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, Brennan Des and Dobber

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1. Feels like it has been a while since I talked about Connor Bedard: He has been playing even heavier minutes than he was at the start of the year, and his shot rate has risen as well. Interestingly, his linemates have fairly consistently been Philip Kurashev and Nick Foligno all season. Next year he may get some more rotation to see which of Lukas Reichel, Frank Nazar, and other young guys he might mesh well with. For now, he’s learning that he is capable of doing it all on his own.

How early does he go in redrafts next year? Has to be a top-20 pick, but do you dare take him over someone like Nikita Kucherov in the top-10? Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Hughes, Mikko Rantanen, David Pastrnak, Cale Makar, Brady Tkachuk (if your league counts peripherals), Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Pettersson, Nikita Kucherov probably make up my top-12 entering next year.

To me, Bedard would be part of that next tier from about 12-20 with the group including Kirill Kaprizov, Aleksander Barkov, and Mitch Marner as examples, though I will probably be letting someone else take the risk unless he slips past the 30^th pick. (mar13)

2. Since being acquired by the Sabres, Bowen Byram has five points in five games. He has averaged almost 24:30 with the Sabres, which is over four minutes higher than he averaged in Colorado. He’s also being paired with Rasmus Dahlin while receiving first-unit power-play minutes, something else he didn’t receive in Colorado.

Byram might be the player whose value increased the most at the trade deadline. Initially, that’s not really what we expected, since the Sabres already have first overall picks Dahlin and Owen Power in the fold, and the worry was Byram would be pushed down the lineup like he was in Colorado. But it appears the Sabres parted with Casey Mittelstadt to acquire Byram for a reason. If Byram happens to be available in your league, make room for him. (mar15)

3. Last Sunday night was my cap league trade deadline. With my team firmly out of contention and in a rebuild, I was offering Evgeny Kuznetsov and his $7.8 million cap hit to anyone who would take him. When he was placed on waivers a week ago, my leaguemates in the chat scoffed when I jokingly flogged him up to anyone.

A week later and he’s back in the NHL, enjoying life with his new team (although he has yet to record a point). Sure enough, on Sunday afternoon I was offered Jesperi Kotkaniemi for Kuznetsov from a contending team, an offer that I accepted. A week ago, Kuznetsov was worth peanuts. Now, he’s worth Kotkaniemi, which at least is a little more than peanuts, which can certainly be debated. Yet it’s funny how value can change. The fact that this is one Cane for another is also not lost on me.   

Kotkaniemi, by the way, registered two assists and was a plus-3 on that Sunday. After a long slumber during much of the middle part of the season (7 PTS in 45 GP), he’s starting to wake up. I still wouldn’t recommend Kotkaniemi except in the deepest of leagues (which this is) or in keeper leagues (which this also is). He doesn’t receive ideal deployment on a deep Hurricanes roster, although he might have to at some point since the Canes are invested in him for the long haul (until after 2029-30). (mar11)

4. Yes, we’re already thinking about the playoffs. So it’s a good time to mention that Dobber’s 2024 Interactive Playoff Draft List can now be purchased. You can make your own picks for series winners, or go with Dobber’s picks if you’re not sure. Purchase yours here. Keep in mind that the actual spreadsheet will be available for use in early April. (mar11)

5. So, as of last Wednesday, there were five weeks left in the regular season. For fantasy hockey owners in head-to-head leagues, this coming Monday will likely leave four weeks in the fantasy season which will be mostly, if not all, consisting of playoffs. It is a crucial time for managers to get their lineups right, so let’s take some time to look at those four weeks, which teams to target or avoid. As is often the case, data will be from Natural Stat Trick with schedule information from the Schedule Planner on our Frozen Tools, with stats as of Wednesday afternoon. (mar14)

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6. Gabriel Vilardi has been diagnosed with an enlarged spleen with no timetable for return. If this sounds familiar, Mark Stone has a lacerated spleen and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. I’m no expert on spleens, but you can probably drop both players in non-keeper formats if you don’t have the IR space to keep them. Vilardi has been out of the lineup since early March. He’s had a productive season (30 PTS in 38 GP), but he may end up missing more than half of Winnipeg’s games this season. (mar16)

7. Josh Morrissey has been en fuego since mid-February with 21 points (20 of them assists) in his last 14 games (entering Saturday). That’s an average of a point and a half per game. That makes him the hottest defenseman in the league over that span. Morrissey probably won’t surpass last season’s 76-point career best, but 70 points is still within reach. (mar16)

8. Pierre-Luc Dubois hasn’t scored nearly as often as fantasy owners were expecting before the season, but he managed to score a goal and register an assist on another. He’s on pace for 37 points, which would make him one of the biggest non-injury busts of the season. Dubois also played in his 500^th NHL game on Friday, which begs the question: Do we know who the real Pierre-Luc Dubois is by now? Usually we have a read on a player by now, but Dubois hit the 60-point mark in his previous two seasons, yet he was on a similar 37-point pace the season before (when he was traded from Columbus to Winnipeg). One stat to note: Dubois’s ice time is down nearly three minutes per game in LA compared to what it was in the 'Peg. Some but not all of that ice time lost is power-play time. (mar16)

9. Dating back to January 27, Rasmus Andersson has four points in his last 18 games. Andrew has him as an “odd man out” in this week’s Looking Ahead, and I’d have to concur based on the recent production. Andersson has also been losing power-play time to newly acquired Daniil Miromanov, as the Flames are unlikely to make the playoffs and are thus in a situation where they can experiment with things. The fantasy playoffs are not the time to be patient with a player, so I’m on board with dropping Andersson if needed. 

With four points in his last 14 games after a strong start to the season (32 PTS in 52 GP), Mackenzie Weegar might be in a similar boat to Andersson. Weegar does provide peripherals at a higher level than Andersson, which is why I’d hesitate to drop him if you’re in a multicategory league. Weegar is third in the NHL in the combined shots/hits/blocks category (477 SOG+HIT+BKS). (mar16)

10. Flipping over to a hot Flame, Yegor Sharangovich has eight points in his last five games and eight goals over his last eight games. Considered a downgrade on Tyler Toffoli when the two were traded for each other during the offseason, Sharangovich is tied with Blake Coleman for the team lead in goals with 28. He is on target to reach both 30 goals and 50 points for the first time in his career. Seems like the trade to Calgary helped his value, although a decline in goals might occur next season if he doesn’t continue to take at least two shots per game. Sharangovich is normally a 14% shooter but has a career high 19.4% this season. (mar16)

11. If you’re trying to win your head-to-head matchup this week, one player that might help you and is very widely available (3% Yahoo/24% Fantrax entering Saturday) is Fabian Zetterlund. The Sharks winger has been on a heater recently with seven points in his last six games. San Jose is hardly a goldmine of fantasy talent at the moment, but Zetterlund is receiving prime deployment from what’s left over. He’s received top-unit power-play minutes for much of the season, and more recently has received over 20 minutes in six of his last eight games. He’s also been lining up on the top line with Mikael Granlund and Alexander Barabanov, if you can call it a top line. Whenever I’ve watched the Sharks play this season, I’ve noticed Zetterlund. (mar16)

12. A player that is rostered in even fewer leagues that Zetterlund is Brandon Saad. I know, he’s not what you thought he’d be or what he used to be. But hear me out. Saad has five points in his last six games, and over the past month he has been half decent with seven goals and 11 points over his last 15 games. Saad has also taken a minimum of two shots per game in eight of his past nine games. I’d prefer Zetterlund over Saad if your league counts power-play points, as Saad doesn’t receive as much power-play time. Yet from a pure goals-and-assists perspective, the two players are practically indistinguishable.

Need help in goal? Head over to GoaliePost for the latest updates. I like the new win probability feature on each matchup, which suggests which goalie has a better chance of winning and the strength of that probability.(mar16)

13. Frederik Andersen is officially back in business. Andersen stopped all 21 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout of the season. Since his return from a blood clotting issue, Andersen has quality starts in all three games he has appeared in, allowing only three goals over that span. Dating back before the absence, Andersen has six quality starts over his last six games. He is definitely cutting into Pyotr Kochetkov‘s workload and may even be the starter for Game 1 of the playoffs. Either Carolina goalie should be started in fantasy leagues with confidence, which is a far cry from the struggles they had early in the season. (mar15)

14. In his first start with the Devils, Jake Allen impressed in making 35 saves in a 6-2 win over Dallas. Allen had not registered a quality start since January 27 and has just two in nine games since the calendar turned to 2024. Moving to New Jersey seems like a lateral move for Allen, as he goes from sharing the net with both Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau to sharing the net with both Kaapo Kahkonen and Nico Daws. (mar15)

15. Marat Khusnutdinov played in his first NHL game on Thursday, finishing without a point or even a shot but blocking four shots and winning six of nine faceoffs. Khusnutdinov is the Wild’s second-round pick in 2020. Although he was on a line with Marcus Foligno and Frederick Gaudreau, Khusnutdinov has the upside to move up the Wild lineup. For more, see his Dobber Prospects profile. (mar15)

16. There was a lot of good injury news from Wednesday, so let’s start with Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary. He was on the ice for an optional practice on Wednesday and given the team’s changes/injuries elsewhere, they need him. It still doesn’t mean an imminent return, but certainly trending in the right direction.

It looks as if Tampa Bay’s Tanner Jeannot is on the verge of returning. He has played just one game in the last two months and he left that game early after just returning from another injury stint. It has been that kind of year for him but the banger-league special appears very close to being back in the lineup.

And some good news on Vince Dunn, too, as he was back on skates: Dunn has missed three games since taking that brutal hit from Martin Pospisil. When there is more good news to share, it will be passed along, but like Zary, this is a step in the right direction. (mar14)

17. Sharks' Magnus Chrona is in an excellent spot for those of you who need goalies to face large volumes without it mattering how many goals they let in. He has two quality starts and three really bad starts through his first five games, so there isn’t much in between, but there will be volume. He has the run of the net in the short term while the Sharks wait for Mackenzie Blackwood to get healthy again. He’s still only 23, so the inconsistencies are expected, and he’s not someone I would write off completely for at least another three years. (mar13)

18. One player who was traded that I didn’t think I was going to be able to be as positive about is Jack Roslovic, who was in a groove with Columbus before the deadline, and played 20 minutes in each of his last two games with the Jackets. Now with the Rangers, he was always going to see a reduction in ice time, but it appears that the Rangers see him as a top-six player, which should keep his numbers up despite the drop in overall ice time and power play usage. Peter Ryell had some similar thoughts on Roslovic, along with some views on other players in new locations in his latest Lining Up article here. (mar13)

19. Bad news for Ottawa forward Josh Norris, who had surgery last week and is out for the season. Norris missed almost the entire 2022-23 season due to shoulder surgery, and even missed some time at the beginning of the 2023-24 season as well. That it’s his third shoulder surgery at the age of 24 is not ideal, but Taylor Hall had shoulder issues early in his career and went on to win a Hart Trophy, so who knows. Had Norris not been quite right this season, it would help explain why a lot of his numbers, both on and below the surface, suffered. (mar12)

20. Kirill Marchenko‘s Slump: Marchenko was a healthy scratch for one of Columbus’s games last week and he has just four goals and 11 points in his last 32 games. He has added that playmaking dimension fantasy managers were hoping for after his low-assist rookie season, but the goal-scoring slump might keep him from reaching 20 tallies on the campaign. A lot of this current slump is related to shooting percentage – about 5.5% in those 32 games – but even double that number would mean 15 points, and a 0.5 points/game pace is not what we’re looking for.

One key for Marchenko will be keeping an eye on the Columbus power play. They have often been using two defensemen on PP1, and with Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau fixtures of that quintet, it only leaves one forward spot. Right now, that spot is going to Alex Nylander, but that doesn’t mean he’ll hold it for the next five weeks. There is also the potential return of Adam Fantilli to contend with. Seeing Marchenko work his way back up to the top PP unit, regardless of what he does at 5-on-5, would be a good sign heading into next season. (mar12)

21. Filip Zadina‘s Production: Since his four-point game four weeks ago, Zadina has five goals in 13 games with 34 shots on target. Zadina also led the team in shot attempts/60 and shots/60 at 5-on-5 in that span, so despite having zero assists in those appearances, he’s certainly looking for the back of the net, if not his teammates.

San Jose is not a good environment to show out offensively, but if Zadina can keep firing the puck as he has been for the next month or so, he could work himself into a top-6/top power play role in 2024-25. There are a lot of bridges to cross between now and then, though. (mar12)

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Have a good week, folks!

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