Top 3 fantasy breakout players on Capitals in 2022
There are several Washington Capitals players who can breakout on your fantasy team this upcoming hockey season. We already looked at a few here.
The players we’ll look at today are complete X factors with the Caps and will be an X factor for you if you draft them. Without further ado, let’s begin.
#3 Evgeny Kuznetsov
We’ve written that Evgeny Kuznetsov is the best player to add to your fantasy team. He’s got the complete package and checks all the boxes. After a nine goal season he bounced back last year with 24 goals and 54 assists for 78 points.
Because of that Evgeny Kuznetsov enters this season with big expectations as the top line center. Especially as the team will be without Nicklas Backstrom for a long time. If he breaks out, which he will, he could easily have a 30 goal season which would be the first of his career.
We know Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin will be on the top line. The question is who will be to the right of Kuznetsov as the team begins the season without Tom Wilson.
Kuznetsov can also help your team’s power play and penalty kill. He can work really well on both top units.
#2 T.J. Oshie
Another X factor to your fantasy team this season will be T.J. Oshie. After he spent much of last season with an injury he is ready to breakout this year. In 44 games last season, Oshie had 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points.
The previous year in 53 games, Oshie had 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points. In the playoffs last season he was easily the Caps MVP in their loss to the Florida Panthers. In six games Oshie had seven points with six goals and one assist.
Recently Oshie had his number retired by Warroad High School. He was wearing Backstrom’s number 19 at the time. He said that his experience in high school helped him become a star and he began to find his hockey path when he was a sophomore.
“City of Warroad, this is the most special place for any kid to grow up in. My only regret is that I didn’t move here until I was 15.”
Before Oshie moved to Warroad he grew up in Everett, Washington. His second cousin Henry Boucha and Uncle Max also found success in Warroad’s hockey program. Oshie is the fourth player in program history to have his number retired.
#1 Alex Ovechkin
The number one player to add to your fantasy team is the goal scoring man himself Alex Ovechkin. Last season he scored 50 goals and added 40 assists for 90 points putting his total up to 780 goals in his career. He needs 21 to tie Gordie Howe and he should easily do that this season and then pass him.
The question is does Ovechkin have another 50 goal season in him despite turning 37 this upcoming September?
“Well, you never know. I’m gonna try my best. That’s why I wanna play five more years: To have a chance to catch the Great One, why not? If I’m gonna be second, you know it’s a pretty good number as well.”
Last season he passed Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull and Jaromir Jagr in he all time goals list. His 50 goals was good for fourth in the league. That’s not too bad for the first year of that five year contract with four more years remaining.
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Ovechkin needed to average 33 goals a season over those five years. He beat that in his first year by 17.