With the NHL highly unlikely to be restarting on January 1 (in spite of Gary Bettman's recent comments suggesting otherwise), the recent report from Elliotte Friedman suggesting that four teams are exploring the possibility of outdoor games seems at least somewhat interesting. I mean, if a baseball stadium like Fenway Park doesn't work, then there are probably some good outdoor rinks in Canada or the more northern US states. Like this one:

At the moment, the focus on the 2020-21 season start seems to be on the battle between the owners and players over money. However, it's important to also keep an eye on the COVID numbers and how laws are affected. For example, in British Columbia (where I live), indoor and outdoor team sports have recently been suspended. If the virus numbers don't improve over the holidays and into January, then a team like the Canucks may be forced to make arrangements outside BC to play home games. If laws elsewhere become more restrictive, it may not matter whether the owners and players come to an agreement soon. Or in the more immediate future, whether the World Junior tournament takes place in Alberta.

Assuming that the World Juniors take place, the two most recent first overall picks won't be playing.  

This news makes it appear all but certain that Alexis Lafreniere will play for the Rangers this season. Ditto for Nick Robertson on the Leafs (who suited up during the postseason) and of course Jack Hughes.  

Here's another one, in case you were curious about Kaapo Kakko's status at all.

This tournament will be just fine, even if it doesn't feature every single age-eligible player.

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I'll be honest. Because there's been nearly no player signings or other significant news in the past little while, I haven't done much in the way of updating the Roto Rankings for December (so far). If you want to get an idea of how long it's been, our last Fantasy Take (Oilers Sign Dominik Kahun) was written over a month ago. Lucky for me, my dynasty league's slow (via forum) auction draft has been taking place, allowing me to keep my mind occupied in terms of player valuation. So today I'll discuss three players that I've been considering as potential Roto Rankings risers and fallers.

Sam Reinhart

Reinhart isn't in the Top 100 in the moment, but I've added him onto the wait list. He was number one on Tom's Top 10 List of players who will reach a 70-point pace for the first time. I also recently lost out on a bidding war (which was more like a minor battle on my part) in my auction league, so he's a player I've been paying close attention to lately.

Simply put, he's in for a great opportunity as the third cog on a potential Sabres superline with Jack Eichel and Taylor Hall. His ceiling is definitely high enough to get to that pace if he sticks on that line for most of the year. His line combinations show that nearly all of his time has been spent on Eichel's line. So he has to improve with Hall on the other wing, right? Reinhart only recorded a point on 37.5% of the power-play points in 2019-20 in spite of being on over 70% of the power-play time. That amounted to 12 power-play points. To put it another way, only 21 players had more total power-play minutes than Reinhart, but only one (T.J. Oshie) did not record more power-play points.

Not that it matters much after the kind of layoff that the Sabres have had, but worth mentioning anyway: Reinhart finished his last eight games without a point. That was also mostly with Eichel on his line (who scored only one point of his own during that stretch), which shows that there could be some dependence on Eichel here. That doesn't bode well for Reinhart if he's moved off Eichel's line. Go after Reinhart as a sleeper, but a modest gain as opposed to an explosion might be more realistic.

Shea Weber

Despite being a safe fantasy option for many years, Weber's value heading into 2020-21 is uncertain. His point pace in 2019-20 (0.55 PTS/GP) is not a sharp decline from what it has been in previous seasons. Although Weber burst out of the gate with 31 points in his first 39 games, he finished with just five points in his last 26 games. He scored three goals and five points in 10 games during the return to play, which is more like his normal pace. Weber is now 35 years old, so he's firmly in the territory of us not knowing how much longer he can be trusted as a fantasy option.

There are quite a few defensemen that you should rank ahead of Weber in pure points leagues. In roto leagues, there's still a lot to like, though. Weber's booming shot is still an asset to the point where his 185 shots finished in the top 10 among defensemen last season. As well, his 112 hits placed him 13^th among Top 100 Roto skaters in 2019-20. He also finished second on the Habs in blocked shots, so there's still plenty of value to be had.

Ultimately, it's his power-play value that drags him down here. Weber has finished with single-digit power-play points in each of the last three seasons. All the while, Jeff Petry has recorded double-digit power-play points in each of his last three seasons. Don't be fooled in drafting Weber too early in your roto league.

Mike Hoffman

Honestly, I'm as surprised as you are that Hoffman isn't signed yet. With six consecutive 20+ goal seasons and five consecutive 55+ point seasons, he should easily fit in on most teams' top 6. It's difficult to know what his value will be unless he signs somewhere, though.

I'll reference Dobber's Ramblings from a couple weeks ago where he predicted that Columbus and Nashville would be his two most likely destinations. Hoffman would fill a need on both teams, but he wouldn't play alongside the same level of talent as he did in Florida – particularly on the power play. Hoffman finished with double-digit power-play goals in three of his last four seasons, as well as a minimum of 20 power-play points in each of his last four seasons. Only Alex Ovechkin, David Pastrnak, and Patrik Laine scored more power-play goals over those last four seasons.

Dobber also mentioned that Florida could afford him based on the amount of cap space they have left (just over $8 million) and only one RFA left to sign (Aleksi Saarela). On a side note, Panthers' ownership has to be one of the ownership groups pushing Gary Bettman to amend the collective bargaining agreement so that players have to pay more escrow and defer more salary. All teams are taking huge financial losses because of the pandemic, so I can't imagine that the Panthers are in a safe financial position at the moment.

Hoffman will end up playing somewhere in 2020-21. It's just the unknown of where he will land, and if a late signing could delay the start of his season. Once the NHL provides more information about a return to play, I bet a second wave of UFA/RFA signings led by Hoffman finally happens. 

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding