For the last 20 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 21^st annual review will appear here on Dobber Hockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Be sure to pick up your copy of the 2023-24 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide.

Gone – Luke Glendening, Riley Barber, Max Domi, Tanner Kero, Riley Tufte, Joel Kiviranta, Ben Gleason, Ryan Shea, Will Butcher

Incoming – Matt Duchene, Craig Smith, Sam Steel, Gavin Bayreuther, Derrick Pouliot

Impact of Changes – Kiviranta is a name to watch. At time of writing, he hasn't re-signed in Dallas, but hasn't signed elsewhere yet. The team is capped out but a low-dollar signing and some minors movement could solve the problem.

If Kiviranta does not re-sign, the team is remaking its forward depth. He and Glendening had been fixtures of Dallas's bottom-6 for a couple years, but the trade deadline addition – and subsequent extension – of Evgenii Dadonov, plus the signings of Steel and Smith, help round out the forward crop. However, options like Steel, Smith, Ty Dellandrea, and Radek Faksa will be relegated to regular fourth-line duties with some third-line time mixed in, depending on injuries. Smith could have fantasy value if he can somehow slide up the roster, but that's more for in-season streaming than preseason drafting. Dellandrea’s multi-cat value is tenuous – he will be fortunate to have regular third-line minutes.

The big addition is Matt Duchene. He will fill the spot left by Domi's departure, but in a much different manner. Even on a Nashville team that struggled mightily in 2022-23, he still managed 22 goals and 56 points, and had a higher points/minute rate at 5-on-5 than names like Kyle Connor, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Bo Horvat. He is a genuine dual offensive threat capable of both setting up and finishing scoring plays. Duchene's problem for fantasy is whether he gets a top power-play role or not. Dallas had the fifth-highest PP goal rate in 2022-23, and all the pieces are returning so there is no reason to rock that boat. Last season, no Dallas forward that was off the top PP unit skated 17 minutes a night, and none had more than 50 points. If Duchene loses 90 seconds of TOI per game, floating around the middle-6 and stuck on the second PP unit, he won't have a great fantasy season. If he can get to the top PP unit, though, his fantasy fortunes change dramatically for the better. He won’t have that role out of the gate, and he’ll be very cheap at the draft table because of it.

Ready For Full Time – Riley Damiani, Thomas Harley

It is likely we see prospects like Logan Stankoven and Matej Blumel at times, whether to start the season or as call-ups, but getting 70-plus games from either seems a longshot. They could eventually overtake depth options like Steel or Dellandrea, but even then, getting to a consistent, meaningful role conducive to fantasy success is unlikely.

As pointed out in our Dobber Prospects Report, it is now or never for Damiani. He is not waiver exempt so he needs to break camp with the team or Dallas risks losing him on waivers. There is not much fantasy value here one way or the other, but look for him to earn a role on Dallas's fourth line. If not, his next chance will likely be in another organization.

The emergence of Thomas Harley during the 2023 postseason was one fantasy owners should be paying attention to; it isn't dissimilar from what Bowen Byram did for Colorado in the 2022 playoffs, minus the Stanley Cup. He led the Dallas blue line in expected goal share at 5-on-5 by a lot, in goal share at 5-on-5 by a lot, and was skating around 18 minutes a game by the end of their postseason run. He wound up with nine points in 19 games. Harley isn't a rookie – he played 34 games in 2021-22 – but looks primed for his first full NHL season. If he can be a reliable second-pair blue liner with good impacts at both ends, it is revelatory for their depth. In fantasy terms, though, there are still a handful of veterans that will get billing ahead of him, at least to start the season. Keep an eye on how that evolves through the campaign.

Fantasy Outlook – Dallas was 7^th in scoring in 2022-23, didn't lose anyone significant, and have young, high-impact players like Miro Heiskanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Thomas Harley all a year older. The offensive engine of the team – the duo of Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz – are in the meat of their primes, so things are lining up for another great fantasy season for several players.

A big question is if Jamie Benn's resurgence sustains itself or slows down. He had shot 10.2% from 2019-22, but exploded to 17.4% in 2022-23, largely thanks to shooting 22.8% on the power play. He was in that neighbourhood when he was in his prime, but repeating that at 34 years old is another matter. If he or Joe Pavelski slip a bit, they now have Duchene as insurance. If both decline a bit, they have Duchene and Johnston. This is a forward group so deep that even if a couple of their older players take a step back, they have younger players ready to step up, and there are no decline concerns for Robertson and Hintz other than injury.

Heiskanen had a tremendous fantasy season and there aren't concerns of regression. His leap in even-strength production was related to not shooting 1.6% as he had in 2021-22, and being a fixture of the top power play quintet added a lot of points. Harley may push Heiskanen for PPTOI down the road, but we're talking several years from now. The young Finn has the top PP role locked and is one of the top under-25 blue liners in the league. He had more points (73) than the next three top blue-line producers in Dallas combined (70), so beware of relying on anyone other than Heiskanen reaching 40 points.

Jake Oettinger struggled in net during the postseason but had a tremendous regular season: fourth in starts, tied for second in wins, and tied for third in save percentage (min. 50 games). Oettinger has established himself as one of the top, young goalies and is on a Cup contender. He has a hold on the starter's job, though they may throttle back his starts after seeing what happened in the 2023 playoffs.

Dallas has eyes on a Cup and a very deep forward group. Every member of the top PP unit will be coveted in drafts, so the bigger questions surround players like Duchene, Johnston, Mason Marchment, and Harley. Marchment is a name to watch in multi-cat formats; he has 20-goal, 40-point, 180-shot, 100-hit potential, and a line mate like Duchene can help Marchment find his former glory. There are no fewer than six high-end-to-elite fantasy options on the roster, and maybe 3-4 depth options. That all precludes Stankoven having a Calder Trophy-type effort, so there is a lot to like here in all kinds of fantasy formats.  

Fantasy Grade – B+ (last year was C+)

Read all the other fantasy grade articles here.