Folin latched on with the Flyers as a free agent in July. He plays a sound defensive game, but his role in past years with the Wild and Kings, respectively, hadn't been heavy. The Swede has put up only 36 points (seven goals, 29 assists) in 183 career contests, albeit with 321 hits and 237 blocked shots to bolster his reputation as a quality own-zone patrolman. Fantasy owners should only consider drafting him in leagues with extremely deep rosters.
The big Swede has split his 2015-16 campaign in fairly even fashion between the Wild and its minor-league affiliate, AHL Iowa, where he picked up four goals and nine assists in 28 games. He's more of a stay-at-home type of defenseman who lugs his 6-foot-3, 214-pound body around the front of the net. Rarely will the rugged rearguard produce points, thus giving him little value in most fantasy formats.
Folin played in 40 games with the Wild last season, tallying two goals and eight assists for a total of 10 points in those contests. The Wild are pretty deep at defense, especially after landing heavily sought-after college prospect Mike Reilly this offseason, but Folin will get a chance to secure a roster spot with the big club in training camp. It's likely, however, that he will split time between the AHL and NHL in 2015-16.
Folin was one of the most sought-after free agents coming out of the NCAA last season and probably ranks as the current favorite from the pool of defensive prospects to make the Wild roster out of camp. The big-bodied Folin played just a single game last year after being signed, and wasn't eligible to suit up during the playoffs since he was inked after the trade deadline. As a consequence, there isn't much of a sample size to predict how he'll perform for the Wild. We do know that the Wild are going to give him a shot on a decent pairing and may even let him lead the second power-play unit. If you're into high-risk, high-reward moves, Folin might be worth a gamble, given his offensive upside. But it's impossible to know how many games he'll actually play and that makes it a risk to draft him. He's a great waiver grab, but don't be afraid to leverage any early hot streak he has into a trade in your re-draft league. Like Justin Schultz last year, Folin could tire over the course of a much-longer NHL season. He'll more than likely hit the proverbial wall around the 45-game mark. It'll be a couple seasons before we see his fantasy potential fully realized.
