I bet you thought you wouldn’t hear from me again on this platform. But, surprise! I’m on the Ramblings docket for the next two Wednesdays as a final goodbye.

As I mentioned on Monday in my tweet and will do so many times, it was extremely difficult to decide to leave DobberSports. This is where I’ve grown into the analyst, writer, and hockey personality that you know and love (or hate) so much. I owe a great deal to Dobber, the writers, editors, and support people that make DobberHockey and DobberProspects such a wonderful platform.

There are good people in this world, and they seem to all find their way into marquee roles on these sites.

But this is not a final goodbye. I will continue writing and scouting in a major way, just exclusively with EP Rinkside now.

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John Klingberg simply refuses to quit. He witnessed his season-long point streak come to an end last weekend but grabbed a couple of assists on Tuesday to get back on the roll. His 10 points in seven games on the season lead all backs on a per-game basis.

This isn’t exactly coming out of nowhere either. After a ‘down’ 2019-20 regular season where he paced for just 45 points in a full campaign, the 28-year-old woke up in a large way in the playoffs. Dating back to the return to play session, the Swedish defender has 30 points in his last 33 contests.

He’s right in the heart of his peak productive seasons. If you’re not looking like a contender, go ahead and start sniffing around a sell-high potential. If you are a contender, ride this horse out to the desert like your face is on a wanted poster.

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Another Star who simply refuses to quit is Joe Pavelski. Now, as we know, Little Joe is far past his peak. At age-36, he likely can’t even remember his peak all that clearly. But the former Shark is enjoying playing back in the middle while Tyler Seguin continues to be out long term.

Pavelski went off for 2+2 on Tuesday night to help drive Dallas to a 6-3 victory over Columbus. That gives him seven goals and 14 points in just seven games on the season. He sits tied for third in league scoring and trails only Connor McDavid on a per-game basis.

I don’t think I can accurately describe how hard you should be trying to sell on this run. If anyone will buy the magic beans that are his incredibly inflated metrics then you must sell. When I say inflated, I’m not messing around. 36.8 percent shooting percentage, a PDO of 107, and an IPP of 75. The good times will end in a hurry here, so you better get cracking!

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Patrik Laine made his CBJ debut on Tuesday and boy did it look weird to start. I suppose it didn’t help that the Jackets were wearing their Reverse Retros as well. But it’ll take some time to become accustomed to Laine in Ohio.

It was a fairly unspectacular outing from the young Finn. Two shots, two hits, two PIM and a -2 rating. He was skating alongside Alexandre Texier and Cam Atkinson at even-strength and was working the left point on the top PP.

These are not exactly the stalwarts you want surrounding your hopeful 50-goal man. I’ve been saying this since the trade occurred: this move is a bring down for Laine in the fantasy world.

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Take note, world.

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The Habs continue to just absolutely own the Canucks. Josh Anderson popped two goals in the first frame – both from a combined four inches from the goal line. One of the newest Habs skaters scored two in his debut, then went pointless for three straight. Now he has six point in the last six games.

The power forward is keeping his shot metics nice and high – three per game, but the hits are down from around three per game to just under two. We’ll see if he adds more snarl as the season wears on to help those peripheral categories, but the added offense won’t hurt.

He’s up to eight points in 10 games on the season.

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Speaking of newly minted Canadiens’ players, Tyler Toffoli continues to look an awful lot like a Hall of Famer when skating against his former club. Two more goals and an assist on Tuesday give the 28-year-old a RIDICULOUS eight goals and 11 points in five games against Vancouver this season.

Toffoli is obviously due for major regression, mostly because he’s running out of games against Vancouver. But he has been an excellent addition to the Habs lineup. He brings intelligence and scoring punch from the ‘third line’ and the ‘top PP’. I use quotes because the top nine in Montreal is spread out pretty nicely. And their PP units are also in a split situation.

Sell sell sell.

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Vancouver may suck these days, but Quinn Hughes just refuses to stop hitting the scoresheet. The 21-year-old snagged three assists, and four shots in 23:45 of action on Tuesday. That gives the sophomore 14 points in 13 games to lead all defenders and sit tied for third amongst all skaters.

Since entering the league late in the 2018-19 season, he has accumulated 86 points in 103 career games. Yes, that is a 68-point pace through what has basically amounted to 1.25 seasons in the league.

Grossly amazing.

You’ve all likely heard the back-patting from over there, but continue to self-congratulate myself regularly for having him third on my draft board in 2018. My apologies to Montreal, Ottawa, AZ, and Detroit, but yall fucked up passing on this guy. Carolina and Buffalo get a pass… for now.

This goes without saying, but please DO NOT SELL here.

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Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring in the Canes-Blackhawks game and he later ended it as the final skater of the shootout. The 20-year-old is up to five goals and seven points in as many games. He’s looked very comfortable out there.

A few weeks back, Steve Laidlaw and I tossed around the potential of the Carolina sniper making a run at the Rocket Richard this season. The odds were justifiably long, and we concurred that now was not quite the time. We wanted to see the 2018 second-overall selection begin to beat goaltenders from out high. Adding that element would make him a true threat to finish every shift. So far in 2021, he’s had one deep goal, an empty-netter, but the other three have come from in-tight.

I’m still waiting to see that evolution to his game. It’s in there somewhere. And when it comes out, we’ll be looking at another player capable of sniffing the elusive 50-goal barrier.

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Arthur Kaliyev made his NHL debut on Saturday and ended up finding the back of the net on a greasy one.

The 19-year-old is known for his ridiculous release so of course, he managed to find a way onto the scoresheet like that. It’s simply the way of the world.

This is a player who has an undeniable offensive upside. He’ll be insulated amongst a host of extremely talented youngsters who are quickly coming up in LA. That said, I’ve been much lower on him than others. Perhaps it’s because I’ve watched him sleepwalk through most of his OHL games, caring little for anything away from the puck or in the defensive zone. However, if you can ignite a fire in his belly, or simply harness his raw potential, then watch out!

This kid has a ton of boom potential, with nearly as much bust.

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@Hockey_Robinson