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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The 2024-25 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide is available in the Dobber Shop! The nice thing is that because it is digital-only, updates can be made as news changes, and there’s certainly been a lot of that this week.

Our French version of the Guide, Le Guide des Poolers, is also available via this link.

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1. The puck officially dropped on the NHL regular season on Friday with New Jersey defeating Buffalo by a score of 4-1 in Prague. A number of brand-new Devils made a great first impression with their new team in this game.

Among them, Seamus Casey made his NHL debut and received second-unit power-play minutes over Simon Nemec, playing 13 minutes total. Aside from having an amazing name, Seamus was picked 46^th overall in 2022, the same draft where Nemec was picked second overall. Casey is only 20 years old, so he is probably AHL-bound once Hughes is able to return. He certainly has a bright future and could be considered in keeper leagues. For more, see his Dobber Prospects profile.

And I’ve saved the best for last. Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced in backstopping his new team to that win. One of those saves was for the highlight reel. The Devils have upgraded their goaltending in acquiring Markstrom, which makes their playoff chances a lot brighter compared to last season. (oct5)

2. After missing all of training camp due to injury, Yaroslav Askarov has been sent to the AHL. That means the Sharks will likely proceed with the goaltending tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek to start the season. Both veteran goalies are UFAs and should be trade bait for the rebuilding Sharks by the deadline, so expect to see Askarov in the NHL at some point this season. I would be hesitant to roll with any Sharks goalie this season anyway.

Another player on a PTO has made the team. One day after the Flames signed Tyson Barrie, the Golden Knights signed Tanner Pearson to a one-year, $775,000 contract. Pearson had been plagued with a serious hand injury during his final season with the Canucks in 2022-23, so it’s good to see him battle back to extend his NHL career. Even though he had a strong preseason with two goals and an assist in four games, Pearson is likely destined for the bottom-6 with Vegas. (oct5)

3. The upside for Barrie is that he is able to secure time on the top power play at some point, perhaps based on injury or merit. Mackenzie Weegar seems to be the preferred option on PP1, which would be tremendous for his value. Weegar has been a solid multicategory option dating back to his time in Florida, but the lack of power-play deployment has always been the missing piece. Throwing Barrie on the top power play would throw a monkey wrench into that. 

A more likely spot for Barrie is the second power play along with Rasmus Andersson. This wouldn’t be super ideal for Barrie, as Calgary isn’t an overly deep team right now. He would also need to get into the lineup every night to be considered in fantasy leagues, which is something that can’t be guaranteed either. Barrie can move the puck, which is something coach Ryan Huska has stated he wants on his defense. However, Barrie’s defensive shortcomings still put him at risk to be healthy scratched.

Should Calgary also finish where they are expected to in the standings, Barrie is also potential trade bait for a contender. That might not be the best thing for Barrie either, but he needs to make the most of his opportunity. (oct4)

4. For the second consecutive season, I was invited to the Fantasy Puck Content Creators league. The live draft was completed on Tuesday, which Nate from Apples & Ginos recorded on video.

(1/7) Cale Makar (COL – D) – I was debating between Makar and his teammate Mikko Rantanen here. Rantanen was the highest-ranked player according to Yahoo. I opted for Makar as the highest-scoring blueliner. Nate liked the pick, so I guess that’s good enough for me. Rantanen fell to 10^th, with Nate admitting that he preferred Kirill Kaprizov at 9^th over Rantanen. On a side note, KK was undervalued by Yahoo in my opinion.

(2/18) William Nylander (TOR – RW) – This was between Nylander and Elias Pettersson. I guess I’m a bit more concerned about Pettersson’s cooldown late last season season than Nylander’s.

(3/31) Igor Shesterkin (NYR – G) – I knew I was in a draft with Nate and some other Zero G proponents, plus I’ve said all along that top-tier goalies like Shesterkin and Connor Hellebuyck are okay to pick if they fall to the third round. Goalies falling farther than normal could provide great value in this format. My strategy is to zag when the other zig. Let’s see if it works. Hellebuyck went later in the third round, with Juuse Saros drafted early in the fourth round. Did I start the goalie run by picking Shesterkin as the first goalie? (oct5)

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5. If your fantasy team has avoided the injury bug this preseason, congratulations. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a preseason with this many injuries, particularly involving key players. Some of these injuries simply involve players being pulled for precautionary reasons, while others are more serious and will require months of recovery.

Perhaps as a result of these injuries, the NHL may decide to schedule fewer preseason games. I’m in favor of removing two exhibition games from the 6-8 games that are currently scheduled for each team. I know that teams use these games to evaluate prospects in their system and not just the projected opening-night roster, which should really be the focus of these games. However, the NHL regular season is already long enough (82 games to eliminate 16 teams), so I’m not really in favor of adding those games to the regular season. After all, the injuries won’t stop if preseason games become regular-season games. (oct4)

6. So, call this an early Injury Ward of sorts, but I’ll run down the current state of affairs for the most fantasy-relevant injuries.

Artemi Panarin

Panarin left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body issue. The fact that he left a second preseason game with this injury is concerning, but word after the game was that his removal was more precautionary as opposed to re-aggravating an injury. Panarin was not on the ice on Thursday and probably will not suit up for Friday’s preseason game, so he should be questionable for opening night on Wednesday.

J.T. Miller

This one might not be receiving much coverage outside of Vancouver, but Miller has not appeared in a preseason game yet. Miller is resting some sort of minor ailment and wouldn’t get into details when asked, but he is expected to play in the Canucks’ final preseason game on Friday against Edmonton. Expect him to be ready for opening night on Wednesday. If you think there are too many preseason games, Miller agrees with you. (oct4)

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7. It has been a brutal preseason for goalies as Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko‘s injury status is uncertain, Boston’s Jeremy Swayman still hasn’t signed a contract, and it was revealed Ilya Sorokin suffered an offseason back injury that required surgery. It isn’t outlandish to think that if all three were healthy/signed and in the lineup for Game 1 of the regular season, they could all be top-5 fantasy goalies. At the least, we did get a positive Sorokin update, as he was back on skates and taking shots this week.

Sorokin didn’t practice with the team, but was working with the coaches off to the side. That he’s on the ice, taking shots, and working with the coaches is a good sign. There is no firm update on when he’ll be ready to go for game action, but a lot of steps in the right direction. (oct3)

8. Back in Tuesday’s Ramblings, I started talking about my point projections for defencemen. They mostly focused on high-end options like Dougie Hamilton and Josh Morrissey, so go check that out for players that are mostly in the upper echelon.

Today’s Ramblings will be looking more at the depth options. This is where league-winning value can be found, so it’s very much worth reviewing them.

Calgary’s Blue Line

There has been lots of discussion about what to do with MacKenzie Weegar’s 20-goal season, whether Daniil Miromanov is a top power play option, and where Rasmus Andersson fits in. My assumption, based on their usage post-Trade Deadline last season and what’s happened so far in the preseason, is that Weegar gets most of the top PP minutes this season, Andersson mixes in sometimes, and Miromanov has some PP2 time though Tyson Barrie throws a wrench into things. All told, I have two Calgary defencemen worth drafting in most multi-cat formats, and this is where they sit:

Weegar: 13,8 – 39,6 – 53,4 (points)
Andersson: 8,6 – 30,4 – 39,0

A big reason for Weegar’s 50-plus projection is his ice time. It is a full season without Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev, and replacements like Barrie, Miromanov, and Jake Bean are not big-minute threats. From March 1^st onward last season, Weegar skated 24:52 per game. My projections for this season have him around 24:10 per game, or an additional 75 seconds per game from last year’s overall average. That additional ice time, a good chunk of it on the power play, helps soften the blow from a decline in shooting percentage. If he can be this kind of producer, with his shot/hit/block potential, it is reasonable for him to be a top-10 blue line option.

In 2023-24, Andersson failed to crack the 40-point plateau for the first time in three seasons despite having a higher points-per-60 minutes rate at even strength (1.2/60) than the prior two seasons (1.13). Losing that top power play time is a tough break for his fantasy value. (oct3)

9. Something in San Jose

As expected, the San Jose blue line isn’t boasting much point upside – there is one defenceman projected here for more than 25 points. It is noteworthy that in training camp, prospect Luca Cagnoni was getting a lot of top PP reps, but Jake Walman has taken over that role as camp has worn on. We will see if Cagnoni breaks camp with the team due to injuries elsewhere, but I’m skeptical he plays anything close to a full season. The assumption is that Walman takes the vast majority of PP1 time this season with Henry Thrun getting infrequent top PP minutes, being largely stuck on PP2. That gives me this projection for Walman: 15,3 – 21,5 – 36,8 points.

On top of a big PP role, there is also an assumption of a big even-strength ice time rise for Walman. Last year in Detroit, he skated 16:38 per game at evens. Last year in San Jose, four defencemen exceeded that mark and two are gone from the team. Cody Ceci probably takes some EVTOI, but the bet is Walman does too. Add in some penalty killing, and the projection has him between 22-23 minutes. San Jose might not be a good team, but they had a decent power play last year, and an additional 3-plus minutes per game for Walman will only help his peripherals – he averaged under 20 minutes per game in his two full Detroit seasons but managed over 2.1 blocks per contest. (oct3)

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10. As a Predators fan, I was really hoping to see a new second line of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Tommy Novak. That line has been together quite a bit in camp so far, and they look to be gelling already. Novak may be an underappreciated player in fantasy circles, but both Stamkos and Marchessault have commended his passing and intelligence, which is exactly why he should find immediate success with those two. He’s one of my favourite late-round picks this year. (oct2)

11. I’m not really sure what to make of the Capitals and their outlook so far, but one note I am making is that Andrew Mangiapane is lining up opposite Alex Ovechkin, which shows that they are making an effort to have the new guy thrive. Mangiapane has a 35-goal and 55-point season to his name already but hasn’t been able to match that production the last two years. If he sees more than 17 minutes per game – which he wasn’t getting in Calgary – then he could get back to those levels. (oct2)

12. In Vegas, the second line of William Karlsson, Mark Stone, and Pavel Dorofeyev is a great opportunity for the young winger to show he can hack it in the top-six. The top line looks to be pencilled in as Jack Eichel centering last season’s winger and reconnecting him with a former winger from years ago. Both Ivan Barbashev and Victor Olofsson could be excellent late round sleeper picks as possible “top-line” players with Jack Eichel. Both players have career highs of 65-point-paces, and they could approach that again this year. (oct2)

13. I am not the world’s biggest proponent of Jonathan Lekkerimaki – not even in the top half – but that doesn’t mean that I can’t see that he’s being set up to succeed here, and he does have areas of his game that will adjust well to the NHL. He’s going to start the season in the AHL, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be there all year. In the meantime, Daniel Sprong gets a trial on the top line with Elias Pettersson. (oct2)

14. The Tampa Bay lineup is looking thinner, but still potent at the top. You can’t replace Steven Stamkos, but Jake Guentzel will at least take his minutes and some of those power play opportunities, providing his own excellent production. If you’re looking for a bit of an edge though, 35-year-old Cam Atkinson looks to also be slotting into the top-six and should rebound back closer to his previous 50+ point paces rather than last year’s 28 points in 70 games. (oct2)

15. Ryan Hartman‘s biggest season was a 65-point campaign playing alongside Kirill Kaprizov, and this year he’s getting another chance back there. With a bump in minutes he could be up to three shots per game again, and I think he’s in a good position to thrive on a Minnesota team that looks more like a playoff contender than previous years. (oct2)

16. Taylor Hall didn’t exactly keep up with Connor Bedard the first time around, but I think the biggest factor to Hall’s success this time around could just be that Bedard takes his big step into superstardom. Now, Hall has also spent time on other lines in pre-season, but of him, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Teuvo Teravainen, Hall has the best hockey sense, which is the most necessary skill to playing with an elite linemate. (oct2)

17. I’m really digging the fantasy upside of a lot of Utah players this year. Mikhail Sergachev being the go-to guy finally, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz having backup, and the young-guns line with Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, and Jack McBain all looking sharp. There’s been lots of talk about Cooley and Guenther lately (rightly so) but I want to touch on McBain for a minute.

McBain is someone I severely underestimated in his draft year coming out of the OJHL, but he’s grown into an excellent third-line centre who brings a ton of fantasy peripherals. He already has a season with over 300 Hits in under 14 minutes per game of average ice time. The shot totals aren’t there, but being the net-front presence with the two offensive players should help pad those greasy goal numbers.

18. The injury timelines for David Reinbacher and Patrik Laine were announced by the Habs today, with 5-6 months for the former and 2-3 months for the latter. Reinbacher is basically guaranteed now to have his ELC slide another year, as he will play in the AHL if/when he is healthy this season. Laine we could see around Christmas time, and could still be a fantasy asset for those with the ability to stash him. (oct2)

Kaiden Guhle was back at practice for Montreal last Monday, and had over a week to get up to speed, so it seems he may be ready for the start of the regular season. Guhle had 22 points, 56 PIMs, and 294 hits+blocks in 70 games last season, so there’s a lot of multi-cat value to be had if he’s healthy. It also is important for Lane Hutson because if the blue line is healthy, and Guhle plays his natural side, it leaves Hutson in a third-pair role for now. (oct1)

19. It looks like Noah Hanifin has the luxury of starting on Vegas’ top power play, but Shea Theodore will be champing at the bit if he falters. The sample is small but after Hanifin was promoted to the top unit on April 2^nd, he racked up eight power-play points in 14 games over the regular and post-season. While it’s true that Theodore has the longer history of offensive and power-play excellence, he’s a UFA at the end of the season and will be tough to re-sign given Vegas’ minimal cap space. The team is much more invested in Noah Hanifin, who’s on contract for eight more years at an AAV of $7.35 million. (sept30)

20. Looking for solid fantasy production at discounted rates? Here are a few under-the-radar names riding shotgun beside talented duos:

Tommy Novak

The 27-year-old center might be my favourite fantasy target this year as he’s set to line up between two 40-goal scorers in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. That alone would have my salivary glands working overtime, but I’m even more excited because Novak’s own ability remains under the radar. His first real season was the 2022-23 campaign. Since then, he’s scored at a 59-point pace despite averaging just 14 minutes a night. While he’ll be stuck on Nashville’s second power-play unit, there’s plenty of room for his even-strength role to increase. More minutes beside Stammer and Marchessault can only be a good thing.

I often preach that we should avoid recently signed free agents because their fantasy values tend to be inflated. When a good player joins a new team, fantasy managers treat best-case scenario as a given, failing to account for adjustment periods or incompatibility with projected linemates. That would apply twice here, with both Marchessault and Stamkos being new additions, making my endorsement of Novak seem somewhat hypocritical. Am I not treating an unseen product – the Marchessault-Novak-Stamkos line – as if it’s already a successful entity? Well, yes, but since the cost to acquire Novak is so low, the risk isn’t as concerning. Now, if you were to target Stamkos or Marchessault, you’d need to use a valuable top 100 pick. If things don’t work out, you’ve missed out on a massive amount of value. However, by investing in the most affordable share of Nashville’s ‘second line’ stock, you have access to most of the profit without nearly as much risk. In fact, I bet Novak is currently sitting on the waiver wire in a bunch of your leagues. If a 60-point center could be valuable to your roster, grab Novak and don’t look back. (sept30)

21. Alex Killorn

Under most circumstances, I wouldn’t endorse a 35-year-old winger coming off an injury-riddled campaign. However, considering how low the cost is to acquire Killorn in fantasy leagues today, I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight his potential. It’s funny how much one season can change perceptions. Fresh off a career-high 27 goals and 64 points with Tampa during the 2022-23 campaign, Killorn inked a $6.25 million AAV with Anaheim last summer. Fantasy managers were pessimistic given his age and the downgrade in team quality, and their concerns were warranted as his point pace went from 64 to 47. However, a closer look reveals that he suffered from some bad luck along the way, fracturing his finger during preseason action. He was just finding his footing while everyone else had a month of action under their belts, so I’d excuse his first 12 games where he only posted four points. However, from that point on to late January (when he suffered a knee injury), Killorn posted a respectable 55-point pace. I think that’s a fair mark to expect from him this year if he can stay healthy. My reason for mentioning Killorn, however, isn’t solely based on last year, it’s also related to what’s happening this preseason. He’s currently riding shotgun beside elite young talents Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson – a unit that’s quickly developing chemistry. (sept30)

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