The Midseason Guide is now available for download! If you've ordered it already, go to the Downloads section on the Dobber website. Then you'll see a link for both a spreadsheet for midseason projections and a PDF for the midseason guide itself. For more, see below.

🚨NOW Available!🚨
DobberHockey's 14th Midseason Fantasy Guide

✔ Updated Projections & Line Combos
✔ Undrafted Free Agents of NHL Interest
✔ Prospect Updates
✔ Trading Block
✔ Goalie Insights
✔ More!https://t.co/uOvedJC2XS#FantasyHockey pic.twitter.com/AhaAXg2LU1

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) January 14, 2022

One of my favourite parts of the guide is the analysis of the advanced stats, which not only tell you what is going on, but why, and then how we can expect that to change in the second half.

I also forgot that there was a preliminary write up on the next crop of top NHL draft eligible prospects. Just endless info!

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The Boston Bruins sent the number 22 to the rafters, retiring the number of pioneer Willie O'Ree. It was a long-overdue moment for the player who broke the colour barrier in the NHL. He has inspired new generations of BIPOC kids who have seen that they belong in the league as well. Hats off to you Mr. O'Ree.

Tonight the @NHLBruins raise the number 22 in recognition of the impact Willie O'Ree has made on our game since his debut 64 years ago.

Watch at 7p ET on @Sportsnet, @NESN, @ESPNPlus, @NHLNetwork and @NHLdotcom. pic.twitter.com/R964PESh6P

— NHL (@NHL) January 18, 2022

The Bruins seemed to get stuck watching the rafters through the first period though, and they gave up a five spot in the first 20 minutes. It was only Tuukka Rask's second game in eight months, so it's not surprising that there's a little rust. In his first game, he gave up two goals on 27 shots, a stark contrast from last night. He will likely have some ups and downs over the next few weeks as he settles in.

Despite the slow start, Boston only juggled their lines in the last ten minutes of the game, and even then it wasn't with a new specific format., In all it likely means that Craig Smith remains on line one in the short term, with the hot second line of Erik Haula centering David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall.

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For the Canes, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored two goals on five shots, as his turnaround continues. He's playing for a new (and likely long-term) contract, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the 60-point pace continue for the rest of the season. For those of you considering him in cap leagues, I have him projected for a $4.1 million AAV extension.

Jaccob Slavin put up a three-point night, and is quietly on pace for 51 points on the year. He has 10 of his 21 points in just four games on the season though, so he's more of an all-or-nothing option.

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Kyle Connor played a season-high 26:45 last night (previous high was 24:17), and notched a goal and an assist while doing so. The Jets are down a few regulars, and were running a very young forward group. Surprisingly though it was Connor and Andrew Copp that saw a big bump, with both playing at least three minutes more than Mark Scheifele who was the next closest forward.

You'll always remember your first career @NHL goal! 1⃣

Cole Perfetti, have yourself a night. 👊 pic.twitter.com/OKumXDhE8S

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 19, 2022

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Rick Roos’ Forum Buzz column will be running today, and as a reminder he’s looking for questions for his mailbag, which drops in two weeks.  You can get your questions to him in one of two ways: (1) by emailing them to [email protected] with the words "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line, or (2) by sending them to him via a private message on the DobberHockey Forums, where his username is "rizzeedizzee". No one does better deep dives to answer your questions than Rick.

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Last night Jakob Chychrun was activated off the injured reserve. He's still well within reach of the all-time record for lowest minus rating in a season, though a trade to a contender would nix that. Now is about as low as his stock may ever be.

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Kevin Hayes underwent a procedure on his abdominal area and it sounds like it was a cleanup on his previosu surgical site. This could just be a coincidence, but the Flyers have had a lot of issues this year with players not recovering from injuries in a timely manner. Ryan Ellis, Derick Brassard, Sean Couturier, and now Kevin Hayes have all had issues with setbacks and slow recoveries. Something to consider if you're wondering whether to hold/drop/trade any of them or other Flyers that may be injured at any point later in the season.

On that note:

Dobson with a heavy, clean hit on Farabee, who is holding his shoulder and not moving his left arm

— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) January 19, 2022

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We all know that Rasmus Ristolainen can stuff a boxscore, but getting nine hits from Ristolainen for the second time this season can be one of those performances that starts to put a category out of reach for you early in the week. He now has as many nine-hit games as he does games with zero hits. He has upped his block rate slightly this year, but his shot rate is lower than his prime offensive days in Buffalo. He's more so just a bruiser in fantasy now.

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Semyon Varlamov is heating up after a very poor start. He was winless in his first seven starts of the season, but in his next three he allowed only three total goals on 113 shots. He's a streaky goalie, and maybe one that would be cheaper to acquire (and more profitable over the remainder of the year) than Rask.

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Averaging two shots per game now in his last few games, Rasmus Andersson is looking a little more rosterable of late, though his power play time has been dropping. Stay patient with the trigger finger before adding him though, as Calgary only plays one more game this week before a four-game slate next week.

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It may have been missed in the last few Ramblings, but for those of you holding onto Carey Price in one-year leagues you can safely drop him now.

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price has to restart rehab on his knee, meaning he will remain out indefinitely.

Below is @TheAthletic's newser on the story with contributions from @ArponBasu: https://t.co/nLRi7dxORD

— Lukas Weese (@Weesesports) January 17, 2022

While we're on the Habs, they named Kent Hughes as their new GM. We don't put out Fantasy Take articles for new GMs being hired, but having someone at the helm like Hughes who has personal experience with contract management and player development, there is some reason for optimism in Montreal.

All this to say, is that in Cap leagues we may see a few more manageable contracts in Montreal (nothing drastic, but a smidge better), and their prospects suddenly have a little extra shine in my eyes after the team has bungled the development of so many others in the recent past.

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I was thinking last weekend about how one of the big separators between being a good manager is knowing what you're good at, and where you need help, and I realized it's also especially true in fantasy sports. In the NHL, GMs like Kyle Dubas bring in a capologist like Brandon Pridham to prop them up in an area that might otherwise delve into chaos. Managers in the real world may be good at seeing how a system works, but they hire someone to report to them and manage the people around them.

In fantasy sports it's no different. Between the draft (scouting for the prospect draft and optimizing value in pro re-drafts), lineup setting, managing free agency add/drops, trading, selecting keepers, and possibly even staying under a cap or other wrinkle that your league keeps, there are a lot of different facets to the game. Knowing which you excel at, which ones you can take advantage of, and which you may need a little help with can actually be more important than being knowledgeable in a majority of these categories.

If you're great at trading, optimally set your lineups every day, and pick the perfect guys off the FA pile every year, you can still fall behind if you can't draft properly, and end up dealt a poor hand to start every season. At DobberHockey, between the forums, the guides, the daily articles, constantly updated rankings, the associated scouting staff, and the draft geek system, there are resources to help you at each and every turn throughout the fantasy season. I'm not going to dive too far into that, as I want to approach it from a different angle today, and that's how to play to your strengths.

In my own case, I fancy myself as a skilled fantasy trader, an above average drafter, and I have my ear to the ground enough that I get by with the rest of the categories. Being a good trader doesn't mean winning every trade, like some people think. What it actually means is that a majority of your deals help make your team better, and that a majority of them actually end up being a win for your trading partner as well. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but if you can find deals that help both teams a majority of the time, then you are able to make a lot more deals, especially when you're desperate for something. I find that five trades throughout the season where I am able to be flexible in what I need, and I come out feeling great about three of them is more useful than just fleecing a team in the only deal I make all year.

When it comes to drafting, there is a tightrope to be tiptoed between letting your players slide long enough to be valuable selections at the time, and letting them slip too far that they give your opponents huge excess value (usually just the handful of top drafters in your league snap up all of the value left on the table).

Both in the prospect drafts in my dynasty leagues, and in the redrafts of NHL players, I have found I am able to manage to walk that tightrope in most drafts. As a result, I am a lot more comfortable with dealing my picks than your average GM might be. Understanding that I have a (perceived) advantage with my drafting and trading, I put that to use boost my team throughout the year by moving out most of my draft picks for the help that I need in order to boost my team.

On the flip side, I find I have a terrible time setting optimal lineups, often leaving the stats that I needed on the bench, and I also never seem to manage the FA pile well. I will grab a few players early, using up all my moves on flashes in the pan, while missing the guys like Evan Rodrigues, Sonny Milano, Ivan Barbashev, and Ryan Hartman that have been so key to other top teams in my leagues this year. Part of trying to cover that is the research I have been doing over the last few weeks into IPP rates and how to sort out which strong starters are more likely to maintain their paces over the course of a season. Again, understanding the flaws in your game and trying to make them less of an issue is just as important as being the best in your league at trading or drafting.

The bottom line from all that is: play to your strengths, and don't be afraid to look for help when dealing with your weak points.

(Good life advice for your next job interview too!)

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Happy hump day all, feel free to find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean if you have any fantasy hockey, or apparently life advice questions.