Welcome to Part 1 of the DobberHockey Experts Panel predictions, where we chime in with some personal fantasy hockey favorite picks going into the new season, FINALLY upon us as of tomorrow.
For this exercise, each member of the DobberHockey staff submitted his top selection in each the five following categories: sleeper, probable bust, dark horse, midseason callup, and bounce-back candidate. Moreover, for fantasy hockey planning's sake, we examined arguably the top 15 potential unrestricted free agents of next year's crop and opined as to what may develop by then, the summer of 2019: Will they re-sign, get traded, or pull a John Tavares and just let the clock run out?
Note that we'll have Part 2 tomorrow, our picks for the various NHL awards, so be sure to visit us then, too!
On to the picks below — have a great season of fantasy hockey, folks:
Dobber
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: J.T.Miller
Probable bust: M.Giordano
Dark horse: V.Hinostroza
Midseason callup: E.Tolvanen
Bounce back: M.Pacioretty
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: Traded
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Re-signed
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Steve Laidlaw
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: M.Giordano
Probable bust: J.Carter
Dark horse: S.Weber (stash)
Midseason callup: E.Tolvanen
Bounce back: M.Pacioretty
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: Traded
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: UFA
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: Re-signed
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Ian Gooding
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: A.Raanta
Probable bust: J.Bailey
Dark horse: A.Lehkonen
Midseason callup: E.Tolvanen
Bounce back: M.Murray
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: UFA
Erik Karlsson: UFA
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: UFA
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Michael Clifford
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: K.Palmieri
Probable bust: R.Dahlin
Dark horse: S.Steel
Midseason callup: C.Hart
Bounce back: B.Saad
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: UFA
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: Traded
|
Mario Prata
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: J.Puljujarvi
Probable bust: A.Lee
Dark horse: A.Czarnik
Midseason callup: L.Andersson
Bounce back: C.Price
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Traded
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: Traded
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: Traded
|
Cam Robinson
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: A.Raanta
Probable bust: E.Kane
Dark horse: T.Meier
Midseason callup: S.Niku
Bounce back: C.Talbot
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: UFA
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Eric Daoust
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: D.Nurse
Probable bust: A.Raanta
Dark horse: R.Fabbri
Midseason callup: E.Tolvanen
Bounce back: M.Pacioretty
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: UFA
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Tom Collins
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: O.Klefbom
Probable bust: A.Kopitar
Dark horse: R.Lehner
Midseason callup: J.Ho-Sang
Bounce back: C.Talbot
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: UFA
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Rick Roos
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: D.Nurse
Probable bust: A.Radulov
Dark horse: J.Morrissey
Midseason callup: D.Sikura
Bounce back: Z.Parise
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: UFA
Anders Lee: Traded
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: UFA
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Traded
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Alexander MacLean
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: O.Klefbom
Probable bust: P.Kane
Dark horse: V.Zykov
Midseason callup: C.Hart
Bounce back: O.Klefbom
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: UFA
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Traded
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: UFA
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: Traded
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Brad Phillips
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: B.Montour
Probable bust: W.Karlsson
Dark horse: O.Lindblom
Midseason callup: F.Zadina
Bounce back: Z.Parise
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: UFA
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: UFA
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: UFA
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: Traded
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: UFA
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: Re-signed
|
Adam Daly-Frey
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: A.Raanta
Probable bust: L.Draisaitl
Dark horse: D.Heinen
Midseason callup: E.Brannstrom
Bounce back: D.Keith
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: UFA
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: UFA
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: Traded
|
Brennan Des
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: R.Nugent-Hopkins
Probable bust: P.Rinne
Dark horse: A.Beauvillier
Midseason callup: C.Hart
Bounce back: M.Pacioretty
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: Re-signed
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: Re-signed
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Chris Wassel
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: M.Wood
Probable bust: J.Vesey
Dark horse: T.Rattie
Midseason callup: E.Brannstrom
Bounce back: M.Pacioretty
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: UFA
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: UFA
Anders Lee: Traded
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: Traded
Jeff Skinner: UFA
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Chris Liggio
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: B.Saad
Probable bust: W.Karlsson
Dark horse: T.Chabot
Midseason callup: L.Andersson
Bounce back: J.Carter
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: UFA
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: Trade
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Re-signed
Sergei Bobrovsky: UFA
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: Re-signed
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Cameron Metz
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: K.Palmieri
Probable bust: P.Kane
Dark horse: K.Turris
Midseason callup: L.Andersson
Bounce back: V.Tarasenko
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Re-signed
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: UFA
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: UFA
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: UFA
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Christopher Kane
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: K.Shattenkirk
Probable bust: R.Smith
Dark horse: A.Galchenyuk
Midseason callup: E.Tolvanen
Bounce back: J.Spezza
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: UFA
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: UFA
Artemi Panarin: Traded
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: Traded
|
CONSENUS
Fantasy picks
Sleeper: A.Raanta
Probable bust: W.Karlsson / P.Kane
Dark horse: n/a
Midseason callup: E.Tolvanen
Bounce back: M.Pacioretty
Potential 2019 UFA
Matt Duchene: Traded
Jordan Eberle: Traded
Jake Gardiner: Re-signed
Erik Karlsson: Re-signed
Anders Lee: Re-signed
Artemi Panarin: UFA
Joe Pavelski: Re-signed
Jakob Silfverberg: Re-signed
Wayne Simmonds: UFA
Jeff Skinner: Re-signed
Mark Stone: Traded
Sergei Bobrovsky: Re-signed
Pekka Rinne: Re-signed
Mike Smith: UFA
Semyon Varlamov: UFA
|
Agree? Disagree? Comments?
About the panel …
Dobber launched this website in 2005 after he was the fantasy hockey columnist for The Hockey News website, The Fantasy Sports Network, and a contributor to The Sports Forecaster. DobberHockey has since grown into the Dobber Sports Network.
Steve Laidlaw is the managing editor of DobberHockey. His work can be followed through our regular-season Ramblings.
Ian Gooding is an associate editor of DobberHockey and a regular writer on the daily Ramblings beat. He also contributes to many other sites.
Mike Clifford is an associate editor of DobberHockey and contributor for Rotowire and other fantasy hockey ventures.
Mario Prata is the manager of special projects, content and marketing for Dobber Sports. He is also co-founder of the The Sports Forecaster magazine.
Cam Robinson is an associate editor at DobberProspects and, along with Ian Gooding and Mike Clifford, collaborates to Daily Ramblings throughout the summer while Steve Laidlaw is on leave.
Eric Daoust manages our valued Frozen Pool section.
Tom Collins writes the weekly Top 10 column that can be found here every Monday.
Rick Roos authors the weekly Cage Match column every Wednesday.
Adam Daly-Frey checks out what's coming down the pipe with the Looking Ahead column every Friday.
Alex MacLean authors the salary cap column Capped, which can be found here every Thursday.
Brennan Des writes the weekly line combinations column every Tuesday, and gives us the latest injury information every Wednesday.
Brad Phillips, a senior writer with DobberProspects, formerly penned the weekly prospect column The Journey that can still be found here every Saturday.
Chris Liggio writes the Frozen Pool Forensics column on Fridays.
Chris Wassel delivers the weekly Draft Kings primer, now on Thursdays.
Cameron Metz pens the Eastern Edge column that's published on Tuesdays.
Christopher Kane writes the weekly Wild West column every Monday.
BUF
N.J
PHI 
MIN 
FLA 
WPG 
VAN
TOR
CGY
PIT Players
