The NHL season is about to begin and fantasy hockey leagues are about to begin as well. As fans build their teams, they will be looking for quality goaltenders or sleepers, to fill out their last few selections. A sleeper is someone who could punch above their weight in terms of their draft position. Some may experience a bounce-back season, others may reach their potential. Those players could be the difference between a middle-of-the-road fantasy league finish or having a chance at bragging rights in your office fantasy league.

Anyone can select and Igor Shesterkin or Ilya Sorokin for their fantasy team, but what happens when you look for a second goalie to round out your team? Which one is a sleeper pick that can provide more value than their ranking? Here are 5 potential fantasy league sleepers 

Elvis Merzlikins – Columbus Blue Jackets

The 29 year old goaltender is coming off of an injury shortened season and is ready to prove himself, just like his team in front of him as well. He should be a workhorse behind a revamped blue line and the Jackets already look better than they did last season. He posted a 7-18-2 record with a 4.23 goals-against average (GAA) and a .876 save percentage (SV%). But at  $5.4 million per season, that is an unacceptable outcome. However, not all of it is on him, the Blue Jackets as a whole were terrible last season.

The good news, Columbus is a vastly improved team, especially on the blue line as the GM went all-in to bolster his defense with the addition of Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. So, with a full offseason to recover and train, Merzlikins should be motivated to prove himself as a starting goaltender.

Akira Schmid – New Jersey Devils

One goaltender that may prove to be the biggest sleeper is Akira Schmid. The 23 year old Swiss goaltender played in 18 regular season games and led the team with a 2.13 GAA and a .922 SV%. But it was his impressive play, taking over the starting job in the playoffs for the Devils playing in 9 games posting a 2.35 GAA and a .921%. Playing 2023-24 behind what has become an emerging Stanley Cup contending team should help to bolster his fantasy numbers.

While Schmid won’t be a clear cut starter, he will feature heavily as a tandem in combination with Vanecek. At the very least, Schmid will be relied upon to take on a significant portion of starts to keep Vanacek, the first Devils goaltender not named Martin Brodeur to win 30 games in a season, fresh for the playoffs

Mackenzie Blackwood – San Jose Sharks

Next up is Mackenzie Blackwood. Ironically, he was traded from New Jersey to San Jose because of the emergence of Schmid in the Devils organization. Blackwood is a highly toughed young goaltender, but has yet to reach his potential as a true starting goaltender. However, he will be helped by playing in a tandem with Kappo Kahkonen.

Jack Campbell – Edmonton Oilers

It’s about expectations, and role when it comes to Jack Campbell. When he signed with Edmonton, he was seen as a starting goaltender who could bridge the gap until Stuart Skinner would be ready to take on the role. Then Skinner took that role as Campbell started only 36 games and posted a woeful .888%. But wait, as the playoffs wore on, Skinner seemed unable to deal with the pressure, being a rookie goaltender is not an easy thing to be when the games matter most, and had to yield the crease back to Campbell. In his 4 starts, he posted an impressive .961% and 1.04 GAA, proving a rested Jack is a good Jack.

Because of this, neither will be the Oilers workhorse, instead going with the tandem model many NHL teams now employ. Factor in more starts for the veteran and expect his numbers to improve with time shared workload providing him recovery time.

Logan Thompson – Vegas Golden Knights

It’s rare to look at a Stanley Cup winning team and think “sleeper pick”, but that is the case here. With Robin Lehner expected to miss another season, there is room for competition in the starting job with the Vegas Golden Knights. While Aiden Hill backstopped the Knights to a Cup, the role as starter is still up for grabs and Logan Thompson is capable of taking it on. He had a strong start, posting a 21-13-3 record with a .915% and 2.65 GAA, until his season was derailed by injuries.

With two solid goaltenders, like most teams, Vegas is likely to play them as a tandem. Because of this Thompson may not play many more games than he had last season, but because he is backstopping one of the stronger teams in the league, he is likely to continue to post excellent stats which could help a fantasy team down the stretch. If you really wanted to double down on sleeper goaltenders, add Hill to your rotation as well. Vegas is expected to have yet another strong season, so it may wok to your advantage.