Brock Seguin’s 2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers
Finding value in the later rounds of your draft can be the difference between building a good fantasy team and a championship roster. Every year, players outperform their draft-day price because of increased opportunity, a larger role, a bounce-back season or simply being overlooked by the fantasy community.
With that in mind, each of Daily Faceoff’s four Fantasy Hockey analysts has identified their favourite sleepers for the 2026-27 season. These aren’t necessarily players we expect to become superstars, but players we believe are being drafted too late (or not at all) relative to their fantasy upside.
All Sleeper Lists:
- Beebs Bondy’s Sleepers
- Matt Larkin’s Sleepers
- Nick Szeman’s Sleepers
Logan Stankoven (CAR – C/RW) | ADP: 136.3 (35% Drafted)
Were Fantasy Hockey enthusiasts not watching the playoffs last year? Did they not see Stankoven score 11 goals in 19 games? I thought for sure we’d see Stankoven potentially approach “ADP to Avoid” territory this fall, but that’s far from the case. He’s going undrafted in 65 percent of leagues despite an incredible post-Olympic run last season.
If you combine his final 24 regular-season games with the 19 playoff games, Stankoven had 22 goals and 13 assists (35 points) — a 42-goal, 67-point, 208-SOG pace.
Now, he’s probably not going to sustain the 20.2 SH% he carried during that stretch, but it may not be as unsustainable as you think. Stankoven’s game changed during that time. He was generating a ton of quality scoring chances, scoring 22 goals on 20.4 expected goals — just 1.6 goals above expected (per Sportlogiq).
In the 57 games before the Olympics, Stankoven generated just 15.2 ixG. His ixG per game increased by 77.5 percent(!!!) after the break, climbing to 0.474. That rate would have ranked 19th in the NHL last season, right behind:
- Cole Caufield (0.478) — ADP: 18.0
- Alex DeBrincat (0.482) — ADP: 40.9
- Matthew Tkachuk (0.487) — ADP: 34.0
- Matt Boldy (0.488) — ADP: 21.3
- Connor Bedard (0.490) — ADP: 65.2
You know what those five players have in common? They’re all being drafted inside the first six rounds, and the four healthy ones are all going inside the top 40. Meanwhile, Stankoven is dropping into the 12th round or not being drafted at all.
I’m not saying Stankoven is suddenly a 40-goal player, but the underlying numbers suggest the breakout we saw down the stretch was very real. At his current price, you’re barely paying for it.
Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN – C) | ADP: 138.9 (18% Drafted)
After a 30-goal season and back-to-back 60-plus point seasons in 2023 and 2024, Eriksson Ek has struggled to replicate that offensive success over the last two seasons. Part of the problem has been the 48 missed games, but even when he’s been in the lineup, he’s scored at just a 57-point pace (23G / 33A). That’s still not a terrible baseline at the back of your draft, especially when you add in 225-plus SOG and 125-plus hits.
The category coverage gives him a solid floor, and we know a 30-goal, 30-assist player is lurking beneath the surface. He’s the Wild’s No. 1 centre, so he’s locked into heavy minutes next to budding superstar Matt Boldy, plus PP1 time with Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes.
After Hughes was acquired last season, Eriksson Ek had 30 points (13G / 17A) in 39 games — a 27-goal, 63-point pace. During that same stretch, he averaged 2.5 SOG and 1.4 hits per game. Eriksson Ek is more of a passenger than a driver, but he’s got elite linemates and a category-stuffing profile that makes him a steal late in drafts.
Jordan Kyrou (WSH – RW) | ADP: 139.9 (19% Drafted)
If you read my 2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Strength of Schedule post, you’ll know that the Washington Capitals have the most light nights (40) in the NHL this season. Nearly half of their games come on nights when less than half the league is in action. That means filling your bench with Capitals like Kyrou will help you maximize your lineup throughout the season. That’s the cherry on top of an already strong sleeper case for Kyrou.
From 2022-to-2025, Kyrou averaged 33 goals, 39 assists (72 points), 238 SOG and 20 PPP per season. During that three-year stretch, he ranked:
- 28th in SOG
- 29th in goals
- 41st in points
- 68th in PPP
Certainly not elite numbers, but extremely consistent and reliable production. Then 2025-26 rolled around and things got weird. His ice time dropped dramatically (15:44 TOI/gm), and the production went with it. The fantasy community seems to be pricing that version of Kyrou, not the perennial 30-goal, 70-point, 230-SOG player he was before that.
This offseason, the Capitals traded Connor McMichael, Milton Gastrin (No. 37 overall in 2025) and the No. 16 overall pick in this summer’s draft (Maddox Dagenais) to acquire Kyrou. That’s a hefty package, and not one you give up to play someone under 16 minutes per game.
Kyrou should play a key role in the Capitals’ offensive attack, yet he’s currently being drafted as the No. 37 RW off the board and is going undrafted 81 percent of the time. Add in Washington’s extremely fantasy-friendly schedule, and Kyrou looks like a fantastic bench piece that is essentially free right now.
Jackson Blake (CAR – RW) | ADP: 140.4 (13% Drafted)
I’m a bit surprised Blake isn’t being drafted earlier or more frequently after the playoff run he had. I’ve been a big believer in Blake’s game, and it was great to see the Hurricanes lean on his line in the postseason. Blake led the Hurricanes in EV TOI/gm (15:10) during the playoffs and got a steady diet of PP2 usage.
If you combine his post-Olympic stretch and the playoffs, Blake tallied 13 goals and 27 assists (40 points) across his final 43 games of the season — a 25-goal, 52-assist (77-point) pace. With Seth Jarvis recovering from offseason surgery, Blake could get even more minutes to start 2026-27. That should give him a great opportunity to get off to a hot start and build on a breakout that seemingly already started.
Owen Tippett (PHI – RW) | ADP: 137.3 (2% Drafted)
Tippett tied his career-high with 28 goals and set a new career-best with 166 hits in 2025-26, yet he’s gone from a popular value pick to basically forgotten this draft season.
Tippett became a fantasy darling because of his excellent category coverage. Over the last four seasons, he’s averaged 26 goals, 49 points, 232 SOG and 139 hits per season. I think much of the fantasy community expected a jump in offensive production at some point, but it just hasn’t materialized. It’s difficult to forecast a breakout at age 27, but there’s still enough offence combined with the shot and hit volume to make Tippett an extremely serviceable fantasy asset.
And there are still some signs that another level could be there. Last season, Tippett ranked fourth in the NHL in Scoring Chances off the Rush, trailing only Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Brandon Hagel. Overall, he ranked 45th in ixG (30.8) and finished 2.76 goals below expected. The underlying numbers suggest he’s already capable of scoring 30 goals, and his role improved after Bobby Brink was traded last season.
Over his final 20 games, Tippett’s ice time jumped from 17:35 to 18:38 per game, while his shot volume climbed from 2.6 to 3.2 SOG/gm. He responded with nine goals and 15 points over that stretch — a 37-goal pace.
Tippett is never going to give you a boatload of assists, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find another player with 35 goals, 250-plus SOG and 150-plus hits upside sitting on the waiver wire. Right now, Tippett is going undrafted 98 percent of the time.
Roman Kantserov (CHI – LW) | ADP: —
Suddenly, the Blackhawks have a lot of young talent and look like they’re trending in the right direction with their rebuild. A lot of the focus is on players like Anton Frondell and Frank Nazar, especially early in the season while Connor Bedard is out. But things surrounding Kantserov have been pretty quiet, and to me, he could be the one who makes the biggest fantasy impact this season.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old Russian winger was a second-round pick in 2023 (No. 44 overall) and led the entire KHL in goals (36) while finishing tied for ninth in points (64) in 63 games. While Nashville prospect Vitali Pinchuk posted similarly impressive numbers, Kantserov has a much easier path to immediate playing time and PP usage.
According to Daily Faceoff prospect expert Steven Ellis, “Nobody, not even Kirill Kaprizov, has managed to reach the 60-point threshold in that age group outside of Kantserov. He looks like the real deal. That has to excite Blackhawks fans, and I fully expect him to play a top-six role right out of the gate.”
To piggyback off Steven, Blackhawks reporter Scott Powers said on the Powers & Laz Podcast that the whispers he’s heard have Kantserov starting as the “Blackhawks’ No. 1 centre” and possibly playing with Patrick Kane.
That would be notable for fantasy because Kantserov is RW-only on Yahoo right now. Gaining C eligibility — where he was so successful in the KHL last season — would only add to his fantasy value. More importantly, if those whispers are accurate, Kantserov could walk straight into a much larger role than his current draft-day price suggests.