Pittsburgh Penguins: Pascal Dupuis Can Be Fantasy Hockey Gold
Crosby, Malkin and Kessel are the obvious Pittsburgh Penguins to monitor for the upcoming fantasy hockey season. However, I think general NHL fans under appreciate what the injury to Pascal Dupuis meant to the Pens last year.
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His most recent piece for the Player’s Tribune shows his passion for the game and hunger to return. When he had to miss the vast majority of the season last year the heart and soul of the Penguins went with him. The team was 12-3-1 before the injury and never the same after.
I know Dupuis is 36 years old and coming back from a scary “injury”. I put injury in quotations because a blood clot in the lungs is not a normal hockey injury and I’m not sure how to categorize it. With that being said, since Dupuis received clearance to resume hockey activities from team doctors, it can only be assumed that the doctors would not put him at risk of further damage. For this reason, I do not think there will be a reoccurrence this upcoming season and he should be starting with a clean slate.
At 35 years old, he had 11 points (6g, 5a) in 16 games played last year, even though he played a few of those with blood clots in his lungs. More importantly, Sidney Crosby had 30 points in those 16 games playing alongside Dupuis.
David Perron, Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist and others played with Crosby for the rest of the year, but in the remaining 61 games Crosby played, he scored just 54 points without Dupuis. That is an average of less than a point per game in a decent sample size. To me, this provides some evidence that sooner or later Dupuis will find his way back on Crosby’s line.
The Pittsburgh Penguins certainly added some skill to the forward position this offseason, but the chemistry between Dupuis and Crosby is undeniable. He has the speed to keep up with Crosby and they have a habit of knowing where each other will be before they even get there. I still think a Dupuis-Crosby-Kessel line is a strong possibility because of the incredible speed they can all play with.
Dupuis had a career year at age 32 when he scored 59 points (25g, 34a). If he plays alongside Kessel and Crosby he just might surpass that. From a fantasy perspective, Pascal Dupuis comes with a ton of upside in scoring for the upcoming year with little downside based on his average draft position of round fifteen or later. This is the asymmetric, high reward and low risk payoff that leads to fantasy hockey success.
A season off can be a blessing in disguise for a veteran. For Dupuis, it provided ample time for his ACL to fully heal from two seasons ago and it made him hungrier than ever to return to the ice. Time also allows fantasy hockey enthusiasts to forget about good players like him. Draft Dupuis as a late round sleeper pick this season and change your team name to something like “You, Me and Dupuis”. You will look like a genius.
Next: Late Summer NHL Power Rankings