To prepare for the 2023-24 NHL season, theScore has all the fantasy hockey advice you need to dominate your draft and win your league.

• Top 250 (hits + blocks)

• Busts to avoid
• Sleepers to steal
• Bounce-back candidates
• Breakouts to target
• Goaltending guide
• Players to stash in keeper leagues

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Veteran NHL forward Brandon Sutter announced his retirement from hockey on Sunday.

Sutter spent training camp on a professional tryout with the Edmonton Oilers, but he was released from that opportunity before hanging up his skates.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity that Ken (Holland), Jay (Woodcroft) and the Oilers organization have provided to me the past few weeks," Sutter said. "You need to be 100% healthy to compete in the NHL, and although my health continues to improve, in consideration of my health and family, I am officially retiring from hockey.

"Thank you to the Oilers, Canucks, Penguins, and Hurricanes, as well as all my past coaches, trainers, and teammates for the incredible experiences throughout my 13 seasons in the NHL."

Sutter hadn't played in the NHL since the 2020-21 campaign with the Canucks due to long-term COVID symptoms.

The son of former NHL player and coach Brent Sutter, Brandon was drafted 11th overall by the Hurricanes in 2007. He spent his first four seasons in Carolina and enjoyed his most productive campaign with the club in 2009-10 with 21 goals and 40 points.

Sutter was traded to the Penguins in 2012 as part of the deal that sent Jordan Staal to the Hurricanes. He played three years in Pittsburgh until he was shipped to Vancouver in 2015.

The 34-year-old garnered a reputation as a defensive-minded center throughout his career. He received down-ballot Selke Trophy votes twice, finishing as high as 20th in 2011-12. He also finished as high as 11th in Lady Byng voting in 2012-13.

Sutter tallied 289 points in 770 career NHL games.

On the international stage, Sutter won a gold medal with Canada at the 2008 world juniors.

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The Anaheim Ducks claimed defenseman Lassi Thomson off waivers Sunday.

Thomson, 23, was selected 19th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2019 draft. The right-shot blue-liner recorded five assists in 18 games over two seasons in Ottawa.

Last year, Thomson tallied seven goals and 33 points in 56 contests with the AHL's Belleville Senators.

The Finnish rearguard joins a Ducks back end that already features new additions on the right side in Radko Gudas and Ilya Lyubushkin. Right-shot defender Jamie Drysdale remains without a contract as a restricted free agent.

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This year's rookie class is loaded with as much depth and high-end talent as any in recent memory.

Connor Bedard is rightfully the heavy favorite to take home the Calder. But there isn't a ton of value in backing the young phenom since there are a lot of other quality rookies in this class, and considering one unlucky injury could take the Blackhawks center out of the race.

With that in mind, let's look at a few rookies worth considering beyond Bedard.

Note: Only listed players 50/1 or shorter.

Logan Cooley (+1000)

There's a lot to love with Cooley. He's a supremely talented center who should take on a huge role with the Coyotes from the word go. For years, Arizona has lacked talent down the middle and a dynamic center who can break a game open on any given shift. Cooley is that guy. He's an exceptional playmaker who possesses great hands in tight and a dangerous shot.

He'll be a staple in the top six, and it's not as if the Coyotes are devoid of talent around him. He should play with some combination of Clayton Keller, Jason Zucker, Nick Schmaltz, and former Canadian world junior standout Dylan Guenther on any given shift. Cooley will also skate on the top power play and no doubt do a lot of the facilitating.

Arizona may be flawed defensively, but its offense - at least at the top of the lineup - is legitimately good. Cooley is going to play a lot of minutes and put up a lot of points in his debut campaign.

Adam Fantilli (+1200)

Fantilli is in a very similar situation to Cooley. He's coming off an absolutely dominant season in college hockey and is stepping onto a roster where he should get all the opportunity in the world.

Much like the Coyotes, the Blue Jackets have long lacked a dynamic, top-tier center. They have some useful pieces like Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic to take some of the load off Fantilli, but those guys don't carry anywhere close to the same explosiveness and upside - even at this stage in Fantilli's career.

With the likes of Patrik Laine, Johnny Gaudreau, and Zach Werenski on the roster, the Jackets have the pieces to score goals in bunches on the power play. Fantilli is expected to skate on that top unit, which will give him a very high floor and ceiling for production.

Brandt Clarke (+3500)

Clarke is a very smart and talented offensive defenseman who just put up two - yes, two - points per game with the OHL's Barrie Colts after the Kings returned him to junior.

Clarke is unlikely to quarterback the top power play as long as Drew Doughty is available. Still, the 20-year-old should play a meaningful role at even strength and skate on PP2.

I expect Clarke to post strong on-ice metrics while chipping in with his share of points and forcing the team into giving him a larger role as the season progresses.

Although he's unlikely to produce enough points to unseat Bedard, Cooley, Fantilli, or some of the ridiculously talented forwards, I see Clarke as a very discounted Luke Hughes.

They're both high draft picks, extremely talented, playing for very good teams, and (likely) not getting top power-play time barring injury to big-ticket blue-liners (Dougie Hamilton in N.J., Doughty in L.A.).

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Welcome to theScore's 2023-24 fantasy hockey rankings.

Yahoo uses hits in standard head-to-head leagues and blocks in standard head-to-head points leagues, so we're factoring both stats into our rankings.

Here's what we're including.

These rankings are based on 12-team leagues and factor in positional value. The value of certain positions can change depending on the size of the league. Positional eligibility is courtesy of Yahoo.

Josh Wegman has been theScore's resident fantasy hockey expert since 2015. Find him on X @JoshWegman_.

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