Brandon Tanev

Tanev enjoyed a career year in 2022-23, racking up 16 goals and 19 assists over 82 contests despite averaging just 14:13 of ice time per game. The winger is a tenacious checker and a strong penalty killer, but he's unlikely to ever play above the third line. His style will have some value in fantasy formats that reward the rough stuff, but it's tough to see him reaching 30 points this year. Having said that, he has maintained a 15.3 shooting percentage over the last three seasons combined. Look for Tanev to push for 10 goals, 20-plus points and nearly 200 hits if he can stay healthyin 2023-24. However, avoiding the injury bug has been a challenge for him due to his aggressive playing style.

The Kraken -- without a sweetener -- took Tanev (and the four years remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $3.5 million) from the Penguins in the Expansion Draft, a move that appears to have been a clear win for Pittsburgh. Tanev has his uses. He has plenty of speed, he's an excellent penalty killer, and he's always among the league leaders in hits, but his career high in goals is 14 and he has exactly one power-play point in five NHL seasons. Tanev should help Seattle win hockey games and he's worth a late-round fantasy pick if your league rewards hits, but that's about it.

While it won't show up in fantasy contests, Tanev's biggest attribute last season was his ability to draw penalties and put Pittsburgh's star-studded power play on the ice. In terms of production, the Toronto-born winger managed 11 goals and 14 helpers in 68 games while dishing out an impressive 244 hits last year. Pittsburgh brought in Evan Rodrigues and Mark Jankowski to help shore up its third-line depth but Tanev could be an option to move up the depth chart. Even with the shortened season, the 27-year-old grinder should be capable of putting up 15-20 points, providing decent fantasy value in formats that factor in hits.

After being signed by the Penguins to a six-year deal in the offseason, the gritty winger figures to slot into a bottom-six role in his new digs, but he should still be able to challenge for the 30-point threshold, a mark he missed by just one point in 2018-19. Additionally, the Penguins still have a potential spot on the top line available heading into training camp, which could open the door for Tanev to slide up the depth chart. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, the Toronto native's chance of earning power-play minutes are minimal.

While Tanev achieved career highs across the board in 2017-18, a scant bottom-six role made it all too easy to overlook his offensive achievements as a third-year NHLer. He uncorked eight goals, 10 assists and a plus-13 rating over 61 regular-season games before scoring four times to supplement a pair of assists during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. Finding consistent playing time is the biggest hurdle that Tanev will need to clear on the path to fantasy relevance, but the good news is that he's no longer a perpetual press-box warmer, and most of his absences from the 2017-18 campaign were the direct result of an upper-body injury that he's since overcome. Tanev filed for arbitration and that wasn't the best look for an inexperienced player, though the two sides ultimately settled on a one-year, $1.15 million deal.