Fantasy Mailbag: Don’t sleep on Canucks’ Ben Hutton early

22-year old Ben Hutton is still surprised he made the Canucks opening night roster, who along with 19-year olds Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann really impressed enough at camp to earn their spots.

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This is a tougher question than you think because I’ve done nothing but spout out sleeper picks throughout the summer. Between the website, the fantasy guide, the articles here on Sportsnet and elsewhere I’ve probably mused about 50 to 60 pretty good ones. So now I have to decide which ones have become mainstream in fantasy owner’s heads and which ones are still off the radar.

For defencemen I like Vancouver’s Ben Hutton. Though I don’t think he’ll continue all season long (he’s bound to slow), he will have a strong first month based on power play time and his current hot streak (five points in six preseason games, one assist in Game 1).

Another good one is Minnesota’s Matt Dumba.

Up front, I like the outlook for Boston’s Brett Connolly when it comes to deep sleepers. Nothing like 60 points, mind you, but I think he could take a healthy run at 50 if he can stay healthy. And a deep sleeper from earlier in the week is hardly a sleeper anymore – Chicago’s Artemy Panarin. But thought I would note him just in case.

I think Lee is a great late round pickup and in most league formats he should probably go in the middle rounds. In points-only leagues I think he approaches 50 and is a dark horse for more than 60 (depending on how much he plays with you know who). In leagues that count shots and hits, well this guy is gold. I can see 220 shots easily, and minimum 180 hits.

Definitely do. I think he “gets it” now. Oh, he’s playing with some Stamkos guy.

Completely equal in terms of cap hit, this comes down to projected point total and projections on what other stats you carry. Eller isn’t much for hits or shots, but he’s certainly better than Desharnais. While Desharnais is likely going to produce between 46 and 53 points, Eller has a wilder variation.

If Eller sticks with Alexander Semin and Alex Galchenyuk, then he could also hit 50. If he gets shuffled back to a checking line, he’ll struggle to reach 30.

What I would probably do is go with Eller here, because I think there’s a good chance that Desharnais gets off to (another) slow start and can be acquired for peanuts later (perhaps to replace Eller when he starts to disappoint?).

I go with Nelson and Lindholm for sure. I think Lindholm breaks out this year and Nelson should be steady at around 50 points. Pearson should hit 40 points, whereas I think Horvat is another year away from something like that.

I’m completely on board with this, though I wouldn’t pin too much hope on 70 points. That’s very lofty. But this line is flying right now and even my opinion on a big decline from Foligno has changed. These three combined for 29 points in the preseason. Johansen is a very underrated player.

Bonus: Sleeper defenceman you can find on the waiver wire

Early in the season is the best time to snag some defencemen who will surprise with their point totals. But after the first couple of weeks you’re likely going to be down to grabbing rearguards who can help in some of the other stats such as hits and PIM. From what I’ve noticed, Radko Gudas is free in far too many leagues and this is only because of the time he missed last year. Because in 2013-14 he was a multi-category stud and coveted in a lot of leagues. I’m also seeing a lot of owners steer clear of the New Jersey guys. So perhaps Adam Larsson, Damon Severson or Eric Gelinas are available for you.

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