Last season was the strangest I've ever navigated in fantasy hockey.

On the one hand, there was the predictability of the league's temporary realignment, as teams would face only opponents within their own divisions. Pick a weak division, reap the rewards -- half of the league's top scorers were preying on the North Division, for example. But that was counterbalanced by a 56-game sprint of a season and the utter unpredictability of the COVID pandemic on the NHL: from unexpected absences in games to the unexpected impact on otherwise consistent players.

This season -- fingers crossed! -- appears to bring a return to some semblance of normalcy, at least in fantasy land. So it's with some confidence that I choose to plant my flag with these 10 players for the 2021-22 season, searching them out in my fantasy leagues based on how I expect they'll perform this season. Some of it is historical. Some of it is contextual. Some of it is a hunch.

I've attempted to list some players available throughout your fantasy draft rather than just front-load the list with obvious first-rounders. But let's start with an obvious first-rounder, shall we?