Andrei Svechnikov

Svechnikov's 2022-23 season was cut short due to knee surgery. He missed the final 18 contests of the regular season and all 15 games of Carolina's playoff run. Due to the injury, Svechnikov also sat out the first eight outings of the 2023-24 campaign. Despite some additional absences, he accounted for 19 goals, 52 points, 144 shots on net and 142 hits in 59 appearances. The 24-year-old forward has been a great fit alongside Sebastian Aho at even strength and on the power play. Svechnikov has also proven to be a good source of hits and shots. If he can stay relatively healthy in 2024-25, he should flirt with the 70-point plateau for the second time in four seasons.

With 23 goals and 55 points in 64 contests last season, Svechnikov scored at least 20 markers for the fourth time in five years and surpassed the 50-point milestone for the third time in four campaigns. The 23-year-old also has dimension to his game, having recorded at least 70 PIM and 140 hits in each of his last two seasons. His knee injury, which required surgery in March and ended his 2022-23 campaign, is a source of some concern, but he resumed skating in July and is expected to be fine for training camp. He has had some other health issues in the past, including a concussion in 2019 and a leg injury in 2020, but for the most part he's managed to stay available, so it wouldn't be surprising to see him log over 70 contests this season. Provided he does stay relatively healthy, Svechnikov should record over 25 goals, 60 points, 70 PIM and 150 hits in 2023-24.

Svechnikov played the vast majority of last season at age 21, and when you take that into account, it's impossible to say he had a disappointing year when he finished with career-best marks in goals (30), assists (39), points (69), penalty minutes (79), shots on goal (249), power-play points (22) and hits (189). Yet much of the good work Svechnikov did during the regular season was negated by a playoff effort which saw him post just four goals and five points in 14 games, including just a single tally in Carolina's seven-game loss to the Rangers in Round 2. Of course, it could simply be the case of a young player hitting the wall in a long season. After all, Svechnikov's regular-season effort shows he's perfectly capable of being a solid, early-round fantasy producer.

After enjoying a strong sophomore campaign in which he scored 24 goals and 61 points, Svechnikov's offensive output dropped dramatically last season. He tallied 42 points through 55 games while setting career lows in goals (15) and shooting percentage (10.2). The 6-foot-2 winger averaged a career-high 17:32 of ice time per game and racked up over 100 hits for the third straight season. Svechnikov has a secure role on the top line alongside Sebastian Aho, giving him a fairly high ceiling. The 21-year-old winger is a prime bounceback candidate for the 2021-22 season.

Svechnikov broke out in a big way during his sophomore season in 2019-20, racking up 24 goals, 37 assists, 20 power-play points, 183 shots on goal, 54 PIM and 116 hits in 68 regular-season contests. The Russian winger will only be 20 years old when the upcoming campaign gets underway, so the best is obviously yet to come for the second overall pick from the 2018 draft . Svechnikov's role will only continue to grow in year three, so a 30-plus goal, 75-plus point pace won't be out of the question as he continues to feature on the Hurricanes' first line and top power-play unit. Svechnikov's rare combination of a high floor and a near-limitless ceiling will make him more than worthy of a pick within the first three rounds of this year's fantasy drafts.

Svechnikov is most famous for getting absolutely destroyed in an ill-advised fight with Alex Ovechkin during Carolina's first-round playoff series against Washington last season, but behind that punching bag is a talented hockey player. The Russian dressed in every regular-season game and scored 20 goals as a rookie after being selected second overall in the 2018 draft, and Svechnikov is likely to see significant improvement considering he doesn't turn 20 until March. Just how much he improves will be contingent on landing a spot in the top six and on the No. 1 power-play unit, but Svechnikov has a good chance to do both given his diverse offensive skill set.

Svechnikov to the Hurricanes No. 2 overall this past June was decided upon early in the draft process and the big Russian will now have the opportunity to make an immediate impact in Carolina. While Svechnikov is your prototypical power forward in some ways, he is also a terrific, underrated playmaker. He has a complete all-around offensive game and should be able to handle opposing defenders from the get-go given how physically mature he is for an 18-year-old kid. Svechnikov has nothing left to learn playing junior hockey and it would be a monumental upset if he doesn't spend the entire year in the NHL. Fantasy owners can easily bank on 15-20 goals from the rookie in his freshman campaign. Svechnikov is arguably the top forward prospect in the entire league.