on what he did in 2014-15.