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. The regular season has now concluded. A total of 16 teams will continue to compete for the Stanley Cup, while the other 16 teams will hit the links after their year-end press conferences. The Dobber writers provided their playoff picks just before the puck dropped on the playoffs on Saturday.

Don’t forget that you can also purchase Dobber’s Interactive Playoff Draft List if you are in a playoff pool. As well, join DobberHockey’s Bracket Challenge over at NHL.com. 

2. Jason Robertson is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, which made him unavailable for Saturday's Game 1 against Colorado. Robertson left last Wednesday’s game with the injury – a game that was the Stars’ last game of the season. As much as resting star (Star) players inconveniences fantasy teams, this scenario is the argument for load management during the last few games. Dallas had nothing tangible to play for in the game against Nashville, and now they are without their top goal-scorer to start the playoffs. (apr19)

We are at the time of the season where we get things like “never not expected” and “hopeful to play” and so on and so on. We won’t get a firm timeline on anything until Dallas’ season ends one way or another, but I am operating as if Miro Heiskanen is out for at least the first round. (apr15)

3. From the same series, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has stated that Gabriel Landeskog will be an option for the first round. Landeskog has not played in an NHL game this season, but he played in two AHL games while on a rehab assignment. It would be a great story if Landeskog is able to return to the Avalanche. (apr19)

For more injury updates and roster transactions, check the Dobber Player News feed.

4. This is going to be my last Ramblings before the Stanley Cup playoffs start and my intention was to preview the remaining six playoff series that I hadn’t covered yet but that will take far too long. How about we save a bit of time and just look at specific skaters to keep an eye on for playoff pools? Data will be from Natural Stat Trick and Frozen Tools, and as of the afternoon of April 16^th.

Mackie Samoskevich (Florida Panthers)

On the defending Stanley Cup champions, a rookie is one of the keys to the offence. Though 15 goals and 31 points in 72 games isn’t eye-popping, Samoskevich played a bottom-6 role for the first half of the season, skating 11:04 per game. Then, on January 14^th, he was moved alongside Sam Bennett and the rest is history: 8 goals, 11 assists, 9 power-play points, 80 shots, 87 hits, and 24 blocks in 33 games while skating 16 minutes a game. He has also been skating some top power-play time and is virtually assured a middle-6 role.

The two issues are the pending return of Matthew Tkachuk (still TBD) and getting Tampa Bay in the first round, which is a brutal matchup. Regardless, Samoskevich has found his legs in the second half and if Florida makes another deep run, he will have to provide some offence. (apr17)

5. Dylan Cozens (Ottawa Senators)

We are set for our first Battle of Ontario in over 20 years and Cozens, acquired at the Deadline, should figure in heavily. Though he has just 13 points in 20 games since getting to Ottawa, six of those 13 points have come from the power play. His 6.86 points/60 minutes at 5-on-4 since the trade is in the 80^th percentile of regular PP forwards in the league, further bolstering is PP credentials in a Sens uniform.

That PP production is important for Ottawa’s matchup against Toronto. The Maple Leafs have had great goaltending for most of the season, but the penalty kill has been a big problem. Toronto sits 24^th by PP goals against per game, and 19^th by PP goals against per 60 minutes of 4-on-5 time, this season. Those rates are 26^th since the Four Nations break, so things have gotten even worse recently. If Ottawa is going to get past the Leafs, they need to exploit their penalty kill, and that would mean production from Cozens and co. (apr17)

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6. With the 2024-25 regular season now in the books, now is a great time to recap the statistical leaders in each relevant multicategory league statistical category. I usually dive into these categories in more detail during the offseason, but at least this is a good time to note whether any of these players were on your team (or on a team that faced you in the fantasy playoffs).

Goals: Leon Draisaitl (52)

This was the first time Draisaitl had ever won the Rocket Richard Trophy, which I found hard to believe for some reason. 2024-25 was the fourth season that Draisaitl has reached 50 goals.

Draisaitl was the only 50-goal scorer this season when there were four last season and five the season before. That could be one sign that scoring is on the decline as messages from coaches about team defense get louder. Barely reaching 50 goals, Draisaitl was also seven goals ahead of second-place William Nylander despite missing 11 games, which I believe sets a record for most games missed while winning the Rocket Richard.

Draisaitl’s shooting percentage is always high, and that was no different this season at 21.7%. Draisaitl also averaged 3.4 SOG/GP, which is the second-highest single-season total of his career. (apr19)

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7. And for even more top fantasy players this season, check out old friend Steve Laidlaw’s 2024-25 All-Fantasy Hockey Team. Steve breaks down his players by position. 

8. David Savard has announced that he will retire following the Canadiens’ playoff run. The 34-year-old defenseman is still a major shot blocker, leading the Habs with 180 blocked shots this season, which was also a top-10 total leaguewide. He hasn’t offered much scoring to fantasy teams in recent years, although he did so earlier in his career. (apr19)

9. Neal Pionk has signed a six-year, $42 million extension to remain in Winnipeg. Pionk was set to become a UFA after the season, so one potential UFA d-man has now come off the board. During his six seasons with the Jets, Pionk has been a remarkably consistent blueliner fantasy-wise, reaching at least 30 points every season. He finishes the season with 39 points in 69 games, having also reached at least 100 hits and 100 blocked shots for the third consecutive season.

The Pionk signing was announced just a day after the Jets also re-signed Alex Iafallo to a three-year, $11 million extension. Who said players don’t like to play in Winnipeg? Having a winning team certainly helps with that. (apr18)

10. According to Katie Strang of The Athletic, Artemi Panarin and Madison Square Garden Sports (which owns the Rangers) paid financial settlements to a Rangers staff member after she claimed that Panarin sexually assaulted her. This story may explain to some degree why the Rangers badly underachieved to some degree, although Panarin was named the team’s MVP this past season after leading the team with 88 points in 80 games.

Although there has been a settlement, this story very likely won’t go away. At the very least, questions will be asked during the Rangers’ season-ending press conference. Sexual assault is a very serious matter, as it has cost members of the 2018 World Junior team their NHL careers (at least at this point). Panarin’s contract with the Rangers expires after the 2025-26 season. (apr18)

11. Igor Shesterkin finished the season with 27 wins and slightly above average ratios (2.86 GAA, .904 SV%). That win total was expected to be significantly higher, but the Rangers were perhaps the league’s most disappointing team this season when comparing expectations to actual performance. Team play definitely affects goalie results in fantasy, as Shesterkin did not live up to his draft-day cost (ADP 17 in Yahoo).

Mika Zibanejad wrapped up his own disappointing season on a high note with 11 points in his last six games. When the Rangers seemed to bottom out in December, Zibanejad went eight games without a point. Now on the other side of 30, Zibanejad’s per-game production has fallen for two consecutive seasons. However, in the final game of the season, Zibanejad managed to reach 20 goals for the eighth consecutive season.

After posting 35 points in 40 games with the Canucks, J.T. Miller finished the season with 35 points in just 32 games as a Ranger. That’s a positive for next season if you have Miller stock. (apr18)

12. Jet Greaves was one of the hottest goalies to finish the season. All five of Greaves’ last five games resulted in wins and quality starts, and he had a sparkling 0.80 GAA and .975 SV% over those five games.

I’m not sure about a clear path to the NHL full-time for Greaves next season, however. For starters, the recent success is only a small sample size. As well, Elvis Merzlikins is under contract for two more seasons, while Daniil Tarasov is an arbitration-eligible RFA. In addition, Greaves is only 6-0, which is considered short for a goalie nowadays and may hinder his long-term ability to secure a permanent role (something I caught from the 32 Thoughts podcast). However, the Jackets deciding to either buy out the inconsistent Merzlikins or walk away from Tarasov in the offseason is not outside the realm of possibilities. (apr18)

13. In his first season with Buffalo, Ryan McLeod reached 20 goals and 53 points – both career highs. This level of offense certainly wasn’t expected of McLeod, who was brought in more to help the Sabres with their bottom 6. It’s easy to bash Buffalo, but they finished the season with five players that scored at least 20 goals: Thompson, Alex Tuch, JJ Peterka, Jason Zucker, and McLeod. Tuch, by the way, led all forwards this season with 113 blocked shots, which is also a single-season record. Combine that with Tuch ending the season tying his career high in goals with 36, and he had a pretty solid multicategory fantasy season. (apr18)

14. Mitch Marner finished the season with 102 points – the first 100-point season of his career. What’s next for Marner will be very interesting. First, Marner and the Leafs will attempt to overcome their prior playoff woes with a deep playoff run. After that, Marner will become a UFA. One could easily be tied to the other. If the Leafs fall short again, then letting Marner walk would be the easiest way to shake things up. On the other hand, the best playoff run of Marner’s career could perhaps price him out of the Leafs’ budget. (apr18)

15. Zayne Parekh, Aydar Suniev, Sam Morton, and Hunter Brzustewicz all made their NHL debuts for the Flames on Thursday night against the Kings. Parekh, Morton, and Ward all scored goals in their debuts in the Flames’ 5-1 win. Parekh led all debuting players with 20:31 in icetime, which was also second on the Flames.

Parekh, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft, is the debuting player of the most interest to fantasy teams. He followed up a 96-point season in the OHL with a 107-point season in five fewer games – as a defenseman. His offensive upside is second to none, although his defensive issues could mean that the fast track to NHL stardom won’t be that simple. Those issues likely cost him a spot on Canada’s World Junior roster. Still, Parekh is an important piece on keeper league rosters. (apr18)

For more on these prospects, see the Dobber Prospects page for the Flames. 

16. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that defenceman Kris Letang will undergo surgery to fix a hole in his heart which will carry a recovery timeline of at least a month. Given his history with this issue, it is always a bit nerve-wracking to see he’s still dealing with it, but that he’s getting it fixed is a good sign. Let’s hope he has a normal offseason. (apr17)

17. Connor Hellebuyck capped off his season with his 47^th win, stopping 30 of 31 shots. He is the first goalie with 47 wins since 2015-16 (Braden Holtby had 48) and just the fifth in NHL history. In fairness, the NHL had ties for most of its history so that skews recent seasons a bit more, but it shouldn’t take away from an all-time goaltending performance. (apr17)

18. Columbus’ scoring has been a pleasant surprise this season, and I know that Cliffy touched on this a week or so ago, but I do think that Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko, among some of their other scorers, can continue to be excellent fantasy assets. However, I am a little concerned about the value that Dmitry Voronkov will provide over the next few years. His production has been largely tied to Marchenko and Monahan this year, and more so than Marchenko, his scoring dropped while Monahan was out. He’s also the most likely of the three to get pushed down the lineup with young players or new incoming players needing more ice time. Maybe someone I would sell high on this summer, while also keeping an eye on his impending contract extension to provide a hint as to what kind of player they view him as for shaping their future lineup (i.e. a long-term deal worth $5 million or more shows they see him as a top-six player, but a two-year deal around $2.5 million might show that they see him more as a replaceable middle-six player. (apr16)

19. A friend of mine asked me why the Nashville Predators were terrible this year, and with an eye on next year, what to do with some of their players. First, with any analysis for fantasy players, we need to take a look at the numbers and the scenario to determine what the reasons are for any changes in production. The players who came in on free agent deals – Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei – all saw similar or better ice time, power play time, and offensive zone starts than their previous seasons. None of them saw a big change in IPP, or other individual luck metrics other than Stamkos’ secondary assist rate dropping and Marchessault’s shooting percentage finishing a few points low. In spite of that, all three finished with their worst season in multiple years (and in Stamkos’ case, his worst season since his rookie year in 2009.

The big thing for all three, was that overall the team was extremely unlucky, especially with them on the ice, to the point of scoring at about two-thirds of the rate of an average NHL team. The existing players – Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi, and others – didn’t see quite as drastic a drop in on-ice shooting percentage, but they were still lower than previous seasons, again without much of a change to any of their other numbers. 

What this tells me is that luck and team chemistry played the largest part in the drop, but overall, the players themselves should be able to rebound and take their usual deployment next year, jumping back to a more standard production once the bad luck is gone and replaced by some more familiarity. A great sign in that direction is that two-thirds of their current top-six group is running hot at the moment, and that’s without stalwart Josi in the lineup. This team could and should jump right back into playoff contention next year. Adding a top pick in the draft this year is going to be a huge bonus. 

20. The one mark that I am a little concerned about is Stamkos’ shot rate, which also dropped from his usual mark just over three per game, to only 2.1 per game with Nashville. As the Preds have Forsberg and Josi who are both heavy volume shooters, and then adding Marchessault on top of that (another frequent shooter) there wasn’t as much volume left over for Stamkos. If that holds (and I would expect it to) then Stamos’ rebound potential is capped, likely around the 75-point range instead of him getting back to being a point-per-game player. 

We’ll see what changes are made this offseason before trying to project how Luke Evangelista, Michael Bunting, and other young players will fit into the lineup. (apr16)

21. Last Monday night was the highly anticipated debut of Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov. It was not certain he’d make his way to the Canadiens following his KHL season but the contract situation was figured out and he was in the lineup as Montreal hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Demidov started the game on a line with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia, and started on the second power-play unit, though he was moved all around the lineup all game long.

It didn’t take Demidov long to make an impact as he assisted on an Alex Newhook goal just six minutes into the game and 7:32 later he scored a goal of his own. I watched this game from start to finish and Demidov was easily the most dangerous Candiens all night long. Not only did he not look out of place, he excelled. (apr15)

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Have a good week, folks!

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