Nicklas Backstrom

Finding value in fantasy hockey isn’t so easy. You won’t get many guys coming out of nowhere to put up huge seasons like you’ll see in other sports. Keep this in mind: Since the 2004-2005 lockout, there have been eight rookies to come into the league and average at least 0.73 points/game (which would be a 60-point pace in a full season) and played at least 70 games. These names are Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Paul Stastny, Patrick Kane, Nicklas Backstrom, Jeff Skinner and Anze Kopitar. When you are talking about the last five seasons alone, that list of eight is cut down to Skinner alone.