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. Remember when the Golden Knights were believed to be shopping Marc-Andre Fleury, thinking the veteran goalie was past his prime and that Robin Lehner was the goalie of the future? The whole “stabbed in the back” portrait on agent Allan Walsh’s Twitter? Maybe Lehner is still the goalie of the future, but Fleury is still (once again) the goalie of right now in Vegas. 

Here is how he stacks up all-time for most career shutouts in Stanley Cup playoffs history:

1. Martin Brodeur: 24
2. Patrick Roy: 23
3. Marc-Andre Fleury: 16
4. Curtis Joseph: 16 (may23)

2. Moreover, Fleury played the eighth Game 7 of his career this past week, evening his career record in Game 7s to 4-4. Only Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, and Curtis Joseph have played in more Game 7s, with Fleury now tied with Henrik Lundqvist and Braden Holtby. Fleury and the Golden Knights will have little time to savor their Game 7 win, as their much-anticipated series with the Colorado Avalanche begins tonight (Sunday).

3. At one time, the Penguins had a surplus at this position with all of Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Murray, and Tristan Jarry. Remember when the obvious call was to leave Fleury unprotected in the expansion draft because Murray was the young goalie that led the Pens to two Stanley Cup wins? Last offseason, the Pens picked Jarry over Murray, which leads them to where they are today.

In case you didn’t follow the Penguins/Islanders series, Jarry’s performance wasn’t pretty. He managed only one quality start (Game 2) but two really bad starts (Games 4 and 6) in the six-game series. Overall, Jarry ended up with a minus-3.80 GSAA, which was the second-worst among goalies in the playoffs. A relatively short playoff series shouldn’t necessarily sway your opinion on a goalie, but it may uncover some trouble spots.

Jarry owners probably remember his jarring start to the season (7 GP, 3.95 GAA, .857 SV%). He settled down after that as one of fantasy hockey’s more reliable goalies with a strong 23-5-2 record and 2.49 GAA and .919 SV% the rest of the way. So Jarry was okay for you if you could stomach the rough first month. However, with Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang signed for only one more season, the Penguins may use the offseason to consider all of their options in net while they load up for one last potential hurrah. That could include investing in one of the many goaltending free agent options-to-be. Or it could mean Casey DeSmith, who was one of the more reliable backups yet unavailable for the playoffs, is handed a more prominent role next season if and when Jarry slumps.

Since the Penguins are tight against the cap to make many changes, Jarry is likely back as the starter next season. However, a change in net is food for thought while the wound of another early playoff exit is still fresh. (May29)

4. I have been thinking about the Seattle expansion draft and some anchor contracts that could be on the move. Now, teams getting rid of these contracts may have to incentivize the Kraken a bit to take them, but I thought it’d be worth pointing out a couple high-priced players on cap-strapped teams that may be on the move, thus allowing their teams some flexibility. Cap numbers from Cap Friendly.

For example, Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene: It seems likely the Preds protect Josi-Ellis-Ekholm-Fabbro. That means they can protect four forwards, and after Forsberg and Arvidsson, it seems unlikely they protect both Johansen and Duchene. It seems as if at least one, if not both, will be exposed to Seattle.

Remember that the Kraken do have a cap floor to hit. They can’t just draft 31 players making $1M a season, so while they might want to grab a Tanner Jeannot or Luke Kunin, they may need Johansen’s cap hit for the next 2-3 years. After that they can buy him out or just keep him around for depth for a season.

I still believe both players can be good contributors but were hamstrung by a bad coach in John Hynes. In a new, progressive hockey environment maybe they can find the second wind on their respective careers. All this is provided one of them goes, and maybe Seattle finds their large-salary players elsewhere. Nashville should be doing all they can to get rid of one of them, though.

I will talk more about some other players in future Ramblings. We have a lot of time to kill until July. (may28)

5. Let’s put our GM hat on for a second. Sergei Bobrovsky has five years left at $10M a season. There is always the chance he turns things around – just look at Pekka Rinne‘s late-career resurgence – but most likely, this is dead cap space. In short, the team receiving Bob has to be comfortable covering $10M in cap hits for five years for a player who will be, at best, a backup goalie. Maybe they wait 2-3 years and buying him out is an option as well. But either way, even if the team were to go that route, they need to be comfortable having > 10% of their cap hit being dead.

Seattle pops to mind. Assuming they don’t get lucky in expansion like Vegas did, they’re going to go through some early growing pains. Not only that, remember that Vegas wasn’t near the cap in their first couple seasons. They didn’t get into cap issues until they started trading for guys like Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty. So, realistically, Seattle could get a bunch of assets, take on Bob, and buy him out in three years if they need to. If they don’t, they can just let him play it out.

Detroit also makes some sense here. It appears as though Lucas Raymond will spend a year in the minors, and that tells me they’re at least a year away from making a push. After that, they still need guys like Raymond, Moritz Seider, and Joe Veleno to get up to speed, which could easily be another couple years. They could be in a situation like Seattle where they don’t really need all the cap space they have for 2-3 years and can then make a decision on what to do with Bob.

Regardless, something has to be done here. Spencer Knight looks every bit the goalie of the future and they don’t need $10M in cap hit for their backup net-minder. And however this happens, it won’t be cheap. If you’re the Florida GM, what are you willing to give up to get rid of Bob’s contract?  (may27)

6. K’Andre Miller is the next in a long line of high-octane prospects coming through the Rangers’ pipeline. The last guy up was Adam Fox, and he’s now at number one in the cap league skater rankings. However, Fox is extremely good at both ends of the ice, and may cede some offensive minutes to Miller. Miller actually averaged 21minutes of ice time per game, seeing his minutes rise as the season went on. However, his underlying numbers aren’t quite as solid as Fox’s, and that could lead to things slanting in Miller’s favour.

It will really depend on how the new coach wants to use them, but Miller could fit in extremely well as a big shot presence on a powerplay with excellent passers like Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, and Pavel Buchnevich.

Follow the links for the latest set of the cap league skater rankings and the cap league goalie rankings. (may26)

7. Nashville stuck around in their series against Carolina longer than expected, and it’s largely due to the play of Juuse Saros. How valuable is he next year in Nashville with Pekka Rinne retiring? Well as a workhorse goalie option who may see 30+ shots per night and still put up incredible ratios, he’s going to pass the Semyon Varlamov‘s and Philipp Grubauer‘s who rely on excellent teams in front of them to reduce the number of goals against. He may not quite be at the level of Andrei Vasilevskiy, but I’m curious where he gets drafted next year. He could be worth it as a top-five goalie off the board.

If you do invest in him though, make sure to note that he often starts slow, so don’t cut bait even if the early season results aren’t favourable. I discussed some of this a bit more in depth with former Rambler Steve Laidlaw, on his podcast here. (may26)

8. Martin Necas put up an extremely quiet 41 points in 53 regular season games this year. The sophomore looks explosive every time he touches the puck, and was especially productive when he was on the top power play unit while Vincent Trocheck was out of the lineup for part of the season. He’s someone I’m going to be targeting in redrafts next year, and he may only get drafted with the 65 point guys, but I think he has 75+ in him as soon as this fall. (may26)

9. The Oilers getting swept out of the playoffs was not something that most of us projected. Edmonton outplayed Winnipeg, and the Jets barely led at all in the last three games. It could have gone either way, and I really hope this is the real kick in the pants that Edmonton management needs to re-look at their goaltending this summer. 

There are a lot of workable options, and they even have a few internal competitors like Stuart Skinner and Ilya Konovalov who should get a look in training camp. Mike Smith (UFA) and Mikko Koskinen (one year remaining) are not the answer. Ideally Koskinen could be dumped or bought out to make room for some real competition in the crease moving forward.

Sticking with Edmonton for another minute, they don’t need to re-sign Tyson Barrie, and even though my projections have him under a $5 million AAV on his next contract, they have internal options to promote and fill that void, and can use the free-agency budget elsewhere. (may26)

10. When I was watching a Tampa Bay game, I had a question: where do Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow go next year? Tampa doesn’t have the cap space to keep them so they’re both gone, but both are bordering or crossing past 30 years old, and this isn’t 2019. Both are also going to get significant raises from their combined $2.725M cap hit. Who could use them?

I think both are best served in the roles similar to Tampa Bay: third line, penalty kill, sometimes scoring. These aren’t guys that can play 19-20 minutes a night, but they’re both incredibly effective, and Coleman is a good scorer.

They should go as a tandem and give a team a competent third line. Maybe a young team that needs depth. Can Jim Benning clear some cap space? How about Los Angeles and their abundance of cap space? (may25)

11. Ondrej Kase has been shut down for the year by the Boston Bruins. Remember that he was injured very early in Boston’s regular season, missed four months, returned for a few shifts for a game a couple weeks ago, was injured again, and is now done for the year. In total, going back to 2018-19, he has played 88 regular season games over three years.

This is well and truly awful. Kase had all the makings of being a top-line winger on a Cup contender but the guy just cannot stay healthy at all. I have to be honest when I say I wonder about his future in the NHL in general. Missing an entire season with a concussion, returning for basically half a game, then leaving for the rest of the year says that this is very, very bad. We don’t know the extent, but this is giving me shades of Stephen Johns. I really hope I’m wrong. (may25)

12. Mike Reilly has blossomed into a fantasy-worthy defenseman. The 27-year-old ended the season with zero goals, but 27 assists in 55 games. Add two assists in five Round 1 playoff games. He has 11 points in 23 games since joining the Bruins. He is a UFA this summer. Pay attention to where he signs and for how much. Especially if he keeps contributing in these playoffs. His ice time by quarter this year: 17:30, 18:52, 19:53, 20:58. This suggests the coaches like what they see and gain confidence in putting him out there. The fancy stats suggest luck wasn’t a factor, although his secondary assists were a little high at 70.4%. (may24)

13. For the Capitals, who were eliminated in six at the hands of the Bruins, Ilya Samsonov had one great start, but lost a Game 3 heartbreaker on a misplay behind his net in OT and he wasn’t the same after that. The two starts since that goal were BRU and TAL. All in all, a forgettable season for the 24-year-old. And Vitek Vanecek is still very much in the conversation for Caps’ starter. Next season will be interesting. (may24)

14. Alex Ovechkin being a free agent is obviously the big news in Washington. He just finished his 13-year contract and turns 36 years old in September. His shot rate and ice-time rate were the second-lowest for him for any season since the 2013 lockout (2016-17 excepted). It could be the start of a decline.

This is where I mention that we thought he was declining in his mid/late 20s, when there was a run of Caps coaches that crushed him offensively. Then, we thought he was declining in 2016-17 when he was 31 and had the worst season of his career. He then scored 148 goals in the next 231 games, putting up over two hits and over four shots per game in that span. It also needs to be mentioned what a disaster of a season this was for Washington, with all the injuries and COVID pauses, not to mention an injury of Ovechkin’s own at the end of the year. Yes, it could be the start of a real decline, or it could be any other number of very valid reasons. Or a mixture of both. (may25)

15. When we look at Washington’s future, it hinges on what Ovechkin does. If he’s gone, Anthony Mantha could be playing 20-21 minutes a game next year on the top line with Nicklas Backstrom. If he’s not, maybe it’s 17-18 minutes a game instead. And also: what happens to the Washington power play without Ovi? It has been basically a top-10 power play every year he’s been in the league, and that has a cascading effect on the power-play production of guys like Backstrom and John Carlson. If Ovi’s PP goals leave, can the others pick up the slack or does everyone fall off? (may25)

16. Nicklas Backstrom was rested for a game late in the season. It didn’t do him any good, as he had just one point in the five playoff games. A great season marred by his managing just three points over his last 10 contests. The 33-year-old should still be good for at least another 0.90 points-per-game season. How about Anthony Mantha? Six points in six games after joining Washington. Four points in 13 games after that, including two in the playoffs. Steve Yzerman may have committed highway robbery, but let’s see how things shake out next season. (may24)

17. Daniel Sprong should have been used more by the Caps. Scratching him was a mistake and I think he should have seen more ice time than the 10 minutes or so that he was getting. Despite playing just three games against the Bruins, he was fifth on the team in SOG (including four on Sunday), and he was one of the few players on the team that wasn’t a minus in the series. They had been ramping his ice time up as the season went along, until he was averaging over 13 minutes per game in the final quarter. He had 12 points in his last 22 regular season games. (may24)

18. Despite the ousting in four games to the Avalanche, it was great to see the Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko finally get his mojo in the last game of the series. His two goals were elite sniper goals, as if the first one got the monkey off his back and the second one would have been the beginning of floodgates opening had it not been their last game. Remember, he had just four goals in 27 games leading into it as he returned from shoulder surgery. Getting the strength and timing back takes a while and it’s great to see him head into offseason training on a personal high note. (may24)

19. With Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, the Blues have two-thirds of a line, both of whom have been good offensively in a small sample. Presumably, with a bigger role, as these two kids keep maturing, they’ll only keep getting better. Even if they don’t re-sign Jaden Schwartz, it leaves the Blues with three forward pairs of ROR/Perron, Schenn/Tarasenko, and Thomas/Kyrou. That gives them three playable lines (which is great for them, but maybe not great for fantasy if the ice time starts spreading out). (may25)

20. Mike Hoffman has probably played his last game with St. Louis. He is a UFA in the summer and given the dip in ice time, the healthy scratch, and his treatment in general, I don’t see him wanting to stay and I don’t see St. Louis wanting to keep him. He had 15 points in 16 games after his last healthy scratch, and he did it with about 14:30 of ice time per game. This was following his two most productive seasons in the NHL. I think if he wants to accept a salary lower than or equal to his current $4M then he’ll have no shortage of suitors. (may24)

21. A line of fantasy interest for Nashville right now is Luke Kunin with Mikael Granlund and Calle Jarnkrok/Eeli Tolvanen. I’m not sure how long Tolvanen will be a part of that line, as he seemed to be hand-in-hand with Viktor Arvidsson, who is hurt, but Kunin and Granlund sure work well together and both of those players were trying to find their way in the first half. But in the final 23 games plus six playoff games, Granlund has 20 points (or about two points for every three games). Kunin has been posting similar numbers, with 16 points in his last 27 regular season and playoff games. Granlund is a UFA this summer again. (may24)

Have a good week, folks – be safe!!

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