Fantasy Hockey Features: Mike Matheson's unlikely rise

Part of the Montreal Canadiens’ positive early results are thanks to defenceman Mike Matheson as the team has outscored the opposition 4-1 with him on the ice. He has three points, 20 shots, and 20 blocks-plus-hits in six games. It has been a stellar fantasy hockey start, so it’s a good time to dig into what he has done for his career, what his Montreal tenure has shown us, and what that can tell us about his future. 

Matheson was drafted by the Florida Panthers and broke in with them as a 22-year-old. That was in 2016-17, and the Panthers of that era were not the Panthers of today. His rookie year saw no one on the roster – including Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau – reach 55 points, and their only 25-goal scorer was Jonathan Marchessault. Over the course of the 2016-2019 seasons,