My first Ramblings of the 2020-21 NHL campaign. Buckle up.

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What I've found this year, as it is in the real hockey world, that the prospect pool for drafting was the best it has been in years. Generally I am happy with my ability to pick up players later in the draft. I find prospects in that 20- to 23-year-old range and pick them up, and generally they pan out if not that year than by the season after. But I couldn't ignore the deep draft this year and the high upside of so many players. I aggressively traded to get a couple of higher draft picks and as a result, I had a nice injection of youth that my team needed. Hopefully this avoids any rebuilds for the near future and I can enjoy a lengthy stay as a competitive team. Next year things will be back to normal. Once again I won't care as much that I lack high draft picks, and once again I won't trip over my own mother to grab an 18-year-old prospect.

I had three drafts this season, all in the last two weeks, and I do have some observations that I'll share below.

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Are people reaching for Egor Sharangovich?

It's always exciting when a player emerges from out of nowhere. But I find fantasy owners overcompensate for this by taking the player too early. He's not going to be this year's Dominik Kubalik. The hype around him, the 'real hockey' hype, is about his tremendous improvement as an overall hockey player. And he's found the confidence in his breakout KHL season that has him shooting more – and scoring more. His shot volume is way up to nearly three shots per game in his 34 KHL games. He scored 17 times in those 34 games for an inflated SH% of 17.9%. He offers good speed, reasonable size, and a sound work ethic that has endeared him in the hearts of Devils fans. I can see him becoming a 20-goal, 40-point player almost immediately. But his upside doesn't go much higher than that. I think if all goes well, a fair outlook for his peak is 25 goals and 45 points. If you want to cross your fingers and have everything work out perfectly for him, then highest I would go at this point looking ahead five years is something in the high-50s if he has continued chemistry with Jack Hughes. That's nothing to sneeze at, and I can adjust this as I see more, but honestly that's it. The easy money is on the first scenario (20 goals, 40 points).

He's no Kubalik because Kubalik was shooting at a much higher volume for much longer. In the KHL, players like Dmitrij Jaskin and Ryan Spooner are firing three shots on net per game. And speaking of Spooner, he was Sharangovich's teammate along with Shane Prince, Brandon Kozun and Brennan Menell – all former top NHL prospects. Prior to this season's 17 goals and 25 points in 34 games, Sharangovich had 25 points in 57 games as an AHL sophomore. That doesn't scream "production". He played for Team Belarus in 2016-17 and had 28 points in 38 games – the second most productive player on that team.

I'm as excited as the next person about finding hidden treasure like this. I wouldn't shut up about Kubalik last year. And he's going to help fantasy owners from time to time (now being one of them, as he has been lining up with Jack Hughes and so far they're clicking). But don't reach for him as if he's Kubalik 2.0.

That being said, I'm sure this type of goal played no small role in the Sharangovich hype:

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Random thought – I think the Devils are an underrated team this year and will surprise.

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I also found that, living in the Toronto area and fresh on the heels of the WJC, Rodion Amirov was being drafted too early. Even in my deep league of 15 teams and 34 players per team, I think he should have been taken next year. But he was scooped up in all three leagues – even a shallow 13-team, 20-player roster league. Drafted ahead of the likes of Vasili Podkolzin and Philip Tomasino. He's going to be a great player, but in Toronto do you think he'll be as good as Nick Robertson? Close? Well, Robertson is a best-case scenario and it will be Year 3 after being drafted before he helps fantasy teams. And Amirov is in the KHL. So to me the best case is Year 4 – so the 2023-24 season. I mean, that's if he makes the NHL in 2022-23, that he'll finally help fantasy owners the following year. If he comes over later, the wait is obviously longer. Why draft him now? No, to me it's this summer coming up where he should be drafted in deeper leagues, and the summer of 2022 where he should be drafted in most leagues of this type. Again, subject to change, but that's my evaluation as of today.

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Mike Matheson got a new lease on life when he was traded to the Penguins. I still think the offensive, creative talent is there. That doesn't just go away. He wasn't a Joel Quenneville-type of player, and Coach Q is a guy that will try to force square pegs into round holes and he'll either make them fit or he'll discard them. Matheson was discarded. Pittsburgh was prepared to use him properly, pairing him with John Marino (great partner) and giving him second PP time. In that role I think he would have set career highs in production exceeding 0.4 points-per-game. And if Kris Letang ever got hurt for an extended length of time, Matheson would do everything Justin Schultz did several years ago – catch poolies off guard with fantastic numbers.

Instead, it's Matheson who got hurt. His upper-body injury will apparently sideline him for the "longer term". This is further closing what was already a very slim window for the now-27-year-old. The talent is there, he just needs a couple of breaks. But that doesn't mean go out and own him. That means let him sit on the wire but keep your finger over the claim button at the ready if you ever see signs.

Some of these are ridiculously good, take a look. He was given an eight-year extension for a reason.

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Hunch: I think Tony DeAngelo "might" get Sean Avery'd out of the NHL over the next two to three years. Not for his political beliefs, but because of the way he expresses them and his overall attitude. I'm not in the dressing room and I've never met DeAngelo, so these word that I'm saying are 100% just the vibe that I'm getting from what has come out of the New York media, his pre-draft reputation, his post-draft reputation and his tweets. But he's outspoken. He thinks it, he says it. And in the NHL world, that doesn't fly. Is what he says as bad as what Avery said back in the day? No. Not yet. But what is he saying in the dressing room if politics ever comes up? What do you think his reaction is if someone across the room mocks Donald Trump or lauds Joe Biden? Do you think he sits there quietly and nods as others speak an opinion? Or does he share his own? And if he shares his opinion, do you think he says his piece and lets the matter drop – or is one of "those guys" who just won't shut up about it?

DeAngelo took a dumb penalty on Thursday. He yapped at the refs on his way to the box. But I think his healthy scratch in the next game was due to his mouth inside the room. I don't think it's his politics or his beliefs, but how he expresses them. And if he can't get that under control, the way Avery failed to do, then I think there is a risk of DeAngelo getting pushed out of the league. It will start with the odd healthy scratch, or being paired with a defenseman who would drag his production down (ahem Jack Johnson). And then progress to the cutting of his ice time. And so on down the line.

At any rate, in the one league I owned him in, I traded him. Now it's someone else's decision to make. I wish his owner all the best and I hope he blossoms into that 70-point defenseman that I think he could be. But I got equal value for him now as opposed to risking less value later.

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Evan Rodrigues has been playing with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. He didn't look too bad on Sunday afternoon, but his time there is at an end as Kasperi Kapanen is ready to join the team. It's likely that Kapanen will take that spot on the line. Rodrigues has a point in three games, averaging nearly 18 minutes per game and seeing over two minutes of PP time per game. Easily the best NHL chance he's had in his career. But he didn't do enough with it, production-wise. The only way he gets another shot is if Kapanen flops, or gets injured. Still, it was surprising that he had this opportunity to begin with.

I've been impressed with Mark Jankowski so far. And Jared McCann is still coming along. With Brandon Tanev, this has been a very productive and effective third line.

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Daniel Sprong made his season debut in place of the ineffective Conor Sheary (boy did I call that one). Sprong was minus-1 but he played a strong game and that third line was Washington's most effective. Check out our new-look line combinations page. Here is a sample:

Time	%	EV – FORWARDS	GF	GA	+/-	SF	SA	SF%	CF	CA	CF%
12:46	24.8	NICKLAS BACKSTROM – T.J. OSHIE – ALEX OVECHKIN	0	1	-1	5	8	38.5	10	12	45.5
8:14	16.0	EVGENY KUZNETSOV – TOM WILSON – JAKUB VRANA	0	1	-1	4	3	57.1	4	7	36.4
7:04	13.7	LARS ELLER – RICHARD PANIK – DANIEL SPRONG	0	1	-1	5	3	62.5	7	3	70.0
6:46	13.1	CARL HAGELIN – NIC DOWD – GARNET HATHAWAY	1	0	1	1	2	33.3	4	3	57.1
2:45	5.3	LARS ELLER – RICHARD PANIK – TOM WILSON	0	0	0	1	1	50.0	2	2	50.0

Early on, I've been impressed with Vitek Vanecek in his one game… and not impressed with Ilya Samsonov's two games. Samsonov is the Golden Boy and the safe bet, but Vanecek is one of my dark horses. Don't forget that he was also drafted quite high at 39^th overall in 2014 and on most teams that would mean immediate Golden Boy status. Instead, with Washington he seems to be the forgotten one.

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Florida played their first game of the season and all the Keith Yandle drama has been quieted down for now. He got into the lineup and scored his 100^th career goal. He was also plus-2 with three shots and partnered with Aaron Ekblad on the top PP unit. It would seem that, regardless of whether or not Coach Q likes his game, he's still too good to stop. Let's see how this holds up after a dozen games.

Although Quenneville and the Panthers, and me for that matter, are quite bullish on a Sergei Bobrovsky rebound, Chris Driedger played an excellent game – picking up where he left off last season. I wonder how Bobrovsky responds to being pushed hard by his No.2? I have a feeling we'll be having plenty of discussions about this right here in the coming weeks. As a Bobrovsky owner, let's just say that I'm not 100 percent comfy.

Vinnie Hinostroza, unabashedly a (soon-to-be-former?) Dobber Darling, was my favorite sleeper pick when he signed with the Panthers. And then dropped right off the list when Anthony Duclair signed there. Sure enough, despite having the love of his former coach (Quenneville), Hinostroza found himself a healthy scratch. As I opined as soon as Duclair signed – Duclair gets first dibs with Aleksander Barkov. I didn't expect Hinostroza to be knocked right out of the lineup though.

Carter Verhaeghe also gets dibs with Barkov in a bit of an unexpected twist. I didn't think they would split up Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, but here we are. Despite scoring a goal, that line was actually the weakest. Just one game in, but let's see how it plays out. The line combos:

Time	%	EV – FORWARDS	GF	GA	+/-	SF	SA	SF%	CF	CA	CF%
9:33	28.8	A. BARKOV – ANTHONY DUCLAIR – C VERHAEGHE	1	0	1	4	5	44.4	6	8	42.9
6:17	19.0	FRANK VATRANO – O TIPPETT – E LUOSTARINEN	0	0	0	3	1	75.0	5	3	62.5
5:26	16.4	P HORNQVIST – J HUBERDEAU – ALEX WENNBERG	0	0	0	2	1	66.7	3	3	50.0
4:46	14.4	B. CONNOLLY – NOEL ACCIARI – RYAN LOMBERG	0	0	0	3	1	75.0	4	3	57.1
0:39	2.0	P HORNQVIST – A. BARKOV – C VERHAEGHE	0	0	0	1	0	100.0	1	1	50.0

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Collin Delia got the start for Chicago, a team that had given up five goals in each of its first two contests. I guess Delia's five goals must have been better than Malcolm Subban's five goals. Well, Delia responded by allowing five goals again. That's right – Chicago has now given up 15 goals in three games. Delia was actually pretty awesome in the first, turning aside all 12 shots he faced. But then he fell apart, giving up five in his next 17. Unfair to pin it on him though – the team forgot about its own end.

In fantasy hockey, the best you can do is look at the opportunity. Right now, Delia has the opportunity to become a starting goalie in the NHL. Sometimes, average goalies build a career off of that. Sometimes, they fall apart (see Anton Forsberg, Karri Ramo, Darcy Kuemper Version 1.0 for details) and the organization brings in, via trade, a little-used goalie from another organization and that goalie builds the career. Best recent example is when the Wild couldn't get wins from Kuemper nor from Niklas Backstrom, so they traded for Devan Dubnyk. The rest is history. Sure, Kuemper salvaged his career and turned things around years later. But that could just as well have been his only shot. Delia will get about a dozen starts, maybe two. If he doesn't steal games, then Chicago might well bring in their own version of Dubnyk. Perhaps it's an Aaron Dell or a Vitek Vanecek. Maybe a Pavel Francouz or bring back an Antti Raanta. But Delia, and Subban for that matter (I just like Delia better), does not have an infinite leash. There is a limit. He needs to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He may not get another one, they way Kuemper and Dubnyk did.

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I don't know how the Blackhawks are going to solve this problem – the defense is incredibly weak. Coach Jeremy Colliton doesn't trust Adam Boqvist. His ice time has gone from 17:51, to 16:49 to 13:25 with just 10 minutes at even strength. Ian Mitchell, who hadn't played a lick of pro hockey before last week and is minus-5 so far this season, saw his ice time rise to 17:49.

Pius Suter played with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. The line was the least effective, in terms of possession, on the team. So I don't expect that line to stick, if things don't improve.

Also of note, Andrew Shaw saw 2:39 of PP time, Mattias Janmark saw 45 seconds on the second unit. Dominik Kubalik saw zilch. Kubalik's line, with Dylan Strome and rookie Philipp Kurashev, was probably the most effective line at even strength.

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Trivia – name the three youngest Senators to score their first career NHL goals. I'll post the answer on Twitter (@DobberHockey) at 2pm EST.

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Frozen Tools Announcement: We have new and improved line combos that are in-game, updated every 15 minutes during the game. Bookmark it here.

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See you next Monday.