Beebs Bondy’s 2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Breakout Candidates
Every fantasy hockey season brings a new crop of players ready to take their game to the next level. Whether it’s a young player stepping into a larger role, a talented player finally putting it all together, or someone poised to smash their career highs, identifying breakouts before draft day can provide a significant advantage.
The DFO Fantasy team has identified their top breakout candidates for the 2026-27 season. Below, each of our four analysts shares their picks and explains why they believe these players are ready to take a significant step forward.
All Breakout Candidates:
- Brock Seguin’s Fantasy Hockey Breakout Candidates
- Matt Larkin’s Fantasy Hockey Breakout Candidates
- Nick Szeman’s Fantasy Hockey Breakout Candidates
Tyson Foerster – PHI – LW/RW
Foerster ran into some bad luck in 2025-26 after a serious arm injury halted his explosive start and breakout, forcing the 24-year-old to miss five months of the fantasy season. Regardless, the two-time 20-goal scorer finished seventh on the Flyers in goals after he scraped together an impressive 13 goals and 61 SOG across only 29 games played. Foerster is entering his fourth full season with the Flyers and has steadily increased his goals-per-game totals in every campaign since 2023-24, when he put up 20 goals as a rookie surrounded by a weak team. With a bill of good health heading into training camp and a much stronger Flyers roster around him, the sniper is expected to not only be a key member of the Flyers’ top-six, but also a top-shooting option on their top power-play unit. Only 45 players in the NHL reached the 30-goal mark last season; if Foerster can continue to improve on his SOG totals, stay healthy and remain on Philadelphia’s top power-play unit, he could easily find himself joining the higher echelon of goal scorers by season’s end. Draft Foerster for goals and SOG.
Zeev Buium – VAN – D
Buium entered the 2025-26 season as one of the league’s most exciting breakout candidates after he earned a roster spot and was touted as Minnesota’s power-play quarterback of the future following a 24-goal, 98-point career at the University of Denver (NCAA) across 83 games. He rewarded the fantasy owners who took a risk on him with two goals and eight points in his first 10 games played and appeared to be one of the true steals of 2025-26 fantasy drafts. Then came an unfortunate regression: six points in his next 21 games. Dropping the 20-year-old from both the Wild’s first power-play unit and Minnesota’s team as a whole after a trade to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes. Buium still carries the same exciting pedigree in his second NHL season; just a less exciting cast in Vancouver surrounds him. Regardless, he will likely find himself atop the Canucks’ top power-play unit and primed for a potential breakout season yet again. Few players had NCAA offensive success like Buium, and it would be silly to give up on a 20-year-old 1st-round pick (12th overall) this early in his career. Vancouver may struggle in all aspects this season, but Buium should be given every opportunity to succeed offensively and put up fantasy-relevant numbers. He’s proven at previous levels that his shot and offensive knowledge are elite; if he can increase his SOG totals, he could be in for a big breakout campaign. Draft Buium for goals, points, and potential SOG.
Mackie Samoskevich – SEA – RW
If you’re in a banger league, few sneaky assets intrigue me ahead of the 2026-27 season more than 23-year-old, recently acquired Mackie Samoskevich in Seattle. The 2021 No.24 overall pick has been waiting to break out since entering the NHL with the Panthers in 2023-24, but has consistently found himself down the depth chart due to the talent surrounding him on his former two-time Stanley Cup-winning team. Despite averaging the 516th-best TOI/GP in the NHL (14:28 TOI), he finished his second full season in 2025-26 with 161 SOG and 93rd in the NHL with 136 Hits. Finding himself in a new landscape in Seattle, he is expected to take on a bigger role with the Kraken. He should inevitably increase that dreadful TOI, making him a realistic option to flirt with 200-plus SOG and 200-plus Hits. Only two players across the entire NHL accomplished the impressive 200+ SOG/+200 Hits last season (Alex Laferriere & Dylan Cozens), showcasing how much value a late grab of Samoskevich can be in leagues that have all the categories he thrives in. Even if your league does not have hits, his offensive ability and desire to shoot the puck should be enough to take a flier on. Draft Samoskevich for goals, points, hits and SOG.
Philip Broberg – STL – D
Addition by subtraction was the name of the game for Broberg during the 2025-26 season as the 25-year-old defenseman started to truly break out the second Justin Faulk was shipped out of town at the Trade Deadline. From that date forward, Broberg took over St. Louis’ top power-play unit and put up an eye-popping three goals, 13 points, five power-play points, and a +14 plus/minus in 20 games played. That pace over a full 82-game season would have made the young puck-moving defenseman 12 goals and 54 points, tied for 20th among NHL defensemen with names like Adam Fox. Enter 2026-27 and Broberg finds himself in the same position he left with last season, with an even bigger runway for success surrounded by arguably more power-play talent. St. Louis is a young team that is looking to make a splash with some new roster pieces this upcoming season, and Broberg should be in the team’s driver’s seat as their top defenseman. If he can work on getting pucks to the net at a higher rate, the sky is the limit for the young defender who is certainly worth a flier in the later parts of your draft and can actually provide solid block totals (88th in NHL) on top of his other numbers. Draft Broberg for points, PPP, plus/minus, and Blks.
William Eklund – OTT – LW/RW
Brady Tkachuk is no longer an Ottawa Senator, but 23-year-old William Eklund now is, and there is a glaring hole on Ottawa’s top power-play unit and top-six just staring Eklund in the face. The Swedish forward averaged 16 goals and 55.5 points in the last two seasons with San Jose despite also averaging just below 19:00 TOI/GP. He’s steadily increased his SOG totals by 20-plus in each of his first three full seasons and is one more improvement, and TOI increase, away from joining the 200+ SOG club and turning himself into an even more effective fantasy asset. As of the start of training camp, Eklund’s only competition for a top-line left-wing role is Ridly Greig and Warren Foegele, both veteran players who shouldn’t threaten his expected top-six status. Eklund was once a key piece of San Jose’s future and is now an even bigger piece of Ottawa’s. The Senators will likely put the winger in all positions to succeed after their well-documented offseason moves. Eklund finds himself going very late in drafts, surrounded by players in much less fruitful fantasy positions, and could be an asset that sticks on your team all season as he tries to take his game to an even higher level. Draft Eklund for potential goals, assists, points, SOG and PPP.
Nick Lardis – CHI – LW
Lardis was moved up Chicago’s lineup late in the 2025-26 season due to his strong AHL play (32 Pts in 35 GP) and rewarded head coach Jeff Blashill with five goals, seven points and 22 SOG in the final 13 games of the season. As Lardis enters his first full NHL season in 2026-27, he will be expected to help drive Chicago’s offence on the wing, where he could find himself in a top-six role out of camp. The 21-year-old is just two years removed from a historical 71-goal campaign in Brantford (OHL), the most goals in an OHL season since John Tavares potted 72 in 2006-07. The strong-shooting winger has proved at every level that he has all the tools to fill the net and be an effective top-six sidekick for the likes of Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and Anton Frondell and will be heavily leaned upon to improve Chicago’s 29th-ranked power-play (16.9%) and 31st-ranked offence, which scored just 210 goals in 2025-26. The Blackhawks will be looking for complementary scoring this season, and we should look no further than one of their top prospects in a great position heading into this season. Draft Lardis for goals, SOG and PPP.