Every Sunday, we 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. Tony DeAngelo earned a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, two assists, and a fight on Friday. He also finished with a plus-2 and three shots on goal.

If you rolled the dice on him, he has paid off so far. Entering Saturday, he was scoring at over a point per game (8 PTS in 7 GP), which ties him for second in scoring among defensemen. A high scoring pace all season seems sustainable, as he is leading the Canes in power-play time while the Canes are near the top of the league in offense with over four goals per game. Five of TDA’s eight points have been on the man advantage, which is tied for the league lead among defensemen. 

If you’re concerned about his 12:52 in ice time on Friday, keep in mind that the Canes had a 6-2 lead midway through the game and would have been in lockdown mode after that. Now all he has to do is play hockey and behave himself.

2. No Mark Stone or Max Pacioretty, no problem for Chandler Stephenson. With a goal and an assist on Friday, Stephenson is on a three-game point streak. Not only that, but he’s also leading Vegas in scoring with nine points (4 G, 5A) in eight games. No other Golden Knights player has more than four points. Not surprisingly, he’s averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. Maybe he’s a half-decent player on his own and doesn’t necessarily need those kind of linemates to prop him up? Who knew!

3. I want to make sure I get this in, but Lucas Raymond tallied his first career hat trick against Chicago last Sunday. His goals might have been a bit lucky, but a couple of them were just hard work going to the net. Good things happen when you go to the front of the net, and that he's doing it with confidence is an awesome thing to see. With him and Moritz Seider looking so good for the Wings, this is exciting for hockey fans everywhere. (oct25)

4. EnteringSaturday, Mitch Marner showed but two assists on the season. To make matters worse, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has been juggling his lines, splitting up Marner and Auston Matthews. That’s not great news if you’re a Marner owner, as the best way for him to break out of his slump and get you maximum value this year is if he stays with Matthews.

Marner has skated with John Tavares, but the latter is not the guy that scored 47 goals playing with Marner a few years ago. There’s a good chance Marner will eventually be reunited with Matthews at some point and it’s more likely than not that he still finishes with 80-90 points, but it may take him some time to break out of this slump. (oct26)

5. Morgan Rielly will not be heading to free agency in the offseason, as he has agreed to an eight-year, $60 million extension. I think this is great news for those who have Rielly on their keeper league teams. For one, they shouldn’t have to worry about his value potentially declining with a move to another team, as he is clearly a fit to maximize his value on the Leafs. Although Rielly will become a little more expensive in cap leagues, it won’t be as much as what he could have received on the open market.

6. Chris Kreider is off to a fast start with six goals, which was tied for sixth with several other players (entering Saturday). Kreider seems to be thriving under new coach Gerard Gallant, as his ice time has increased by nearly three minutes per game. Kreider has been dominant on the power-play in particular, as he has scored all five of the Rangers’ power-play goals and currently leads the league in power-play goals. Throw in his average of three hits per game and you’ve got a bangers league superstar thus far.

7. Entering Saturday, Jakob Chychrun has zero points in his first eight games. What's more, he's been left out to dry with a league-worst minus-14. I don't like to bail on players too early, particularly if you used a higher pick on them (within the top 100, as I did in one league). He's too skilled of a player to be held off the scoresheet for this long, but this season's version of the Coyotes is obviously dragging him to the ground.

I'd say he's not droppable (yet) unless you are in a shallow league, but he's probably not going to be who you hoped he would be. One positive is that he's shooting the puck at nearly the same rate (2.8 SOG/GP) as he was last season. 

8. Entering Saturday, Sergei Bobrovsky had six wins in six games, all of which are quality starts. He also has a .944 SV% and 1.81 GAA. If you drafted him for the wins and were willing to sacrifice something in ratios, he’s exceeded your expectations so far. Could he finally be rounding into form in his third season with the Panthers?

9. Troy Terry now has nine points in his last seven games. The talent has always been there and this is technically his fourth NHL season. But health hasn’t always been there, which is the main reason why he’s only played 137 career games. That actually puts his BT (Breakout Threshold) for next season – but he’s certainly looking like it’s coming early. As long as he stays healthy, I think it’s here. But that’s a big ‘if’.

After going pointless in eight games, Max Comtois found himself on the fourth line for Anaheim. This is last year’s leading scorer. Now that Terry has emerged and Trevor Zegras has arrived, Comtois will be hard-pressed to climb out of this hole. (oct29)

10. Cam Talbot is having such an amazing season. I had a hunch on that one, trading Mackenzie Blackwood for him (before Blackwood’s vaccine status became public) in a keeper league. On the flip side, his elite play has pushed Kaapo Kahkonen to the sidelines. At this rate, Kahkonen will be lucky to play 18 games this year. And Kahkonen is a terrible goalie coming in cold. I believe in Kahkonen and think he can be a starting NHL goaltender, but it sure won’t look like it as he plays once every five games. Just saying. However, if Talbot were to ever get injured and Kahkonen gets to string together several games in a row then we’ll get to see the real Kahkonen. (oct29)

11. Darcy Kuemper concerns me. And that’s why I was pushing caution in the Fantasy Guide while many out there pegged him as a top three or four goalie pick due to his team. Being a goalie for Colorado is certainly a sweet gig and the wins will almost come by default. But not only is he a huge injury risk, but since December 19, 2019 through this past Friday, he was 18-26-3, 2.95 GAA and 0.904 SV% with a 47.1% QS%. Whatever injuries have befallen him the last two seasons has had an impact on his effectiveness. (oct29)

12. Between Jacob Markstrom‘s and Johnny Gaudreau‘s rebound seasons, and Andrew Mangiapane‘s breakout – the Flames just might surprise. Oliver Kylington, who had three points in his last two games entering Saturday, has also been surprisingly strong so far this season. Kylington is salvaging a prospect status that seemed to be fading in a hurry.

Blake Coleman‘s SOG/GP with Calgary is up double over last season with Tampa Bay. His Hits rate is up, and of course his goals. His career-high pace (82 games) was 46 set last season. The way he’s clicking with Mikael Backlund, he’ll match that total and likely exceed it. Right now in six games he has three goals, four points, 27 SOG (4.5 SOG/GP) and 18 Hits. If he keeps scoring like this he’s going to start sneaking in some power-play time and if that happens – watch out. Thursday he scored, had six Hits and six SOG. (oct29)

13. When Darryl Sutter shuffled his lines last season, the odd man out appeared to be Johnny Gaudreau‘s longtime linemate Sean Monahan. The move down the lineup seems to have really affected Monahan, who let's not forget is returning from offseason underwent hip surgery. With the Gaudreau – Elias Lindholm – Matthew Tkachuk line performing well, Monahan might be on the outside looking in for a while. (oct24)

14. The Kings have announced the exact injury for Drew Doughty: a tibial plateau contusion. Doughty is expected to be out for about eight weeks. Doughty was off to a fantastic start with seven points over his first four games. Between Doughty’s scoring and his peripheral stats usually resulting from heavy minutes, you should try to retain Doughty on your roster in an IR slot if possible.

Sean Walker, who was expected to pick up more power-play minutes in Doughty’s absence, suffered an even more long-term injury. After tearing his ACL and MCL during last Monday’s game, Walker will be out for the rest of the season. Losing two defensemen for that long really puts the Kings in a bind.

Matt Roy and Alex Edler should pick up the bulk of the power-play minutes with both Doughty and Roy out of the lineup. Neither were able to score the lights out last season, so it’s possible that the Kings look elsewhere for a defenseman to run PP1. In a related move, Kale Clague (Dobber Prospects profile) was recalled from the AHL, so he may also get a look on the power play. (oct28)

15. With three assists in this game, Gustav Forsling is up to seven points (all assists) in eight games. His 1:03 of power-play time last Wednesday was the most he’s seen all season, but it had a lot to do with the fact that Florida had only one power play all game. If he can find a way to maintain more power-play time – even second-unit time – Forsling would be a player to consider from your league’s waiver wire. (oct28)

16. Like Forsling, Seth Jones also has seven assists in eight games. Jones is criticized a lot these days for his large contract and the fact that it doesn’t measure up analytics-wise. But from a fantasy perspective, you shouldn’t let that cloud your judgment on him, as he is a solid asset who should accumulate strong peripheral numbers based on his overall ice time (more than 26 minutes) and power-play usage. (oct28)

17. Carey Price may be the big name that has taken time off recently through the Player’s Assistance Program but last year, Predators goalie Connor Ingram took himself away from the game for a number of months to seek the help he needed. It was great seeing him in the NHL and notching his first career win last weekend. He’s currently the third goalie on the Predators’ depth chart, but if he keeps up his current high level of play, he may pass David Rittich in the pecking order. He’s a bit of an under-the-radar goalie in a lot of deeper leagues right now if you are looking for someone to stash that has the potential to be a starter in the future. (oct27)

18. It’s been boom or bust for Oliver Bjorkstrand this season. In his seven games entering Saturday, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward has been held off the scoresheet in four of them –  he has totaled nine points in the other three. Bjorkstrand’s career-high for points is 44, but I think he’s got a chance to hit 70 this year playing in a rejuvenated Blue Jackets top-six. (oct26)

19. One knock on Joel Farabee, from my end, is that he isn’t a factor in the Hits column. That said, the hits could be a big component of floating his value. Let’s say he finishes the season with 30 goals and 60 points. That means 26 goals and 54 points over the next 78 games. That’s not really a great year. But if he has 26 goals and 54 points with 95 hits, rather than 55 hits, it’ll really help keep him valuable in multi-cat leagues. (oct25)

20. This is an important season for Pierre-Luc Dubois not only because it’s his first full season in Winnipeg, but also because he needs to rebound from last year's 37-point pace. Despite some key absences up front, Dubois saw little TOI on the team's first-unit power play last week. Dubois’ offensive upside may be limited as a result, but his strong start has to be reassuring for both Jets fans and managers who roster him. (oct24)

21. You may have never heard of Drew O’Connor, but he was tied for third in the rookie scoring lead with five points heading into Saturday action. For more on O’Connor, see his Dobber Prospects profile, where you’ll see that he was a point-per-game player (19 points in 20 games) in the AHL last season. He's worth paying attention to with all of the Pens' injuries. (oct24)

Have a good week, folks – be safe!!

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