The Fantasy Guide is now available! Maybe you've already checked out the spreadsheet with projections, but now you get the PDF guide complete with the articles, team-by-team analysis, projections, and more! Download or purchase yours today if you haven't already.

📢 Available now 📢
Dobber's 17th Annual #FantasyHockey Guide

✔ Sleepers
✔ Advanced Analysis
✔ Updated Line Combos
✔ In-depth updated Spreadsheet
✔ Prospect outlook

Immediate Download Here:https://t.co/2XOcQPBrLj pic.twitter.com/kak5SMBZsJ

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) August 4, 2022

The great thing about the guide is that you can find information on just about every player. The guide answers questions like what's a player's point projection this season, what's his long-term upside, what sort of statistical trends did he show, what other stats might he provide, and more. Tons of information.

–

A few signings over the last day or so:

Keegan Kolesar has agreed to a three-year extension ($1.4 million AAV) with the Golden Knights. Kolesar scored 24 points in 77 games last season, but it was his hits total that stood out. Kolesar was far and away the team leader in hits with 246, while finishing within the top 10 league-wide in that category. If he can add a bit more scoring, he could become quite an appealing bangers league option.

Tyler Benson has signed a one-year, two-way contract. Benson is a former early second-round pick who split time between Edmonton and the AHL last season, scoring just two points in 29 games. The type of contract means he will likely split time again. By the way, Benson was a former first overall pick in the WHL draft (2013) who was thought to be on the fast track to NHL stardom at the time.

Maxime Lajoie and the Hurricanes avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract. Lajoie played just five games for the Canes in 2021-22 and didn't record any points.

–

Since hockey news is slowing down after the free agent frenzy, the names found on the top Frozen Tools searches start to become a little more interesting. I'll profile a few of them here and explain why they might be players of interest.

(1/2) This week's top #fantasyhockey profile pages:

1) Kaapo Kakko https://t.co/U2WwAx1Nfq
2) Jakub Vrana https://t.co/lnZ8PADs4P
3) Logan Thompson https://t.co/aYwDvO5R93
4) Trevor Zegras https://t.co/4XuK3kcq8y
5) Tage Thompson https://t.co/1bCG4uRtUj

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) August 4, 2022

Tage Thompson

It was difficult to find a player that was more surprising than Thompson when it came to fantasy hockey. After being an afterthought in most leagues, Thompson exploded to a 38-goal, 68-point effort. His 38 goals were within the top 20 in the league, while his 253 shots were in the top 25 of the league. A former first-round pick of the Blues who was acquired by the Sabres in the Ryan O'Reilly trade, Thompson already presented some upside. But for a player who had never scored even 10 goals in three seasons prior to that, is there any reason to believe it was a fluke?

Thompson shot at 15.0% last season, which is a bit higher than normal. His 5-on-5 shooting percentage of 11.3% is quite a bit higher than normal, but at least somewhat reflective of his offensive zone starts (57.1 OZ%), which were over 50% for the first time in his career. I'd bet the under on him reaching his goal total from 2021-22, but another 30-goal season definitely seems within reach.

The bigger red flag seems to be with assists. Thompson recorded 30 assists, 15 of which were secondary for a 50% rate. That suggests a downturn in a number that already isn't that high. Thompson appears to be a shooter first, which is what you should expect from him.

In multicategory leagues, be prepared not to overpay. Just 16 of his 68 points were on the power play, which still turned out to be second on the Sabres. That's a lot of even-strength points, which should help prevent any huge regression scoring-wise. Although he stands 6-7, Thompson is not an overly physical player with 66 Hits and 37 PIM. So he might be a better option in pure scoring leagues than multicategory leagues, although he has a great shot total and he also helps a little in faceoffs (393 FOW).

Jakub Vrana

When I saw Vrana's name, I thought he might be a difficult player to project, between his trade from Washington to Detroit and the shoulder injury that cost him the majority of the 2021-22 season. It might not be so difficult, though, as he has consistently averaged between 0.72 and 0.75 PTS/GP over his past three seasons.

I could simply project that point pace and end it there, but let’s dig deeper. Vrana's advanced stats show some possible positive regression. Although his 20.0 SH% from scoring 13 goals on just 65 shots seems a bit high, three other advanced stats were slightly lower than expected in 2021-22. Specifically, an 8.8 5-on-5 SH%, a 986 PDO, and a 16.7 Sec. Asst. %. Vrana recorded just six assists in 26 games last season, with only one being a secondary assist. There's obviously room to grow here.

Don't forget that when Vrana was acquired by the Wings at the 2021 trade deadline, he immediately went on a run where he scored 11 points – including eight goals – in 11 games. After he returned to the lineup from his injury in March, Vrana also led the Wings in scoring with 13 goals and 19 points in 26 games. As well, the Red Wings have upgraded what appears to be a decent second line with Andrew Copp in the middle and David Perron on the wing.

If he keeps up his pace from the last three seasons, Vrana would reach 60 points. Assuming he can stay healthy for the entire season, don't be surprised if he reaches that total this coming season.

Trevor Zegras

If Michael Bunting wasn't still considered a "rookie," Zegras would have led all rookie scorers with 61 points in 75 games. As it stood, Zegras had the highest point-per-game total of any rookie that played at least 50 games (0.81 PTS/GP). Will Zegras be able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump on his way to NHL stardom?

One stat that works out in Zegras's favor is offensive zone starts. In other words, he receives a ton of them. Of players who played at least 60 games last season, only Patrick Kane, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeny Kuznetsov received more offensive zone starts than Zegras (72.4%). In other words, his job is to score and not to focus so much on two-way responsibilities. Good thing he doesn't play for John Tortorella.  

John Tortorella gives his thoughts on the Zegras/Milano goal 😬. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/91yImY4cBx

— Gino Hard (@Ginohard_) December 11, 2021

On a side note, Sonny Milano is now an unrestricted free agent after not being qualified by the Ducks. If the Ducks decide to circle back on Milano (for a discount from what his qualifying offer would have been), Zegras might be boosted a little, although Zegras should thrive no matter who his linemates are. 

Back to Zegras. Even if he doesn't play on the "top" line because free agent signing Ryan Strome is placed there, he wouldn't have a huge disadvantage on the second line, as the Ducks' production should be evenly spread out to some degree. He's in a good spot to build on his rookie season.  

One more advantage to drafting Zegras, and for any other Ducks player for that matter: The Ducks play the most "light days" of any team (41). That's a significantly higher number than any other team, as the next-highest number from any team is 34. For whatever reason, Anaheim has typically been at or near the top of the league when it comes to light days for several seasons now. I wouldn't necessarily push Ducks players way up my rankings for that reason, but the schedule might be the difference if I am stuck between picking a Ducks player and one from another team.

If you're not familiar with light days, they are defined as nights with eight games or fewer, when it's unlikely that you'll have to bench an active player. Light days typically fall on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Here is the exact report from Frozen Tools if you're interested in breaking down the full schedule. The Fantasy Guide also has an article on understanding the 2022-23 schedule, where Looking Ahead writer Andrew Santillo breaks down schedule quirks, back-to-backs, and goaltending starts in addition to explaining off days.  

–

Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.