Kurtis MacDermid

MacDermid had two goals, one assist, 16 shots on net and 83 hits in 45 regular-season games between Colorado and New Jersey last year. He signed a three-year, $3.45 million contract in May to remain with the Devils. The 30-year-old has logged time as a defenseman in the NHL but has recently become a full-time forward. MacDermid has never been an offensive contributor, registering only 11 goals and 31 points across 265 contests. He plays a physical role but doesn't receive much ice time, and his spot in the lineup isn't guaranteed. As such, there are likely better options for fantasy managers seeking hits or penalty minutes. Still, in a pinch, he could be worth utilizing.

MacDermid barely played for Colorado a season ago between sitting out due to injury and being a healthy scratch, appearing in just 44 games (one goal, five assists). On the rare nights he was in the lineup, the now 29-year-old averaged just 8:20 worth of ice time. It appears as if MacDermid will be battling veteran Jack Johnson for one spot in the Avalanche lineup for the 2023-24 campaign. Either way, the winner of that battle will have zero fantasy value.

Signed a two-year, $1.975 million contract with the Avalanche in April of 2022.

A big, physical, punishing defenseman, MacDermid has seen action in parts of three NHL campaigns, piling up 198 hits and 115 penalty minutes (but only four goals and 13 points) in 90 games for the Kings. He knows his limitations and didn't have to look far to find someone to model his game after -- he's the son of former Whaler enforcer Paul MacDermid, who racked up 1303 PIM over 14 NHL seasons in the 80s and 90s. The younger MacDermid might never earn a regular shift in Los Angeles, especially given some of the blue line prospects in the organization who will be pushing for ice time in the near future, but he provides an element none of the team's other defensemen do, and that should at least earn him a steady big-league paycheck.

MacDermid is showing signs of being a one-category fantasy player in many formats, and that category is PIM. If his totals from last year between the Kings and AHL Ontario were combined, he's now topped 100 PIM in seven of his eight seasons in juniors and the pros. It's probably not enough to make him relevant in fantasy arenas, though.