Carolina extends Jackson Blake’s contract, showing confidence in his upcoming breakout.
Carolina extends Jackson Blake’s contract, showing confidence in his upcoming breakout.
The Fantasy Hockey season is fast-approaching with players quickly looking across the league for breakouts, busts and sleepers. The breakout picks are one of the most important aspects of Fantasy sports as players are looking to get a in a lower round than the top five or ten that will put your team in a position to win the league. We currently don't have rankings as it's so early into the season but we feel confident that this player will be undervalued.
As of right now, the Carolina Hurricanes are tied with the Florida Panthers as favorites to win the Stanley Cup next season. The Canes made several big moves in the offseason including big ticket adds like Nikolaj Ehlers and K'Andre Miller. One of their less-publicized moves was the contract extension of second-generation player Jackson Blake. The 21-year-old, son of former NHLer Jason Blake, signed an eight-year deal carrying a $5.1 million annual cap hit.
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The move was confusing for some as the team is investing money early with a player that posted only 34 points through 80 games during his rookie season and followed it up with six more points through 15 playoff games before losing to the Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Blake is expected to take a big step forward during his sophomore season as he is expected to jump up to Carolina's second line to play with Seth Jarvis and the newly-acquired Taylor Hall.
Blake is expected to earn the job over higher-ranked players like Logan Stankoven and Jordan Martinook, signaling that many anticipate a breakout season. With an extended opportunity to prove himself, he's poised for a boost in production especially while playing alongside a near-70-point scorer like Jarvis who could elevate Blake's numbers. Additionally, Blake is set to see time on the second power play unit, which should contribute to more points.
A realistic projection for Blake could see him grow into a 50-55 point player as he sees his play improve alongside Jarvis and finds his point totals in the same conversation as players like Troy Terry, Brady Tkachuk and Pavel Buchnevich, who he will likely trail far behind in early Fantasy rankings.
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