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. If Bowen Byram had played in more games, perhaps we’d hear his name more in the Calder Trophy conversation. Entering Saturday action, of all rookies that have played in at least as many games as Byram, only frequently mentioned names Lucas Raymond and Trevor Zegras have a higher point-per-game average than Byram (0.69 PTS/GP). Maybe I’m biased because I saw him play numerous time in junior, but I think Byram is the real deal. Concussions have been a major issue (three since his NHL debut a year ago), but when he’s healthy, he’s been more productive than any rookie defenseman – including Moritz Seider (0.65 PTS/GP).

Power-play time might be an issue, although the Avalanche can throw solid secondary scoring onto their second power-play unit. The fact that 10 of Byram’s 11 points have been scored at even strength suggests that he deserves additional power-play time. That Cale Makar guy is pretty good, though. (jan8)

2. According to David Pagnotta, John Klingberg has requested a trade out of Dallas. Klingberg is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, and he and the Stars have not been able to agree on a long-term contract. As Pagnotta said, whether Klingberg actually gets shopped may depend on the Stars’ playoff hopes. Currently they are below the playoff bar in the Western Conference, although they have several games in hand on the teams they are trying to leapfrog over. 

Based on recent point production, the Stars might get their best return for Klingberg right now. After getting off to a slow start (three points in first 12 games), he has heated up over the past month-plus (13 PTS in last 13 GP entering Saturday). He currently also leads all Stars players in power-play ice time. (jan8)

3. Tuukka Rask is making his way back to Boston, as the veteran goalie signed an AHL tryout with the Providence Bruins. I’m sure Rask and the Bruins already have a contract in the drawer that will be officially signed assuming Rask isn’t injured or has a disastrous AHL stint. Boston’s cap space is razor-thin, so expect this to be a very team-friendly contract even with Rask’s pedigree.

To pre-emptively answer the question, “Should I drop Jeremy Swayman?”, I would wait a bit. I don’t know what Rask’s timeline would be for regular starts, but I would imagine he would be eased in at first once he is signed. That may result in Swayman not being sent to the AHL right away even with Rask on the roster, so wait until it is official. Swayman started Thursday’s game, which turned out to be a 3-2 loss to Minnesota. (jan7)

4. It was more out of necessity than a flair for the dramatic, but Wild top prospects Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy both made their NHL debuts on Thursday. Boldy was even able to score his first NHL goal in front of family and friends in his home state of Massachusetts.

Boldy finished the game with his goal and a plus-1 and four shots in 13:13 of ice time (which included second-unit power-play minutes), while Rossi was held without a point with two shots in 16:19 (which included first-unit power-play minutes). Both have been scoring at a point-per-game pace in the AHL (Rossi 23 points in 21 games, Boldy 10 points in 10 games).

Both of these blue-chip prospects are worth speculative pickups in mid-sized to deeper single-season leagues. Rossi has the higher upside for keeper leagues, which you can see for yourself on the Dobber Prospects profiles below. However, you might have an easier time getting Boldy onto your team in a single-season format, not only because he's rostered in fewer leagues, but also because he is a LW and Rossi is a C. (jan7)

Boldy – Dobber Prospects profile | Rossi – Dobber Prospects profile

5. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all positive for Minnesota, as Kirill Kaprizov left that game after getting hit along the boards. The hit from Trent Frederic seemed unnecessary, as Kaprizov was already in a vulnerable spot. Before he left the game, Kirill the Thrill scored another goal, which gave him goals in four consecutive games. Over that span, Kaprizov has eight points. (jan7)

6. With Cam Talbot injured during the Winter Classic, Kaapo Kahkonen is worth at least a short-term pickup in every league that rosters goalies. Also on Thursday, Kahkonen turned away 36 of 38 shots he faced to earn his first win in just over a month. The Wild play only once next week, so it’s still possible that Talbot misses a minimal number of games in spite of being listed as out indefinitely. (jan7)

7. Injured in just the third game of the season, Nikita Kucherov finally returned to the Lightning lineup on Thursday. Hopefully you activated him in time, as he recorded two assists and was named the game’s first star. Kucherov was back on what should be a stacked scoring line with Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat. (jan7)

8. In the “turning back the clock” category, Corey Perry has reached 10 goals for the first time in four seasons. Entering Saturday, four of those goals came about over his last six games. He doesn’t lose value with Kucherov returning because he hasn’t really been skating on Tampa’s top line or first-unit power play anyway.

Key to his success in Tampa has been the fact that he’s taking over two shots per game again – also, for the first time in four seasons. He was still a member of the Anaheim Ducks the last time he scored double-digit goals or averaged over two shots per game. At 36 years old, Perry is demonstrating that he still has something to offer. Deeper leagues should definitely consider him. (jan7)

9. Jack Hughes is on fire. With another three points on Thursday, Hughes was up to 12 points over his last five games entering Saturday action. He’s now also over that point-per-game mark (20 points in 18 games). The sample is small and his shooting percentage is quite high (18.8 SH%), but he appears to be breaking out in his third NHL season. Playing on Hughes’ line, Jesper Bratt is pushing point-per-game numbers himself (32 points in 34 games). He’s about to smash his career high of 35 points in what will be a breakout season for himself. (jan7)

10. Tomas Hertl had nine goals and 15 points over his last 11 games before Saturday's games. Keep in mind that he’s also in a contract year. The Sharks are one of a sizable group of teams just outside of the Western Conference playoff bar, so it will be interesting to see what they decide on Hertl. Thinking way ahead, a Hertl trade could hurt Alexander Barabanov‘s value. Barabanov, who has been Hertl’s most frequent linemate this season, had 10 points over his last 11 games. (jan7)

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AVAILABLE SOON !!

The Midseason Guide will be available on Friday, January 14. If you've already purchased an Ultimate Fantasy Pack or a Gold/Platinum subscription, you will be able to download it then. If you purchased a Keeper League Fantasy Pack or a Silver subscription, you will need to purchase it separately. Pre-order it here.

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11. Shot rates are important for a number of reasons in the fantasy game but in my opinion, its best use is as short-hand for offensive involvement. Things like zone entries and exits, shot assists, high-danger passes etc. are all good metrics for gauging offensive involvement as well but they’re not ubiquitous. There aren’t a lot of ways to show that a player is getting involved offensively that is easily accessible to most people beyond “this guy has a lot of points lately,” which isn’t good analysis. For that reason, I looked at market share in Thursday's Ramblings. (jan6)

12. I’m working on the peripherals section for the Midseason Guide and in diving into a few things, one of the biggest things that stuck out to me was how big of a second half Noah Dobson looks primed for. At time of writing, he had 10 points in his last 10 games, but that may not just be a hot streak. His ice time was up three minutes from Q1 to Q2, while his shot rate went up from 1.8 to 2.4 per game. Dobson’s powerplay time was also seeing an uptick, leading to the breakthrough of three power play points in six games. (jan5)

13. The Capitals have seen their share of injuries, but the rookies have been stepping up. That could be expected from Connor McMichael, but the others like Brett Leason, Aliaksei Protas, and Martin Fehervary have really filled in. Protas especially has made his mark. He only put up six points in 22 games before Saturday action, but he looks reliable and uses his big frame to great effect.

I remember back when he was drafted he was pegged as one of those pass-first big centres (he is six-foot-five) that has a high upside if things pan out, but his skating was a big question mark. It looks as though the hands and the feet have kept up with the rest of him, and he may end up being the second line centre of the future Capitals. He’ll be best off with some time in the AHL, but someone to keep an eye on. (jan5)

14. With both Robin Lehner and Laurent Brossoit out of the lineup, Logan Thompson made his first career NHL start for Vegas last Tuesday. He’s someone I have mentioned in the last year as one of the better prospect goalie stashes because of his upside and NHL readiness. (jan5)

15. Owen Power representing Canada at the Beijing Olympics is good news for Canadian hockey fans. Would it be too much to then ask that they also find a spot for Connor Bedard?

If you’re tired of me mentioning the ridiculousness of the 2023 Draft, then I have bad news for you, it’s not going away. The entire class is shaping up well, but to have even one of Bedard, Matvie Michkov and Adam Fantilli in the Draft would make it great. To have THREE players of that caliber is incredible. (jan5)

16. Predictions are the name of the game in fantasy, whether it’s a single day, a week, a season, or even longer. Some predictions may be bolder than others, but it’s important to get these thoughts down on digital paper. It can help talk through some thought processes, and that can help catch mistakes before they happen. Otherwise, it keeps a record of mistakes so that we can try to avoid repeating them. We will, because we’re human, but we try. Anyway, I went ahead with some predictions for calendar 2022. A couple below, the rest by following the link. 

– Tage Thompson scores 30 goals: The resurgence of Thompson’s career started last season but really took hold in 2021-22, to the point where he’s sitting with 22 points on the year, on pace for 55 this season. That would be a wonderful season for a guy who looked like he may have been on his way out of the NHL. By the end of this season, he’ll be going into his age-25 season with over 200 games played and a comfort level playing centre. The Sabres still have more pieces they need to add, but Thompson’s physical gifts and his shot rate will make him a scoring threat every time he steps on the ice from now on. While he may not be a great playmaker, we will settle with 30 goals and 250 shots for 2022.

– Tim Stutzle out-points Josh Norris: For the readers who’ve read my stuff since at least the summer, you know I am a big fan of the entire Ottawa top line, and they’ve shown so far this season why we should believe in all three players as top fantasy options. With that said, I have been very impressed with Stuetzle’s performance so far this year when I’ve watched him. His playmaking skills have looked great, and that’s backed up by things like above-average shot assists and elite zone-entry rates. He has also looked stellar in his own end, and that’s something a coach will notice, appreciate, and reward. I do think Norris is a very good player, but I think we see Stuetzle take over the top centre role by the start of next season, and Jimmy Stu out-points Norris the entire time. (jan4)

17. Cue the Mika Zibanejad music?

– In 2019-20 he had 17 points in his first 17 games. Then he finished with 58 in 40.
– In 2020-21 he had 11 points in his first 26 games. He finished with 39 in 30.
– In 2021-22 he had 21 points in his first 28 games. He finished with…?

I think it’s a safe hunch that he’ll close out his next 50-odd games with something significantly more than 50-odd points. (jan3)

18. Radim Zohorna, an undrafted 25-year-old prospect, got called up and put into his first NHL game of the season last week, notching an assist. He played just 8:27. But in nine career NHL games spanning back to last season, he has five points. His Pts/60 right now in his career is 7.1. Not a bad start! But he lacks the speed to get into the top six – and that’s where us fantasy owners need him. (jan3)

19. Boston’s Oskar Steen is a prospect I’m liking (yeah yeah, he’s 5-9 and you know my soft spot). The 23-year-old is a player to watch. No room for him on the top line, obviously, but he can work his way up over the next three seasons and who knows the makeup of this team at that point? His prospects profile is here. His 20 points in 16 games leads Providence.

20. Nicolas Roy has quietly put together a four-game points streak and has nine points in his last 12 games. I think he is going to provide what Vegas lost in Alex Tuch, and possibly sooner than we think. This big, 6-4 forward has still only played 117 NHL games in his career and is nowhere near his peak. (jan3)

21. Tanner Jeannot isn’t one of the top searches on Frozen Tools currently, but he was recently on the list. Here’s what you need to know: He’s a great player to have on your roster in bangers leagues, as he leads the Predators in hits with an average of about 3.0 HITS/GP. However, the line combinations don’t stack up very favorably for Jeannot, either at even strength or on the power play. He’s usually on what would be considered the Preds’ third line and he normally sees little to no power-play time. For those reasons, your decision on whether to add Jeannot very much depends on league format. (jan2) 

Have a good week, folks – be safe!!

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