Christmas Eve! Happy holidays to everyone out there and for those who observe Christmas, that day is almost here. As is tradition, I'm going to do a wish list for today's and tomorrow's Ramblings. I typically do this every year but given the unique situation we're in, I thought it'd be worth a little change up. This year, I'll be making a Christmas wish to every team for something in the fantasy hockey realm. Yeah, most Christmas prayers go unanswered most years and I sure don't see why this year would be any different, but maybe we can get a few, as a treat.

I am going to go team by team, over half today and nearly half tomorrow, and we'll start with the East and West divisions. Here is the first half of a Christmas wish list from yours truly to each of the 31 NHL teams.

East

Boston

Can we get a full season from a healthy Ondrej Kase, please? This guy has been on the cusp of a breakout for a couple years but injuries have kept him to just 85 regular season games over the last couple seasons. With David Pastrnak likely out for at least a month, there could be some prime scoring minutes coming Kase's way. As always, he needs to stay healthy to get those minutes so please, pretty please, a healthy season, yeah?

Buffalo

For the love of all that is holy, why are we just taking Jeff Skinner off the top PP unit as if he's not a multi-time 30-goal scorer earning $9M a season? He has been one of the best goal scorers in the league for a decade and Victor Olofsson is the slam-dunk trigger-man on the top PP unit? Not that I don't also think that Olofsson will be PP1, I am just stunned at the speed with which Skinner, a legitimately great goal scorer, has been shunned like he has the pox. Can I get people remembering how good he is, please?

New Jersey

I am at the point where I need Nico Hischier to really become A Thing, if only to save my personal credibility. Really though, I have been really high on him since his draft and thought he would be pushing for 70-point seasons by now. That won't happen this year but he is in his fourth season and will be 22 years old for the campaign. I really would like for him to start making good on the promise he's shown over the last five years or so.

NY Islanders

Though he managed 18 goals and 39 points in 68 games last year, this is probably going to be the breakout year for Anthony Beauvillier. Not a point-per-game breakout or anything, but over a 60 points/82 games pace. He has slowly been improving each year in the NHL and the fact he's playing 17-18 minutes a game means we can rely on him for over two shots and one hit per game. I would love to see a full year for him next to Barzal.

NY Rangers

One of the up-and-coming teams in the NHL, I want to see a rebound year from Jacob Trouba. While he maintained his peripherals, and even improved on them, he managed just 27 points in 70 games after averaging 45 points/82 games the three years prior. With Tony DeAngelo and Adam Fox likely taking power-play minutes, he may not see a big rebound from his PP production last year. I hope Trouba rebounds points-wise, but even in a high-scoring environment, I'm not sure he gets to a 40 points/82 games pace.

Philadelphia

At the risk of cheating, all I'm wishing for here is a healthy season from their players. Between Nolan Patrick's migraine disorder and Oskar Lindblom's cancer diagnosis, it was an injury-plagued season in nearly the worst possible way for the players. We have seen reports that Lindblom should be ready for the season and Patrick has at least made progress, so this is all good news. Let's keep the Good News Train rolling for the next five months.

Pittsburgh

What I'm hoping for here is a big season from Jason Zucker. He had eight goals in 19 games for the Penguins spanning both the regular season and the playoffs, or well over a 30-goal pace. Now, shooting over 16 percent helps, but he averaged over 17 minutes a night with the Penguins (the first time in any season he's done that) and will be locked into the top-6. I think he gets a crack on the top PP unit before Kapanen and Rust so he could be in line for a big year.

Washington

My wish for the Caps is they realize that Jakub Vrana is a better offensive player than Evgeny Kuznetsov and put Vrana on the top PP unit. It happened for a few games last year when Kuzy was struggling but it didn't last. He has averaged 27 goals/82 games over the last two years despite averaging one PP goal a year and playing under 15 minutes a night. Most his underlying stats are sterling and he has a lethal shot. I truly believe he's a top-20 offensive winger in the league. Please give him minutes commensurate to that.

West

Anaheim

I want to see a rebound from Rickard Rakell here. The chatter around the Ducks surrounds the prospects currently on the roster or those on the way, and that is the future of the team. However, Rakell had back-to-back 30-goal seasons before falling off to 20 goals/82 games over the last two years. His fortune is probably tied to Ryan Getzlaf finding the fountain of youth but Rakell should still be heavily featured and anyone playing 18 minutes a night pushing three shots per game is worth a gander in fantasy.

Arizona

In a division with Colorado, Vegas, and St. Louis, the Yotes will be in tough for playoffs. To do that, they need some guys to step up and one is definitely Clayton Keller. Following his 65-point rookie season, he's averaged 49 points/82 games in the two years since. He is 22 years old, he is going into his fourth full season, and is earning north of $7M a season now. The time for him to make it His Team is now, so let's see Keller make good on all his potential. If he can replicate his playoff performance, he has a shot.

Colorado

In a different way than Philadelphia, all I hope is for Colorado to stay healthy. Makar, Burakovsky, Landeskog, Rantanen, and Kadri all missed at least 10 games last year and both their goalies were hurt in the playoffs. This team is built for a Cup run and to see it undone by injuries was hard to watch. A healthy season from all their stars should see them in the running for the President's Trophy and will help with their power-play consistency. They have the depth to overcome a couple injuries, I just want to see them stay relatively healthy.

Los Angeles

A rebound from Drew Doughty is my wish here. Like many others, I think the Kings have the best prospect pipeline in the league and are maybe a couple years away from making noise in the West. Doughty has several years at $11M per season remaining on his deal, so he needs to turn around his play if the Kings hope to have him as a big part of the team's resurgence. Please note that even in a bad 2019-20 season, he was on pace for over 40 points, triple-digit hits and blocks, and over two shots per game.

Minnesota

There are a lot of ways we could go here but I'm a simple man, so I'll leave us with this: Kaprizov-Rossi-Fiala. Thank you for your time.

San Jose

It is time to get Timo back on track. One could even say it is, in fact, Timo Time.

Anyway, he had a 21-goal campaign in a reduced role a couple years ago, followed that up with a 30-goal season. Even in a down year in 2019-20, he was on pace for 25 goals, and remember there were chunks of time that team was missing both Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. In a bad year where the team was poor and he was missing his centres for large chunks, Meier still managed an 82-game pace for a 25-goal, 57-point, 233-shot season. Oh, he also hits a ton. Even a marginal rebound here sees a big fantasy season, but he is much more valuable in banger leagues.

St. Louis

I want to see Vince Dunn really start to assert himself. It has been a few years now that I have been singing his praises, built largely off the back of superlative underlying stats in a sheltered role. Those kinds of players can be scary because those strengths don't always translate when playing a bigger role, but I want to see if he can handle that role. The problem is the addition of Torey Krug means more competition for top-4 minutes on the left side. It is hard to see Dunn playing much more than 19 minutes or so per night, and he's not a peripherals guy, so without the PP minutes, I don't see huge fantasy value in 2021, but that doesn't mean he can't show us what he's capable of.

Vegas

Last year, we saw Shea Theodore finally break out into the hockey consciousness, and that was wonderful to see. This year, we're pulling for Cody Glass. There have been a lot of positive quotes thrown his way this offseason from Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, which bodes well for his potential fantasy value this year. I am on the record as saying I think he ends up the 2C in Vegas this year, which would be great for his fantasy value. I also think he gets a shot on their top PP unit, which is an even bigger bonus. I think he's a steal in fantasy drafts right now, let's hope he proves us right.