Fantasy hockey top 10 breakout candidates

NHL.com identifies the top 10 fantasy hockey breakout candidates for the 2024-25 season. For more coverage, visit NHL.com/Fantasy.

NOTES: Breakout candidates, usually 25-and-under players, have already had some success in the NHL but can reach the upper echelon of their positions and far exceed their fantasy average draft position (ADP) this season.

Players excluded from the breakouts list are last season’s Calder Trophy finalists (Connor Bedard, Brock Faber, Luke Hughes), No. 1 or 2 picks from their respective NHL Draft (e.g. Jack Hughes, Juraj Slafkovsky, Alexis Lafreniere, Andrei Svechnikov, Quinton Byfield, Leo Carlsson, Owen Power, Simon Nemec) and this season’s rookie class (e.g. Logan Stankoven, Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Matvei Michkov, Cutter Gauthier).

Full-fledged breakout candidates (e.g. Jeremy Swayman, Wyatt Johnston, Cole Caufield, Joseph Woll, Matt Boldy, Lucas Raymond, JJ Peterka, Jake Neighbours, Philipp Kurashev) and potential veteran breakouts (Nikolaj Ehlers, Gustav Forsling) should be prioritized in fantasy drafts but have also been excluded from this list.

1. Logan Cooley, F, UTA

NHL.com rank: 118
Average draft position: 166.0

2. Pyotr Kochetkov, G, CAR

NHL.com rank: 136
Average draft position: 90.4

3. Gabriel Vilardi, F, WPG

NHL.com rank: 147
Average draft position: 174.0

4. Mason McTavish, F, ANA

NHL.com rank: 170
Average draft position: 149.0

5. Thomas Harley, D, DAL

NHL.com rank: 173
Average draft position: 136.6

6. Adam Fantilli, F, CBJ

NHL.com rank: 181
Average draft position: 184.0

7. Dylan Guenther, F, UTA

NHL.com rank: 196
Average draft position: 177.0

8. Bowen Byram, D, BUF

NHL.com rank: N/A
Average draft position: 160.4

9. Jake Sanderson, D, OTT

NHL.com rank: N/A
Average draft position: 135.0

10. Zach Benson, F, BUF

NHL.com rank: N/A
Average draft position: N/A

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Other breakout candidates to consider in deep fantasy leagues:

Cole Perfetti, F, WPG
Jack Quinn, F, BUF
Marco Rossi, F, MIN
Tyson Foerster, F, PHI
Dmitri Voronkov, F, CBJ
Yegor Chinakhov, F, CBJ

Brandt Clarke, D, LAK
Pavel Mintyukov, D, ANA
Olen Zellweger, D, ANA
Jamie Drysdale, D, PHI

Devon Levi, G, BUF
Spencer Knight, G, FLA