Dobber’s offseason fantasy hockey grades – Vegas Golden Knights

For the last 18 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 19th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Cody Glass, Ryan Reaves, Tomas Nosek, Nick Holden, Marc-André Fleury

Incoming – Evgenii Dadonov, Nolan Patrick, Sven Baertschi, Brett Howden, Laurent Brossoit

Impact of Changes – The most notable change is obviously in net. Fleury won the Vezina Trophy last year, voted the top net-minder by the league's general managers. He helped the team to the third round but he's now in Chicago, where he'll be their starter. The team brought in Brossoit, who was a great backup in Winnipeg. I wrote about Brossoit not long ago and talked about the tandem with Robin Lehner. He could have some solid fantasy value… Other than the net, the team overhauled their depth. Glass seemed to be treading water, or even drowning, so he gets swapped for Patrick, who was in the same situation in Philly. I don't think it's a meaningful swap for 2021, but could be more impactful down the road. Both guys need time to iron out their issues. Both Dadonov and Baertschi will likely start in the bottom-6, which mitigates their fantasy value. However, both have top-6 offensive skills so either could be an injury away from very meaningful minutes. Also, the team has a penchant for splitting PP time, and both could see useful PP minutes. They are targets in deeper leagues, though Dadonov's cap hit could be tough to stomach in cap leagues. It should be noted that they did get rid of some of their toughness for a bit more skill. The team has had their issues scoring consistently, particularly in the postseason. It seems the losses of guys like Nosek and Reaves, and introduction of guys like Dadonov and Baertschi, is an attempt to get this team more scoring depth. If it works out, it could mean more spread-out ice time. We'll see.

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Ready for Full Time – The graduations of Keegan Kolesar, Nicolas Hague, and Zach Whitecloud doesn't leave them with a lot of prospects left to make an impact on the roster this season. Peyton Krebs is the obvious one, but it's a matter of his role. Let's assume that Baertschi doesn't make an immediate impact and goes to the AHL. Beyond the top-6 wingers of Stone/Pacioretty/Smith/Marchessault, there is the newly-acquired Evgenii Dadonov, the reliable Mattias Janmark, Kolesar (if they move him to the wing), Alex Tuch (who is injured but should be back after Christmas), and William Carrier, who got into nearly every game last year. If Krebs plays well, he should get to the third line, but it's hard seeing him move much higher in the lineup. Ice time could be an issue here. After him, the roster is largely filled with veterans. We could see some games from someone like Lucas Elvenes or Jack Dugan, but it's doubtful to be enough for much fantasy relevance, outside a cavalcade of injuries.

Fantasy Outlook – It'll be hard to improve on their 2021 performance. They ranked third in the league in goals, trailing only Colorado and Pittsburgh. They had two forwards surpass a point-per-game performance in Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty. Given the division Vegas finds themselves in, and the Conference generally, those two should flirt with that mark again… Both Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo are 40-point locks, with both realistically being 50-point threats. The former may lack in some peripherals but he'll make up for it in production… Elsewhere on the blue line, look for Nic Hague to take a step forward. There are too many veterans ahead of him to truly break out, but he's a lock on the roster and is solid at both ends. On top of that, he has 163 hits in 90 games plays 16 minutes a night. Maybe he gets 18 or so? Keep an eye on him… The difference, as mentioned earlier, could be the depth up front. Once Tuch returns midway through the season, he and Dadonov with someone like Roy on the third line makes sense. That leaves some combination of Krebs, Janmark, Howden, Carrier, and Patrick fighting for fourth-line minutes. That could leave Krebs on the third line until Tuch returns, though…There are a lot of scoring options here, making them an appealing team to pick the bones of in deeper formats… Lehner should get the lion's share of starts here, but that may not mean more than 55.   

Fantasy Grade – A (last year was B)

The rest of our offseason grades are available here. We are almost at the end of the list!