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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The 2022-23 Fantasy Guide is now available in the Dobber Shop! Dobber, our team of programmers and editors, as well as our wonderful writers, have all put work in to help this site have the best fantasy hockey guide in the market. It has projections, line combinations, player upside, articles, and a whole lot more for the rabid fantasy hockey player. It is also updated all through the offseason and training camp, so there is no concern about outdated information. Help support what we do all year long by going to pick up your copy today!

The French-language version, Guide des Poolers, is also available since last Friday. Thanks again for all your support!

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1. Just a reminder that today is the start of Bubble Keeper Week. If you’re not familiar with Bubble Keeper Week, our writers will discuss offseason keeper decisions that we have to make, with the focus on those players that are on the bubble. Perhaps you have some of the same players on your roster, but if not, hopefully these articles guide you through a thought process for your own keeper decisions. The Bubble Keeper Week idea was started by a reader who suggested it could be an appropriate mid-summer topic when there’s hardly a peep of anything hockey-related.

I kicked things off in my Ramblings today, as I need to make a keeper decision by the end of the month on several players. My analysis won’t necessarily involve a flat-out keep or don’t keep recommendation, as these decisions tend to involve numerous factors particular to a league. Perhaps that analysis will help you if you are stuck on the fence with a player or two. (aug13)

2. In case you missed it, Robin Lehner is expected to miss the entire 2022-23 season, as he will require hip surgery. His status for the upcoming season was already uncertain. It’s worth mentioning that he already underwent shoulder surgery earlier this offseason along with battling a separate leg/knee injury. Lehner is already a Band-Aid Boy Trainee who will probably advance to the full list with this laundry list of ailments.

Laurent Brossoit also underwent surgery this offseason, and his status to start the season is unknown. That means the Golden Knights could start the season with Logan Thompson and Michael Hutchinson as their two main goalies. I mentioned Thompson in my Goalies to Watch article in the Fantasy Guide, so this news about Lehner further cements Thompson as a goalie to add or draft in most fantasy leagues. That is, if the Golden Knights don’t try to acquire a goalie from another team. The salary cap has been a self-inflicted problem for Vegas and one that fans of other teams take a certain amount of schadenfreude from. Yet the Knights might have some space to add a decent goalie once Lehner is placed on LTIR. (aug13)

3. Thompson appeared in 19 games in 2021-22, posting 10 quality starts for a 52.6 QS%. That percentage was 25^th among 67 goalies who played at least 15 games. That percentage was also exactly the same as former Jets backup and potential Sabres starter Eric Comrie, while showing a similar percentage to Darcy Kuemper, Jonathan Quick, Semyon Varlamov, and Marc-Andre Fleury. In terms of goals-saved above average per 60 minutes (GSAA/60), Thompson was 20^th among the same 67 goalies, ahead of the likes of Varlamov, Sergei Bobrovsky, Cam Talbot, and Connor Hellebuyck. Based on that sample size, Thompson has the upside to be an average NHL starting goalie. Draft accordingly but not too high, as he might lose some of that value if the Knights land another goalie.  

Also, if Brossoit is in fact ready to start the season or his injury is short-term, Vegas seems less likely to reach out for another goalie. That would allow them to focus on acquiring another forward. Maybe they didn’t need to trade Max Pacioretty (and I’m not going to delve into the alternate universe of whether he would have injured his Achilles if he wasn’t traded). As it stands, the Golden Knights are in the market for another forward. Maybe they sign former Golden Knight Paul Stastny or one of Evan Rodrigues or Phil Kessel, to borrow some names that Mike mentioned in his Ramblings yesterday. (aug13)

4. Philipp Kurashev has signed a one-year extension with the Blackhawks worth $750,000. This is a super-low cap hit and even slightly lower than his entry-level contract ($842,500 per season), so the risk of keeping Kurashev on this roster in this extremely deep league (20 teams!) seems low.

Although Kurashev does not really have a selling point in terms of a particular roto category, he has an opportunity for top-6 ice time on what is shaping up to be a barren Chicago roster. Because he can play center, he will be able to add a few faceoffs while being slotted in as a left wing or utility player. As well, he is projected to receive second-unit power-play time. Add to that the fact that he is in another contract year and you could say he may not receive another potential opportunity like this if he doesn’t produce this season.

The Blackhawks also signed defenseman Caleb Jones to a one-year, $1.35 million contract. At least that’s a more bearable cap hit than that of his brother. (aug13)

5. You may have noticed that we have also started our Offseason Fantasy Grades articles. You can find all the ones we’ve written so far on The Dobotomy page.

I also need to take this opportunity to give a big special thank you to all the writers who have stepped up to help with these articles: Brad Hayward, Peter Ryell, Scott Royce, Brandon Little, Andrew Santillo, Vlad Zorila, Grant Campbell, and Flip Livingstone; and of course, fellow editors Mike Clifford and Alex MacLean. If I’ve missed anyone, it is certainly not intentional. Hope all of you enjoy these articles. (aug13)

6. With all of the help regarding the Offseason Fantasy Grades articles, I was still tasked with writing articles for four teams: Calgary, Colorado, Philadelphia, and Vancouver. If you’re wondering why the Flames were a B this year and a B- last year when they had a better team, last season’s grade was assigned before the season. The Flames at the time were kind of an underachieving team that had missed the playoffs the season before. Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm were all loaded up on one line and all posted career-best seasons. Had I known that would happen, the Flames would have received at least a B+ and would have maybe even been in the A range. And although I might not be as bullish on Jonathan Huberdeau as Dobber is, I still think he’ll reach 100 points.

Speaking of the Flames, I appeared on the Fantasy Hockey Hacks podcast earlier this week. I discussed player projections for the Flames, Oilers, Kraken, and Canucks with the Hacks. Have a listen (or a watch). I even wore my retro Stan Smyl t-shirt for the occasion. (aug13)

7. Reading through the Dobber Fantasy Guide, two teams struck me as having similar issues: Dallas and St. Louis have what I’m calling the Seven Forward Problem. This happens when a team has what could be considered seven fantasy-relevant forwards. (I realize that “fantasy relevant” will depend a lot on each fantasy league, their rules, and roster depth. In these instances, I mean like 80% of fantasy leagues that have somewhat normal rules with maybe 200-300 players drafted.) The specific issue with having seven fantasy-relevant forwards is that if six of them are stuffed on the top two scoring lines, one guy is left all by his lonesome on the third line.

Now, it should be said that with injuries and underperformance, it may not turn out to be a huge issue. One guy goes down with a groin pull, misses six weeks, and all this doesn’t matter. However, assuming a healthy lineup, one guy gets the short end of the stick and that hurts the fantasy value.

For Dallas, we can assume the top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Joe Pavelski stays together. Mason Marchment was signed in the offseason, and they still have Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Denis Gurianov. We could easily see Marchment line up with Benneguin and that leaves Gurianov in more of a checking role. Or maybe Marchment starts on the third line and it’s Benneguin with Gurianov? Or what if Seguin’s decline accelerates and they can’t use him in the top-6, leaving it as Marchment-Benn-Gurianov? Regardless, one guy is going to be left in the cold and that’s a problem for fantasy value. (aug12)

8. Over in St. Louis, the team lost David Perron to free agency. Last year, they had enough depth to actually put together a reasonable third line. That isn’t the case anymore. We could assume that the team leaves Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko together, as well as Brandon Saad with Ryan O’Reilly.

That leaves Pavel Buchnevich, Jordan Kyrou, and Brayden Schenn for two top-6 roles. Seeing as they need Schenn as the 3C, it seems probably that Buch and Kyrou end up in the top-6. That leaves Schenn in a checking role with lesser talent. He paced over 75 points/82 games last year. If he’s skating with Ivan Barbashev and Josh Leivo, can he repeat that? It seems unlikely. And that doesn’t even get into the loss of Perron’s impact on the power play.

It isn’t to say that guys like Seguin, Gurianov, and Schenn will be devoid of fantasy value. It is to say that relying on guys like this as parts of your fantasy roster all year might be asking too much. Again, injuries could simplify things quickly, but until that happens, there is risk in the non-elite forwards on these rosters. (aug12)

9. Patrice Bergeron has finally signed a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins. In talking with a few friends from around fantasy hockey, there seems to be a wide gulf on what to expect from Bergeron, fantasy-wise. Remember that David Pastrnak spent large chunks of the second half in 2021-22 on the second line with Taylor Hall, while Marchand stayed on the top line, often with Jake DeBrusk. If Pastrnak starts the year on the second line, and Marchand misses 2-3 months, what can we expect from Bergeron for production?

According to Natural Stat Trick, when Bergeron is skating without both Marchand and Pastrnak, Boston’s offensive numbers are cut anywhere from 40-50%. That is… a lot. And if Marchand is back after the first couple months of the season, what kind of game shape is he going to be in after double hip surgery?

If Pastrnak starts the year on the top line with Bergeron, what does that mean for Hall? Maybe Hall starts on the top line with Pastrnak on the second line? It really is tough to say what the Bruins might do here, and we haven’t even gotten to the impact of not having McAvoy in the lineup. He’s one of the 10 best blue liners in hockey, in my opinion, and there’s no replacing him. There are a lot of questions about the Bruins lineup so we’ll have to see where their ADP lands because this seems like a situation loaded with downside. (aug9)

10. David Krejci coming back for another year with Boston is another big boost for the team. Remember that this roster has a lot of significant injuries to endure as the season starts: Brad Marchand had double hip surgery; Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk had shoulder surgeries; Mike Reilly had ankle surgery. Reilly will probably be back first, having a shot at being in the lineup opening night. The other three are all set to miss the first month of the season and it could be closer to Christmas for Marchand and McAvoy. It is a lot to be missing, and that’s why getting Krejci and Patrice Bergeron back in the lineup is so huge.

But what can we expect from Krejci in fantasy? In the three seasons prior to leaving the NHL, Krejci averaged 68 points every 82 games. A lot of his value is derived from his assists, which indicates his playmaking ability. That is important here, as playmaking tends to be one of the skills that ages best in pro hockey (more than physical play or shooting, for example). Even though Krejci is 36 years old, he could still very well be a top-end playmaker.

With Marchand injured, Krejci is pretty much assured a top power play role. The kicker here is how the power play will perform without Marchand and McAvoy. Marchand and Bergeron haven’t spent much time apart with the man advantage, but the team does score considerably less with Marchand out of the lineup – nearly four fewer goals per 60 minutes. A top PP role for Krejci is great, but if this is a bottom-10 power play for the first two months, how much value that role has is up for debate.

Our first projection for Krejci has him for 56 points and that feels about right. If the team can come back fully healthy sometime in December, we could see a slow start and then a big uptick over the final two-thirds of the schedule. Whether he holds on to his PP role is an issue to discuss as well, but there could be sneaky value here late in drafts. (aug12)

11. I have to thank Dobber for opening my eyes to Philip Tomasino. He wrote a good blurb about him under the Nashville section of the Fantay Guide and it got me looking more into Tomasino’s rookie season. The deeper I looked, the more impressive it was.

On the surface, 32 points in 76 games doesn’t look great. However, he played just 11:32 a game. On a per-60 basis at 5-on-5, it worked out to 1.74 points per 60 minutes. That was higher than Lucas Raymond, Dawson Mercer, Alexis Lafrenière, and Cole Caufield. Here’s the kicker: Tomasino had 0.16 secondary assists per 60 minutes. Of the six forwards age-20 or younger in the NHL last year that out-produced Tomasino on a per-60 basis, he was the lowest in secondary assist rate by a factor of three. The next-closest was Jack Hughes at 0.48/60 minutes and the other four forwards were over 0.5/60 minutes. We know secondary assists are very random for forwards and the median for secondary assists across all players, regardless of age, was 0.38. If Tomasino posts that mark in second helpers, his points rate puts him in the range of names like Tomas Hertl, Evgeni Malkin, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. In other words, with just average luck, he produces at a second-line rate. As a rookie. That’s pretty good.

So, We have a rookie that liked shooting and was responsible defensively. As far as rookie profiles go, that’s a great start. Yes, he still has work to do to round out his game, but his rookie season is a solid foundation from which to build. As a right shot, assuming they leave him on the wing, there is a second-line role up for grabs. He skated under 10 minutes a game at 5-on-5 last year, the lowest of any forward in hockey with at least 750 minutes played. If he moves to the second line, he could easily add a couple minutes of TOI per game to his profile. That puts 40 points well within reach.

The crux here for unlocking his next level of fantasy value, assuming that second-line role, is a prominent power-play position. He may be in tough with all the incumbents, an improving Eeli Tolvanen, and even Nino Niederreiter being brought in. He is likely destined for secondary PP time and Nashville is a team that uses its top unit heavily, roughly a 65/35 split. No forward outside of the top quartet cracked 10 PPPs last year (Tomasino had nine). An improved role could add 10-15 points, but without top PP billing, that is probably as big as the boost gets.

All the same, there is a lot to be excited about here. With more ice time, he could get close to 150 shots and 70 hits, which will play fine in deeper multi-cat leagues. Dynasty owners should be excited, too, as there are always questions about how a top-end prospect will actually perform. A good sophomore season looks to be in the offing, and he’s much less heralded than some other young forwards in the league. (aug12)

12. The Carolina Hurricanes got some very bad news on Max Pacioretty last week: He underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles. His expected recovery time is six months. Such a timeline would have the winger return around Valentine’s Day in 2023. That is a very long absence for a player that is turning 34 years old in November; he would, at best, miss about two-thirds of the season.

How this impacts the lineup is another question. He was assuredly going to line up on the left wing and that would open a spot either on the first or second line. Because of his spot in the lineup, this would have likely moved the recently-signed Martin Necas to the third line. [I dive deeper on Necas here, as Alex MacLean gave me some inspiration to write about him with his Ramblings yesterday.] Now that Pacioretty is gone, it seems to me that a spot has opened for Necas in the top-6:

– Teravainen-Aho-Jarvis
– Svechnikov-Kotkaniemi-Necas
– Kase-Staal-Fast

Having depth is something that has helped Carolina excel for years now and this is no different. Being able to keep a really good top-6 together, with a good checking line, despite losing a 30-goal, 70-point winger is a hallmark of a great team. Not for nothing but this could hurt Kotkaniemi. He had the potential to be flanked by two excellent wingers in Svechnikov and Pacioretty. Now, I would wager he gets Necas on his wing and though his upside is high, he’s not a Max Pacioretty. Not yet (or probably ever).

For another lineup impact, let’s work with some assumptions. If they run a 4F/1D top PP unit, we can assume Brent Burns is the blue liner with Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov as three of the forwards. Our Frozen Tools has them (with now-Ranger Vincent Trocheck) as far-and-away the most used combination last year and the power play was excellent. It seems fair to say that they’ll just replace the blue line and Trocheck and move along.

The easy answer is they’ll slide Jarvis on to the top PP unit and I really wish that were so. I’m of the opinion, as I’ve often stated in these Ramblings, that he could have been the top rookie to play in 2021-22 and he has sky-high scoring upside in his future. The problem is that he doesn’t play the role that Trocheck did on the power play, which is a net-front role. He would typically play the top of the circles and it’s not impossible to change roles, but coaches like to keep things as simple as they can, especially when they work as well as the Carolina power play. (aug11)

13. For the Fantasy Guide, I write the one-way contracts section, and recent breakout seasons from Elvis Merzlikins, Andrew Mangiapane, Mason Marchment and Michael Bunting have been unearthed by me in this section over the last few years. To be honest, these were players that were not on my radar to be rostered in fantasy before they were profiled, but I have rostered a few of my own picks over the years, and it does pay off. When I see the names in the breakout sections that match the names in my one-way section, I know we’re on to something.

One of the players that I profiled and was not touched upon much as a breakout possibility elsewhere in the guide is Alex Barre-Boulet (ABB). Despite scoring over a point-per-game at the AHL level the last two years, he hasn’t been given a real opportunity to showcase himself at the NHL level. He played mostly with the fourth line in Tampa, and mostly with the third line in Seattle (which is actually worse than the fourth line in TB). That being said, in limited minutes last season, ABB put together an IPP of 66.7%, which is close to the 70% mark that we like to see for star players (players that can drive their own line and produce fantasy worthy numbers). He managed that without much sheltering into an offensive role, and with zero lucky secondary assists. The Lightning don’t have top-six roles set in stone right now, and of the players set to make the opening day lineup, most can play in the bottom-six, but ABB will need to play on a scoring line to maximize his effectiveness. There’s a lot that could go wrong, and the floor for him this year is zero points, but there is a clear map for a 60-point season from him as well. (aug10)

14. Still with the Fantasy Guide, the team-by-team analysis. My favourite part of that is the visual on the depth chart, and the look at the advanced metrics with the roles for individual players and how it all plays into the bigger picture. You get a sense of how players like Erik Gustafsson and Justin Schultz may factor into secondary power play time, with a little more ice time than their roles in their previous situations. There are players like Owen Tippett who show up in the advanced section and clearly look as though they can handle more minutes, and thrive in that kind of situation. These are the kind of nuanced notes that are backup up by reasoning that are much more worthy of being followed come draft day.

For example, looking at the Carolina Hurricanes chart, there’s a name on the top-line RW slot that some may not get with their first guess or two. Though I can hear Michael Clifford yelling at me through the keyboard that everyone should know it’s Seth Jarvis. Though Jarvis may not see top power play minutes, his deployment as a fit on the top line as part of a deep set of right wingers should see him build upon his 48-point-pace from his rookie year. The big breakout won’t come until Christmas of 2023 at the earliest though. (aug10)

15. On the topic of new contracts, I like to look ahead around this time to the extensions we may see coming up from star players. Johnny Huberdeau was locked up to an eight-year deal for $10.5 million recently (projected $10.4M), and that helps set the latest market trend, especially in light of Johnny Gaudreau hitting the market and landing a $9.75 million cap hit (projected $10.5M), plus Matthew Tkachuk‘s $9.5 million cap hit (projected $9.6M).

Nathan MacKinnon is the big name to note, and he’s actually projected for a whopping $13 million cap hit on his next contract. He’s worth that, and he may get it.

There were rumours last year that MacK was open to taking a pay cut again to keep the band together and help the team win, but that may have changed with a cup to his name already, and having been underpaid the last number of years on one of the most team-friendly contracts ever, he has earned his big ticket. My bet is he ends up in the $11-12 million range, but $13 million should surprise no one.

Other notable projections for players now eligible to sign extensions (likely all at near full term):

• J.T. Miller: $8.8 million
• Mathew Barzal: $8.6 million
• David Pastrnak : $8.4 million
• Timo Meier: $7.7 million
• Alex DeBrincat: $7.3 million
• Jordan Kyrou: $6.8 million (though he can and should be using the Robert Thomas contract as a comparable).
• Dylan Larkin: $6.3 million

And the list goes on. Lots of interesting extensions to come, and with revenues going up, the cap possibly jumping drastically over the next few years, and the trade prices only becoming more expensive for star players, the smart GMs are going to be trying to lock in these players sooner rather than later. The more long-term contracts that you can jump on in cap leagues, the better off you will likely be looking in the next few years. (aug10)

16. Lawson Crouse signed a five-year extension with the Arizona Coyotes. The 11^th overall pick from 2015 is coming off a career year of 20 goals and 34 points in 65 games. He was a restricted free agent and this will carry him to unrestricted free agency.

There are some things Crouse does well, namely work in his own defensive zone. He saw a big TOI jump in 2021-22, skating nearly 17:30 a night, having never cracked 14:20 a game before. He also shot a career-high of 15.3%, averaging 8.8% over his first five seasons. There were a lot of things that came together in the same season to help Crouse get to a career-best and he should be thankful that it did.

His problem is that if Clayton Keller is healthy, Crouse will be stuck on the second line. Not sure if anyone’s looked at the Arizona depth chart lately, but there is not much good NHL talent among their forwards, certainly not past the top line. This team is building for 2025 and beyond and that doesn’t leave Crouse with much to play with. He will still give plenty of hits and with reasonable production – say, 20 goals and 40 points – that is a very valuable multi-cat fantasy option. I’m just not sure he has another level of production in him without better linemates. (aug9)

17. This feels like the fifth or sixth time I’ve talked about Seth Jarvis in the offseason but there’s good reason for that: I’m of the opinion that he was one of the top rookies in 2021-22. His problem is that Carolina is a much deeper team than Detroit or Anaheim, so he skated under 14 minutes a night. Had this been Carolina three years ago and he was stuck on the top line with Sebastian Aho for most of the season, I wonder where his production would have ended up.

Our Fantasy Guide has Jarvis starting the year on the top line with Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. As Dobber points out, this was a common line combination, or at the least Jarvis skated a lot with Aho. Over the final couple months, in 125 minutes at 5-on-5, this trio controlled nearly 54% of expected goals, generating 3.3 expected goals per 60 minutes, and scoring 4.3 actual goals per 60. They were dynamite, which is a big reason Jarvis had 21 points in his final 26 games (skating over 15 minutes a night in the month of April). Even if he starts the year on the second PP unit, that top-line billing will do wonders for his fantasy value.

Again, as Dobber points out, this could be a fluid situation. We probably see the wingers move around a lot, particularly as Jesperi Kotkaniemi gets used to his new pseudo 2C situation. Jarvis has 60 points in his sights and with a healthy amount of hits, he’ll bring good value regardless of fantasy format. Just don’t expect 80 games of Teuvo-Aho-Jarvis, as they’ll be moved around. (aug9)

18. When writing my offseason review for Anaheim, it kind of stuck out that there was nowhere to play Mason McTavish at center. They have Trevor Zegras, they signed Ryan Strome, and Isac Lundestrom looks to be the 3C of the future. That would mean either fourth-line duties or, more likely, a move to the wing where he played in his brief NHL stint. Like Dobber, I think McTavish starts on the wing, and we have him on the second line with Strome.

I’m really curious how this is going to work out. Strome is good on the power play but isn’t elite at 5-on-5 or anything. He could do well in secondary minutes, as he did in New York, but how much that translates to boosting McTavish’s offensive profile is an open question. Is there a chance the team eventually moves McTavish to the top line, leaving Frank Vatrano with Strome? Maybe, eventually, but probably not out of the gate. I am excited about the rookie’s future but if he’s on the second line, away from Zegras and Troy Terry, and off the top PP unit, I’m not sure how much immediate fantasy value he carries. (aug9)

19. Jonathan Drouin had wrist surgery last year which ended his season early, playing just two games after January. Last week, I wrote why Evgenii Dadonov would probably take the top-line left wing role alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Basically, he’s a good two-way winger who would help stabilize the defensive side of that line a bit. Dobber doesn’t see it that way as he has Drouin starting the year on the top line following his return from surgery.

This is one where I can see the argument – Drouin is a good playmaker – but I’m not sure it works out that way. He never really got to play much under Martin St. Louis and his defensive issues have long been a big problem. The duo of Suzuki and Caufield, for all their good offensive work, had significant defensive deficiencies of their own. Adding someone like Drouin won’t help in this regard. It makes me wonder if we don’t see Drouin start the year there but get moved off the line after the first 10 games or so. He would probably work well lower down the lineup, helping setup guys like Brendan Gallagher or Josh Anderson, leaving him with more defensively responsible players like Gallagher or Christian Dvorak.

It is important to get this one right because there is a lot of upside to being the third wheel on that top line. If Drouin can stay there all season, with top PP slotting, setting a career-high in points (previous high of 53) seems very possible. On the flipside, if the line is constantly getting hemmed in their own end, a coach can only let that go on for so long. (aug9)

20. One player that caught my eye while doing the Fantasy Guide was Damon Severson. Yes, I knew he had a good year. And yes, I knew he picked it up after Hamilton was sidelined. But after Hamilton returned, Severson was still seeing 2:50 in PPTOI per game (from February 24 onward) and had 19 points in 32 games overall – that’s a 49-point pace. That’s a great number while Hamilton is in the lineup.

In all, Severson picked up 42 points in the last 60 games (a 63-point pace) after starting off slowly. He played primarily with Ty Smith during that first quarter of the season and that dragged his point totals down. Sometimes playing with a young player who isn’t great in his own end will drag the veteran’s totals down, as it did here. (aug8)

21. I was always a fan of the underdog Mason Appleton. Not as a potential star first-liner being held back, but as a potential mid-60s second liner. Drafted 168^th overall, he was a high-scoring college player although never quite a point-per-game guy. He took quickly to pro hockey though, posting 66 points in 76 games as an AHL rookie for Manitoba. And that is what caught my eye. I also liked how he – a former sixth-round pick, mind you – would get called up to the Jets and make it so difficult to be sent down.

However, he’s 26 now and couldn’t earn himself top-six ice time with Seattle of all teams. He’s being used almost strictly defensively in Winnipeg, playing the difficult own-zone minutes and doing quite well with them. That tells me that he has found his niche as a third-line checker who can chip in depth offense, but likely not much more. I won’t 100% pigeonhole him/rule him out until he has played his BT season (and that’s this one coming up), but it doesn’t look promising. He has played 206 career NHL games, meaning this will be his theoretical breakout if he were to have one. The Jets just signed him to a three-year-deal, buying two of his UFA seasons, at a cap hit of $2.167M. I have him projected in the Guide for 29 points and have not given him sleeper status for much more. (aug8)

Have a good week, folks – stay safe!!

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