For the last 22 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 23rd annual review will appear here on DobberHockey 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 we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Jack Roslovic, Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov, Scott Morrow, Jesper Fast, Riley Stillman, Ty Smith

Incoming – Nikolaj Ehlers, K'Andre Miller, Mike Reilly, Cayden Primeau

Impact of changes –

The Hurricanes are returning largely the same team, with a bolstered offence thanks to the signing of Ehlers as an upgrade on Roslovic, and a bit of a new look on defence thanks to the departure of veterans Orlov and Burns. The two defencemen will be replaced in part by new addition K'Andre Miller, and some internal development from Alexander Nikishin.

On paper, that should be an upgrade to both the offence and the defence, for a team that finished last season at exactly 10^th in the league in all three of goals for, goals against, and the overall standings. With those smaller but impactful changes in front of a hopefully healthy goalie duo of Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, the team should be able to build upon last season's results, and again finish inside the top-10 for all three of goals for, goals against, and in the overall standings.

Ready for Full Time –

After the growth of Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven (brought over in the Mikko Rantanen trade) reinforced the forward corps with some youth, there may not be much room in the coming season for Bradly Nadeau, who will be pushing for a full-time spot regardless. The former first-round pick scored 32 goals and 58 points in 64 AHL games last season, and there isn't much more he can prove on the offensive side of the puck. If he does make the Hurricanes, then he is immediately worth a late round pick in standard sized leagues as a possible rookie of the year candidate.

Alexander Nikishin was thrown into the fire last year making his NHL debut in the playoffs. He didn't look completely out of place, but there were still some moments where it was evident he was a younger player. That adjustment should be easier for Nikishin in the regular season, and he does have a great history with his offensive production in the KHL that can hopefully translate as well.

Keep in mind that these numbers are from the playoffs, but in his four games, Nikishin posted one point, three shots, six PIMs, 17 Hits(!), and two blocks. There is some real multi-category upside here as well.

Fantasy Outlook:

The Hurricanes are a team built on depth, who keeps coming at opponents in waves. Owning their players this year could be a positive because the team overall will be so solid, but there could also be ups and downs, as multiple top-six-level forwards are going to end up playing only third- and fourth-line minutes. The lack of forwards playing 20 minutes a night also likely limits the ultimate upside of some of the top players.

On defence, the improvements likely only mean good things for Shayne Gostisbehere, who looks set to continue running the top power play unit, that has only gotten more dangerous. The second power play defenceman will be a battle between Miller and Nikishin (perhaps with Reilly cycled in on occasion). Whoever can lock down that role would see some excellent overall value, as both can rack up Hits and other peripheral stats as well.

In net, the health of Andersen will really dictate how the season goes. A healthy year would mean a 50/50 split with him and Kochetkov, where both are worthy of being owned in fantasy leagues as they could each top 25 wins despite the smaller volume of starts. Keep in mind that Carolina does really limit shots against, so the save percentages for their goalies are sometimes much lower relative to their GAA than you will get with goalies of similar talent from other teams.

Grade – B+ (last year was B)