NHL rookies you have to pick up in fantasy hockey for 2018-19

6. F Andreas Johnsson

How did such a highly-touted prospect fall to Toronto in the seventh round of the 2013 draft? Before being selected, scouts questioned his ability to keep up to an NHL pace, despite his obvious skills. After the draft, doctors discovered that he had an untreated case of asthma.

Once medication was prescribed, Johnsson went on to earn rookie-of-the-year honors in the SHL, scoring at a better clip than William Nylander did in his rookie season over in Sweden.

As a late pick, Johnsson has been able to develop at his own pace with minimal (if existent) pressure from the media in Toronto. All eyes are on him now, though.

He produced three points in his brief nine-game stint with the big club this year and looked very effective, being deployed by Mike Babcock in all situations. Once he was sent back down to the AHL, he led the Marlies to a Calder Cup on the back of his 24 points in just 16 games. The performance earned him playoff MVP honors.

Johnsson sits at No. 6 on this list because of the log-jam of effective Toronto forwards. Currently, Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman sit ahead of him on the depth chart for left-wingers. Power play time will also be hard to come by with so many offensive weapons already at the team’s disposal.

Mike Babcock has a history of holding rookies back to give his veterans the lion’s-share of the workload (Leo Komarov was the most recent case), so don’t expect Johnsson to walk on to a top-six role.

If you’re in a deep league, however, he’s worth taking a flier on in the later rounds. Injuries or personal performance could see him playing minutes alongside either John Tavares or Auston Matthews, even if only for brief stints. He’s currently projected to line up with Nazem Kadri on the third line, who is a 30-goal scorer in his own right.