Fantasy hockey sleepers for 2025-2026: Why Spencer Knight and other underrated players could win your league

The start of hockey season is right around the corner, and it’s time to start thinking about those fantasy lineups! We’ve ranked the top 100 players, and having those kinds of players who are important building blocks is crucial for your fantasy team. However, leagues are often won and lost by the players beyond them: The sleepers. With that in mind, here are some of the sleeper options that could help you win your fantasy league this season:

Hampus Lindholm, LD, Boston Bruins 

The Bruins’ defense corps was decimated by the injury bug in the 2024-25 season, losing both superstar Charlie McAvoy and Lindholm for over half of the season each. For Lindholm, it was even longer than that; he missed 64 games in the year with a fractured patella. The 31-year-old is finally healthy again and should be reunited with his normal defense partner, McAvoy, for the 2025-26 season. The Bruins duo was dynamite together in the 2022-23 season, and Lindholm had a career-high 53 points in 80 games that year. His likely ice time and usage on the first pair and on the power play will put him in situations for him to excel similarly as a fantasy option, so the question will be whether his game, in a season coming off a serious injury, can get to that level again.

Spencer Knight, G, Chicago Blackhawks

Knight was acquired by the Blackhawks at the trade deadline from the Panthers in the Seth Jones deal last season, and he instantly grabbed the starter’s net and didn’t relinquish it. He put up respectable numbers considering the quality of the Blackhawks team in front of him during the rest of the year – a 5-8-2 record, 3.19 GAA, .894 save percentage – and now has had a full offseason to continue to get acclimated in his new environment and with his new teammates. The 24-year-old is a talented netminder who Chicago hopes can be their goalie of the future, and with an improved team and a remodeled blue line in front of him, it’s not impossible that Knight turns himself into a solid fantasy netminder this season that you can get value from later in drafts.

Andrew Mangiapane, LW, Edmonton Oilers

Mangiapane is coming off a tough season last year – 28 points on 14 goals and 14 assists – his worst season as an NHL player from a points standpoint since the 2018-19 season. However, ruling a bounce-back season out of the question would be foolish considering the team he signed a two-year, $7.2 million contract with in the offseason; he’s crossing over to the other side of the Battle of Alberta to play for the Edmonton Oilers. There are four coveted winger spots on the flanks of superstar centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, both of whom have shown they are the tide that raises all boats. As it stands currently, Mangiapane is in line to grab one of those spots, and it feels important to note that the 29-year-old does have a 35-goal season back in 2021-22 to his name and is still relatively younger than some of the other players the Oilers have trusted with those roles before (see Skinner, Jeff). It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think that he can approach at least the 25-goal mark if he can earn a spot in the Oilers’ top-six out of camp.

Evan Rodrigues, C, Florida Panthers 

Rodrigues has been the epitome of a playoff performer for the Panthers during the team’s back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup. He isn’t paid to be a top-flight performer, especially in the postseason, but that hasn’t stopped the 32-year-old from posting 30 points in Florida’s 45 playoff games the last two seasons. Now, with Matthew Tkachuk likely to miss a good chunk of time to start the upcoming season, it’ll likely be Rodrigues who gets the first crack at an increased role in the top-six to see if he can replicate his playoff success during the daily grind of the regular season. His playoff pace of 0.75 points per game works out to 62 points over a full 82-game regular season, a steal for a player ranked outside of the top-200 by most outlets. While he likely won’t reach that mark, especially if Tkachuk returns by January like he expects to, around 40 points is definitely within reach.

Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, Minnesota Wild 

Injuries have been a killer in Tarasenko’s career, especially since he left St. Louis, where he was most successful. His best season with the Blues was an 82-point campaign in the 2021-22 season, but he has yet to recapture his form since then. The last two seasons have been relatively healthy ones for Tarasenko – he’s played 76 and 80 games the last two seasons, respectively – but he had different levels of production in each. Two seasons ago, he had 23 goals and 55 points split between the Panthers and Senators while averaging over 16 minutes in a top-six role, a good level of production. Last year was a disappointing 11-goal, 33-point season in which he averaged just 14:47 of ice time, mostly in a bottom-six role. For the upcoming campaign, the Wild signed the 33-year-old to play in their top-six with guys like Marco Rossi or Matt Boldy, and at ice time more in line with what he had during his 55-point campaign. If that holds true, he should have a good chance to try and find his 50-point form from two seasons ago.

Matias Maccelli, F, Toronto Maple Leafs 

With fantasy sleepers, usage is almost always the name of the game. Maccelli didn’t get a ton of it last season, battling injuries for parts of the year and reduced to a healthy scratch in others due to the depth of the Mammoth forward group. Even in the 55 games he did play, he only received 13:44 of ice time per night. All that led to a disappointing campaign, with the winger producing just 18 points all season. The 24-year-old was acquired in the offseason as a low-risk addition by the Maple Leafs as the team’s best shot to get another top-six forward in the building to offset the loss of Mitch Marner. It’s highly unlikely that Maccelli will become a 100-point player overnight like Marner was, but Toronto’s hope is that he plays more like the player who had 97 points in 146 games in the two seasons prior to last year. Based on the Maple Leafs’ current roster outlook, it certainly seems like the team will give him every opportunity to earn a spot in the top-six, maybe even the top line, and on the power play to give him that chance. With the forwards he might be playing with – William Nylander, Matthew Knies, John Tavares, Auston Matthews – it’s not out of the question that the young winger enjoys a breakout campaign with a change of scenery.

Brayden McNabb, D, Vegas Golden Knights

The strength of the Golden Knights as a franchise for years has been the depth of their defense corps, seemingly always three pairs deep. McNabb has been a part of that since the beginning, one of the few remaining members of the inaugural Golden Misfits, and the team’s all-time leader in games played. This season, the 34-year-old could find his way to regular first-pair usage given the gaping hole the loss of Alex Pietrangelo, plus the departure of mainstay Nicolas Hague, leaves in the Golden Knights’ defense corps. McNabb shot the puck more than he ever has last season, registering 98 shots on goal, and matched his career high of five goals as a result. Beyond the newfound shooting mentality, McNabb is a pretty safe sleeper pick, especially as far as defensemen go, due to the fact that his floor is much higher via what he brings as a 6-foot-4, physical defenseman that brings 150-hit, 150-block potential. Plus, assuming he plays with Shea Theodore, he’ll see more ice time in the offensive zone and with the Golden Knights’ best players, meaning his assists should increase just as a byproduct of that.