Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and happy holidays to everyone. We want to thank all the Dobberheads for their continued readership and support. This has been a very tough year for everyone so we hope that at some point, we were able to provide some healthy distraction about the sport we love.

Yesterday, these Ramblings discussed my Christmas wish list, fantasy-wise, for the teams in the East and West. Today, we'll tackle the Canadian and Central Divisions.

Canadian Division

Montreal

The Habs should look a bit different this year with both Kotkaniemi and Suzuki in the lineup all year, and the additions of Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli adding some scoring. My wish is that Jonathan Drouin finds the magic that made him a very coveted player a few years ago. He will have good line mates and will be on one of the power-play units. He should be cheap in drafts, and with better line mates, could be a value this year.

Ottawa

We don't often see rookies get to the top line in their freshman season but we saw Brady Tkachuk do that a couple years ago and I'm hopeful we see Tim Stuetzle do it as well. The team is utterly bereft of good centres so unless one of their other prospects hits, the centre position is wide open. I find it hard to believe someone like Chris Tierney or Artem Anisimov ends up the 1C. Burning a year of ELC on Stuetzle is bad business for Ottawa but great for me so let's pull for that.

Toronto

I am not sure he gets enough power-play time to get to true "breakout" status, but Ilya Mikheyev played to a 50-point, 200-shot pace in his limited action last year. What can he do given a full year in the top-6 and in a Canadian Division that features a few very weak defensive teams? I hope we get the chance to find out this year. My wish for the Leafs is that Mikheyev is healthy and stays near the top of the lineup all year.

Winnipeg

While he will probably not be slotted to the top pair, I am extremely excited to see what Ville Heinola can do on the blue line for the Jets. I was very impressed with him in his brief 2019 stint and what I've seen in international play since hasn't diverted me from that opinion. This is a team that was knocking on the door of Cup contender status not long ago but has seen their blue line decimated. Heinola is a big part of the future, and hopefully it's sooner rather than later.

Edmonton

Jesse Pool Party. Your Honour, the Defence rests. 

Calgary

Beyond just a bounce back for the top guns in general, I really want to see Rasmus Andersson take the next step forward. He has been improving every year in the league and looks to be on the cusp of true top-pair status. Andersson looks to be a good fantasy value this year as he at least has an outside shot at PP1 minutes. His issue is he doesn't bring huge peripherals but hopefully those climb with more minutes.

Vancouver

Bo Horvat has been one of my favourite players to watch these last few years because he generally gets decent results, the last couple years notwithstanding. His problem has long been having good line mates; Brock Boeser has missed large chunks of time these past couple seasons and J.T. Miller found a home next to Elias Pettersson. My hope is that a full season of Boeser/Horvat sees the latter continue his upward trend of point production every year he's been in the league.

Central Division

Carolina

My hope is that Nino Niederreiter bounces back. He had a great showing in 2018-19 when he was traded to Carolina but fell off significantly in 2019-20. His underlyings to a big hit as well, but he is still on the right side of 30 and has a long history of producing in a reduced role. I believe he can rebound but he won't do it if he's stuck in the bottom-6 all year. It may be a wish against reality but here's to a big 2021 for El Nino.

Chicago

I would love an Adam Boqvist breakout this year. For some reason, it appears that Duncan Keith is still highly regarded despite his play falling off considerably these last few years. They don't necessarily need an elite puck-mover on the power play with Kane/Toews/Kubalik around, but it helps, and Boqvist being that guy would be a boost for a team that just lost its second-line centre for an indeterminate amount of time.

Columbus

Like a few other writers here at Dobber, I think Oliver Bjorkstrand is on the cusp of stardom, both in fantasy and in real life. He has been one of the best 5-on-5 goal scorers these last couple seasons and by the end of the 2019-20 regular season, he was playing nearly 20 minutes a night. Those kinds of minutes with this kind of player could mean a big fantasy season, especially if the power play figures itself out. I really wish to see the Bjork do his thing this season.

Dallas

With Tyler Seguin missing significant time, this team will need its depth centres to step up. They need someone like Roope Hintz show himself capable of handling 18-19 minutes a night. Whether he does or not is up to him, but it seems like there's a big chance for Hintz to show what he's made of. It would be nice to see the leash off him a little, and the team may need to do it just to generate the offence necessary to win games.

Detroit

It is time for Filip Zadina to really show what he's made of. He turned 21 years old last month and now has two pro seasons under his belt in North America. He had 25 goals across 80 games in the AHL, which portends good things for him at the next level. My concern is that there may not be a playmaking centre for him this season so expectations should be muted, but I would love to see Zadina show what made him so coveted back in 2018.

Florida

Someone, anyone, from the prospect pool needs to step up. It doesn't really matter who it is, but this team needs a lot of help and it has to come internally. That means steps up for guys like Tippett, Denisenko, or Stillman, or all of them, or some combination of them, for this team to reach the postseason. While goaltending still remains this team's biggest question mark, they need the youngsters to assert themselves. It doesn't really matter who, but someone needs to do it.

Nashville

It feels like I have been waiting five years for Filip Forsberg's breakout and though I have my doubts it'll happen this year, and he kind of broke out in 2017-18, it would be nice to see it for a full season. He is one of the best wingers in the league but he saw his ice time cut significantly under Jon Hynes. He needs to be great for this team to be great and I hope Hynes sees that. Please, pretty please, let Forsberg have a point-per-game season.

Tampa Bay

My hope is that this is the season when Mikhail Sergachev finally takes over the top PP unit. It may not be as coveted with Nikita Kucherov out for the year but it would still be a step up for him in the fantasy game. I am of the mind that he's as good, if not better, as a puck-mover than Hedman and has earned this role. Whether he gets it or not is up to the coaching staff, but Sergachev has done everything the team has asked him to do. He deserves it.

Merry Christmas everyone! And as a special treat, to give you something to read while you wait for your family to get ready to go to wherever it is you’re going – we’ll have three, that’s right, three – offseason team outlooks posted throughout the day (San Jose, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh)! So be sure to check in whenever you’re waiting in the car or at the door bored out of your skull ;)