Every Sunday, we’ll share 21 Fantasy Rambles from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week’s 'Daily Ramblings'.

Writers/Editors: Ian Gooding, Michael Clifford, Alexander MacLean, and Dobber

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1. Now in the last year of his entry level deal, Drake Batherson has taken a huge step forward. The signs were there last year; all he needed were some better linemates than Artem Anisimov and Vadislav Namestnikov. Over two shots and more than 1.5 hits per game add some excellent peripheral production. He’s not just a sell-high either, as his underlying stats balance out to about level production. If he gets up into the 19-minute range with Brady Tkachuk and Josh Norris, the three of them see their value continue to rise. (mar3)

2. Adam Boqvist has learned enough from the press box and is applying that knowledge on the ice now. He’s getting trusted with more ice time, too. Three of his last four outings topped 19 minutes – he hadn’t seen that much ice time before that. He has five points in his last four games, with two of those coming on the power play. Obviously if he can consistently do this then he becomes a top fantasy own. Boqvist owners have been waiting for this, and to be honest it didn’t look like this would be the year. (mar1)

3. Ilya Sorokin has settled in and it actually didn’t take all that long. Sure, it’s early March, but he’s had just seven starts. He recorded shutouts in back-to-back games recently, though those games were 12 days apart. Semyon Varlamov has had a hell of a year, though. Vezina-caliber so far. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In the end, when it comes to Varlamov though, an injury should decide things. It always does with him. (mar1)

4. While it's been nice seeing the Cam Atkinson – Jack Roslovic – Patrik Laine line reunited, it means that Oliver Bjorkstrand is stuck with vets like Boone Jenner and Nick Foligno, which is one step up from having you at center and myself on the other wing. I often say that Bjorkstrand is good enough to make his own points no matter who he plays with, but I guess there really are limits to such a statement.

With Max Domi doing his best fourth-liner impression, there is nobody else for Bjorkstrand to play with. And if he gets bumped up to that top line, then it would be Cam Atkinson owners getting screwed. Domi was supposed to be the answer to their depth issues, but he’s proving that he’s a passenger and not a driver. (mar1)

5. I don’t know if Joel Farabee is emerging as a star and that’s helping James van Riemsdyk, or if JVR is exploding for this career season and helping Farabee become a star. Chicken vs. egg. But regardless, Farabee has 19 points in 20 games on the year. Last year, the Flyers saw Travis Konecny emerge as their future star forward and now this year it’s Farabee. Lately, his ice time has jumped from 14 minutes per game to more than 17 and he’s been on the first PP unit, too. (mar1)

6. Rasmus Kupari, who has scored nine points in eight AHL games this season, made his NHL debut on Friday. He received 10 minutes of ice time while on a line with Adrian Kempe and Trevor Moore. View Kupari’s Dobber Prospects profile. (mar6)

7. In case you missed it, I wrote a fantasy take on the late-Thursday-night coaching change in Calgary. Geoff Ward is out, and Darryl Sutter is back in the saddle(dome). Sutter is expected to report to the Flames on Monday after clearing COVID protocol.

To expand on what I wrote, I think there’s going to be a major shakeup in Calgary if this team does not make the playoffs or even exits the first round early. I wonder if it will involve general manager Brad Treliving, who has overseen high turnover behind the bench since he took over in 2014. Remember all those trade rumors surrounding Johnny Gaudreau? Watch his numbers, as he will be one step closer from being traded out of Calgary if he doesn’t thrive under Sutter’s defensive system. (mar6)

8. Andrei Vasilevskiy‘s shutout streak ended at 228 minutes (three games) this past week. He leads the league in wins again (14), yet this season he has taken it up a notch. He also leads the league in quality starts (14), as well as posting some dynamite ratios (1.66 GAA, .942 SV%). He’s not just benefitting from the team around him – he truly deserves to be considered fantasy hockey’s top goalie: Top 100 Roto Rankings – February 2021 (mar5)

9. Showing signs of his potential, Filip Zadina scored two goals while firing six shots for the Wings on Thursday. The goals were his first since February 9 – a span of 11 games. That gives him 12 goals in 56 career games, which is nearly 20 over an 82-game season. And without much in the way of scoring options around him. He might not be a must-own in single-season leagues yet, but he’s one of those guys that you have to be patient with in a keeper league. (mar5)

10. When discussing the challenge of trading for a player this season, one example worth bringing up is Ryan Dzingel. After being traded on February 13, Dzingel made his (re)debut with the Senators on Thursday. That only took 19 days following quarantine and practices needed to learn a new system. I realize not every trade will be a cross-border one, but I’m expecting this trade deadline to be lighter than usual. Especially for the Canadian teams. Back to Dzingel, he scored a goal in 15 minutes of ice time while on a line with Austin Watson and Chris Tierney. [Fantasy Take: Dzingel back to Ottawa for Galchenyuk, Paquette] (mar5)

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WE’RE GETTING CLOSE. We’re getting close? Yep, we’re actually getting close. It still seems strange to be working on the Midseason Guide already, but here we are. Out this Friday on March 12 – if you bought the Ultimate Fantasy Pack or have the Gold/Platinum subscription then you will already have access. It’s a great way to reset your opinion on player values, and set firm goals for your fantasy squad. Lots of moving parts in the NHL this year…

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11. Aaron Ekblad's nine goals not only surpasses his total from all of last season (5), but it also leads all defensemen in goal scoring. Ekblad has scored double-digit goals in each of his previous five seasons, so he’s clearly got his scoring touch back. It helps that he’s shooting the puck more, as his 3.0 SOG/GP this season is his highest since 2016-17. Since 2014-15 (Ekblad’s rookie season), only seven defensemen have scored more goals than Ekblad (80). (mar5)

12. Filip Forsberg has 13 points over his last 11 games, as well as 95 shots, which places him into the top 5 in that category. Forsberg has four seasons under his belt where he has fired at least 200 shots. However, his 4.0 SOG/GP is the highest average of his career. The fact that he’s shooting the puck more has also helped his scoring, as his 1.00 point-per-game average is the highest total of his career. (mar5)

13. Gustav Nyquist hasn’t played a game yet this season and had 42 points in 70 games in his first year with the Blue Jackets, skating over 18 minutes a night. If he can make it back soon, this might not be a bad look on the waiver wire. He could come in with top-6, top-PP minutes (might be a stretch, but the possibility is there) and that would be serious fantasy value, even in Columbus. Don’t drop anyone productive for him yet, though, as it could take some time for him to get up to game speed. (mar4)

14. This is your public service announcement to check and see if Ben Bishop is available in your leagues to be stashed on IR. He can be a huge difference-maker in the second-half of the season, and with his scheduled re-evaluation coming up in the next week or two, your league mates may be alerted to his impending return in the next few days. (mar3)

15. I don’t believe in the trade rumors that are revolving around Jack Eichel. How can he possibly want out when the team did everything in the offseason just for him. Whose fault is it that Buffalo keeps losing? Well, in their combined first 6 games, he and Taylor Hall had three goals. That number, to be honest, should have been at least 15. I can’t see a superstar having the nerve to request a trade when this is his production. At the time of writing this, Buffalo was 6-10-3 and if they had 12 more goals from those two, then I’m guessing the record would be 9-7-3 or even 10-6-3.

Fancy stats for both of these players suggest ‘buy’ in a big way. Hall was shooting at 1.9% and the last time he did that was never. Nothing lower than last year’s 6.9%. That being said, Hall had (again, at time of writing) 17 goals and 62 points in his last 82 games and I haven’t seen anything in the last two years to indicate that he’s much better than that now. So if you do acquire Hall, just know that you’re not actually acquiring ‘the’ Hall, but rather the 62-point guy that just may be the ‘new’ Hall. (mar1)

16. The Rangers are my favorite team of the future right now, but man have they been in shambles at times of late (mostly through no fault of their own). Imagine on January 12 if you looked into the future at the February 28^th game. You’d see Anthony DeAngelo banished to the Taxi Squad because of his mouth and temper. You’d see Artemi Panarin sitting at home likely because of politics involving his home country. You’d see Kaapo Kakko getting scratched because of COVID protocol, Mika Zibanejad with six points in the first 19 games, and Alexis Lafreniere just four. Nuts!

I wonder what return the Rangers can get for DeAngelo. The team is plenty loaded up for offensive talent in all areas. But what if they got a good defensive defenseman for the left side, or a top faceoff man for the checking line (nobody on the team was above 48% last week for FOW). And then next year the addition of Nils Lundkvist, who is playing fantastic in the SHL right now, will be the final piece this team needs to move to contender status? Especially if you consider both Kakko and Alexis taking a step forward? (mar1)

17. Kaapo Kahkonen is definitely ahead of Kaapo Kakko in the Kaapo power rankings. Kahkonen now has six consecutive wins. As I mentioned in a recent Rambling, both Kahkonen and Cam Talbot are worth owning, at least while the Wild are hot and possibly beyond that. (feb28)

18. Kris Letang had gone without a goal in his first 14 games, but he’s now scored five goals over his last eight games – Letang also has nine points. Letang might have had a slow start, but he has as many points as Evgeni Malkin (16 points). (feb28)

19. I can hear the “trade William Nylander” screams from Toronto all the way over in the west coast, but Nylander is a nice fallback option for when someone like Auston Matthews is out of the lineup. Plus he’s benefitted from the coaching change last season. (feb28)

20. Along with numerous other Predators, Mattias Ekholm has been mentioned in trade rumors recently. An Ekholm trade would leave a huge void on the Preds blueline, as he has consistently logged 23+ minutes in each of the previous four seasons. As well, he’s been on a 40+ point pace over each of the previous two seasons, which is important for a team that depends as much on the defense for their offense as the Predators do. (feb28)

21. The Red Wings have a pathetic power play and while things are probably going to get a bit better – only because they cannot get worse – it’s worth mentioning that this team still is looking for a true power-play quarterback. I had hopes, as did others, that it would be Filip Hronek but that certainly doesn’t look the case anymore. While I am a fan of Christian Djoos, it’s hard to believe that he’s the long-term answer here. Four words, my friends: wait for Moritz Seider. (mar2)

Have a good week, folks – be safe!!

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