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. Anyone under, say, the age of 25 could be forgiven if they don’t remember that there was a time we all pined to see Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin play together. We knew it would never happen, so we had to wait for things like the All Star Game, which could never replicate what we would get in a game.

We are getting to watch Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play together, though. And while the better parallel might be if we got to watch McDavid and Auston Matthews on the same team, we have to stop expecting perfection and appreciate goodness.

One of my bigger misses  in fantasy over the years is Draisaitl (along with Kyle Connor and Andrei Vasilevskiy). I never thought he’d turn into a perennial 50-goal, 100-point threat, even with McDavid there. If he could get 30 goals and 70 points, that would be a good season. I was clearly wrong about that, and being able to watch two elite offensive talents work together in their primes is something I don’t want to miss.

Whether the Oilers win Cups or not, for me, is irrelevant. I know that’s not the case for most people, but it’s unfair to put those expectations on those players with management. It’s like blaming Mike Trout for the Anaheim Angels never having postseason success. It is a team game for a reason.

We still get to watch McDavid and Draisaitl play every second or third day, and that’s just swell to me. (nov24)

2. I thought New Jersey would slide after Jack Hughes' injury but two things happened: Dawson Mercer emerged as an immediate middle-six center with high-end puck skills, and Nico Hischier returned with a vengeance, looking like the top-line center he’s supposed to be.

Those two things can’t be stressed enough. Think back six weeks: this was a team that was going into the season with Hughes, from whom everyone expected a breakout, but then Hischier was returning from serious injury and Mercer was getting a nine-game tryout. In a different universe, Hughes gets hurt and this falls apart. But major credit to both Mercer and Hischier as those two have been key cogs in New Jersey’s strong start.

What does this team look like when Hughes comes back? It’s a scary thought. (nov23)

3. Ryan Strome has a seven-game point streak and 12 points over his last 11 games, as he continues to benefit from playing on Artemi Panarin‘s line. Strome is still a UFA at the end of the season, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him and how it may affect his fantasy value going forward. Dryden Hunt is now the third player on that line. He’s not seeing any power-play time, but he could be worth a flier in deeper bangers leagues based on his top-6 even-strength usage. (nov27)

4. With another goal on Friday, Ryan Hartman now has goals in four of his last five games, as well as 13 points in his last 14 games. Hartman’s recent hot streak was enough to have him featured in the most recent Geek of the Week and Wild West columns.

If you look at the overall shooting percentage and other advanced stats, the goal output doesn’t seem sustainable. But there are a couple of factors going for Hartman at the moment: 1) He has doubled his shot total per game (3.4 SOG/GP) from previous seasons (1.5-1.7 SOG/GP), and 2) He is taking advantage of time on the Kirill Kaprizov line. That could mean that he continues to score more goals in the short term. That should be the view of any Hartman add in fantasy leagues, as his current 40+ goal pace seems improbable. (nov27)

5. With a goal on Friday, Brandon Hagel now has goals in three consecutive games and six goals in his last eight games. Hagel was on a line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews and also received first-unit power-play time in that game, so new coach Derek King has noticed the recent production. In five outings under King (interrupted by a three-game injury absence), Hagel has four goals. We talk about players that are helped and hurt when a coaching change happens, and it’s possible that Hagel is that guy in Chicago.

In the Fantasy Take on the Chicago coaching change, I discussed Dylan Strome as a player who could only improve. Turns out that he was healthy scratched on Friday. Strome has just a goal and an assist since King took over from Jeremy Colliton. You should be safe to move on from Strome if you haven’t already. (nov27)

6. From the “keeps doing his thing” file, Alex Ovechkin recorded a hat trick on Friday. That gives him 18 goals in 21 games, which was second to only Leon Draisaitl entering Saturday. There are a ton of superlatives to describe Ovechkin, but what if I told you that his 1.71 PTS/GP (36 points in 21 games) this season is the highest point-per-game production of his career? Sure, virtually all of Ovie’s advanced stats suggest a regression. But even with that and his age (36), are you really going to bet against this guy?

With three helpers on Friday, Evgeny Kuznetsov is also scoring at over a point per game (27 points in 21 games). He is reversing the trend of his last few seasons, during which he dipped from being a point-per-game player to finishing with under a 60-point pace last season. Lining up with Ovechkin helps, while his advanced stats also show that this production is sustainable. You should be okay holding on to him. (nov27)

7. Elias Pettersson is now at an ice-cold one point in his last eight games. Like the Canucks’ fortunes, you probably didn’t think it would be that bad.

In case you missed it, Rick Roos answered the question about trading Pettersson in the latest Forum Buzz. Honestly, I’m at a point where I’m not sure what I would do. The Pettersson owner in one of my leagues has put him on the block, but I’m not really motivated to make an offer. The league is shallow enough that most of the players I roster have been at least as productive as Petey. In addition, I have another struggling center that I’ve been waiting on in Scheifele (see above).

I do wonder, however, if a coaching change would accomplish something. Travis Green has implemented a more defensively responsible system this season, which has hurt the production of Pettersson and Brock Boeser. This is a team that is down in the dumps right now – perhaps waiting for the axe to fall on at least one of Green or GM Jim Benning. (nov27)

8. Tage Thompson is now up to 10 goals on the season, which of course leads the Sabres. Although his shooting percentage is still quite high (17.2%), the goal total shouldn’t be that much of a fluke. The 6-7 Thompson is averaging nearly three shots per game, which also leads the Sabres. Thompson is getting it done on a line with Victor Olofsson and Jeff Skinner (remember him?). (nov27)

9. Arthur Kaliyev is a guy with an interesting prospect history, a unique set of skills – shouts to Liam Neeson – and obvious offensive upside. There is a lot to discuss here but I think it’s always worth talking about a player who could be a future game-breaker. Those are the guys that win fantasy leagues, and I’m wondering if Kaliyev isn’t turning into that guy. Check out Mike's in-depth analysis by clicking on the link… (nov26)

10. I saw someone tweeting about how good Rasmus Sandin‘s season has been and decided to look for myself. Uh, yeah, he’s been great. Here are some observation entering Friday action:

• By Evolving Hockey‘s expected goals against impact, the highest of any player in hockey, meaning elite defensive impacts
• By HockeyViz‘s offensive and defensive impacts, he has +49% and -20% respectively. That means the team is generating 49% more expected goals with him on the ice compared to the league average and allowing 20% less defensively.
• Leads all Toronto defensemen in assist rate at 5-on-5
• Leads all Toronto defensemen in individual scoring chance rate, despite being third in shot rates. He doesn’t waste shots, he’s picking his spots with precision.

Put it all together, and… dear god. Follow the link for more… (nov26)

11. Brayden Schenn returned this week following a three-week absence and was skating with Brandon Saad and Jordan Kyrou. With all of St. Louis’s players back, this is what their top-9 looks like, order it how you like:

Barbashev-O’Reilly-Perron
Saad-Schenn-Kyrou
Buchnevich-Thomas-Tarasenko

Despite my misgivings about Barbashev, that is a deep forward group that is looking to make another Cup run. That Tarasenko line in particular has looked very good for the team and will be able to navigate softer matchups playing behind O’Reilly. This should be fun to watch. (nov25)

12. In callup news, Morgan Frost has been recalled by the Flyers this week. Both Kevin Hayes and Derick Brassard are injured, so the team is running out of centers. He lined up on the second line with Joel Farabee, as Claude Giroux moved back to the top line. This is an intriguing prospect. Everyone talks about how high his ceiling is but it hasn't translated yet. Will it during this recall? We’ll see. (nov25)

13. In sum, the Flyers have been getting top-5 goaltending on the year. How are Flyers fans feeling about that?

Martin Jones having a nice stretch is one thing, but this team clearly needs Carter Hart to succeed. He is the goalie of the future and had a terrible, shortened 2021 season. He said, specifically, how hard all the quarantining was, and the season in general. We cannot dismiss that, especially at a position where laser focus is often required. It is great to see him having this rebound year and I hope he can carry it forward for the rest of the season.

As with all goaltending, we will see if it holds, but they have held the team through a lot of early injuries. Hopefully the team can pick the up if they have some off games. (nov25)

14. At age 34, Phil Kessel has seen his numbers drop off drastically since joining the Coyotes, and this year he is on pace for his lowest scoring total since his rookie season. With the Coyotes, there isn’t much hope for his production to rebound, but fantasy owners can cross their fingers for a trade to a contender later on in the year. Having a hand in every power play goal the Coyotes have scored while Kessel was on the ice shows that he still has the talent to help the depth scoring of every NHL team. No matter what team he plays for though, the peripherals will never be there, though the hope would be that a change of scenery could at least help his now anemic shot rate of a lowly (for him anyways) 2.1 shots per game in his three years in Arizona. (nov24)

15. Jake Oettinger is the best goalie in the Stars' system, but the contract intricacies mean that he will only be an as-needed fill-in this season, especially if Ben Bishop ever actually makes his way back into a game. Oettinger is a sell-high in one-year leagues, but a buy in keeper/dynasty leagues as soon as he gets sent down again. (nov24)

16. Growing up, my favourite player to watch was Scott Niedermayer. I wore #27 playing hockey – when available – because of him. Looking back, I think it was because he was doing what very few, if no other, defensemen were doing at the time. The end-to-end rushing defenseman wasn’t a big thing in the late-90s, early aughts. Players like Bourque, Murphy, and Leetch were in the back-half of their careers while guys like Ozolinsh were great but not quite the same calibre. There was Nicklas Lidstrom, but he was more of a controller than a rusher.

That may be why I love watching Cale Makar play. No one can do what he does from the blue line. As much fun as it can be to watch guys like Hughes, Ekblad, and Hedman for various reasons, Makar looks Kucherov-esque with the puck and straddling the blue line. His edge-work is unparalleled for a defenseman and his vision is second-to-none. It is a real treat to watch someone not only think the game at such a high level, but have the skills to go with it, at a position where even in this modern hockey age isn’t as common as we think.

Here’s to many, many more years of watching Makar terrorize all our teams as soon as he touches the puck. (nov23)

17. Despite the weak team on paper and all the off-ice issues, the Sabres are still exceeding expectations. A big part of it is Rasmus Dahlin. We sometimes forget that Buffalo wasn’t a one-superstar team with Jack Eichel. No, Dahlin is also a franchise player and now he’s showing it. He has been more productive since being paired with Mark Pysyk than he was when he was alongside Will Butcher. Less babysitting. If he can stay with Pysyk, the production will continue. (nov22)

18. Flames' new line of Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman is starting to become that elite third line that all teams crave. It reminds me of the Coleman – Yanni Gourde – Barclay Goodrow unit in Tampa Bay last year.

This line dominated the Bruins last week, outchancing them 16-7 (69.7 CF%), so you can expect it to remain intact. Mangiapane’s goals will start to slow as his shooting comes back down to earth, since he’s on pace to score more than 60. But he’s off to such a great start that he only needs 25 in 63 games to reach 40. I’ll make a conservative prediction for his final totals: 38 goals, 21 assists, 59 points. (nov22)

19. With Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock sidelined, prospect Robin Salo has been logging major minutes. He’s up between 21-22 per game. I’m a big fan of the 23-year-old and think he has great two-way upside. Generally, he has logged more ice time than Noah Dobson in his four games thus far, so you know where Barry Trotz rates Salo’s talent in the grand scheme of things. (nov22)

20. Jaden Schwartz had himself a four-point night last week. Although he’s being used to faceoff against the other team’s top lines, he is not being used exclusively in a defensive role. He’s being used offensively, and his numbers have spiked as a result. I see this kind of usage continuing and if he stays healthy then I think his first 70-point season is in the cards. That being said, he’s a certified Band-Aid Boy and so 60 points in 70 games would be a better expectation. (nov22)

21. Stuart Skinner is making the Edmonton goalie situation interesting. After all, Mikko Koskinen didn’t inspire confidence last season. Koskinen has been noticeably better this season, but he has allowed at least three goals in each of his last five games entering Saturday action. The Oilers might be able to outscore a lot of their defensive problems (especially with that lethal power play), but relying on a wide-open style won’t win them as many games as they are capable of. What worked in the 1980s won’t work as well today.

Skinner has been a solid AHL goalie the past couple seasons, so I’m not completely surprised that he is being given the opportunity here. His downside is that even though he is only 23, he may not be viewed as the long-term option in net. For more on Skinner, see his Dobber Prospects profile.  

Last week, the Hockey Night in Canada panel listed several goalies that the Oilers could target. To be honest, I don’t think most of the names mentioned would be a huge upgrade over what they have. They brought up Alexandar Georgiev, Thomas Greiss, Joonas Korpisalo, and David Rittich. Elvis Merzlikins was mentioned in the same breath as Korpisalo, and I think he’s the one goalie they should really target if it works cap-wise. (nov21)

Have a good week, folks – be safe!!
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