Welcome back to another edition of the Roos Lets Loose monthly mailbag, where I answer your fantasy hockey questions by giving advice that should be useful to all poolies even if they don't own the specific players being discussed. As a reminder, if you want your fantasy hockey question(s) answered in the next mailbag, check out the end of the column, where I explain the ways to get it/them to me as well as the details you should provide when sending. The earlier you send a question the more likely it is to be included in the mailbag, and the deeper dive I can provide with my reply.

Question #1 (from Jamie)

I’m in a cap dynasty keeper league. I'm frequently a top team and should have a competitive squad going into this season as well. Scoring is H2H, with 10 skater categories and 5 goalie categories. My goalies are Jake Oettinger and Dustin Wolf. Once Marco Rossi signs, I'll be tight against the cap. My big free agents next year are Lane Hutson, Wolf, Logan Stankoven and Jake Walman. Should I consider moving Oettinger? I might be able to get a goalie like UPL, plus a future 1st, in return.

You may feel moving Oettinger in a true dynasty is worth considering, especially given you have Wolf, who seems like he's shaping up to be a very good goalie. However, Oettinger is a truly rare breed in fantasy these days, namely a netminder who's locked into a #1 role and will give you top-tier stats due to his talent and the team in front of him. In short, you find a way to make your cap work with Otter, not deal him to obviate cap headaches.

How good is Oettinger? Since becoming a starter in 2021-22, he's third in cumulative wins despite only being seventh in games started. Among the 24 goalies who started at least 150 games during these four seasons, his .912 SV% stands 7th and his 2.55 GAA 5th. Perhaps most importantly, he's not up and down, as his GAA has ranged from 2.35 to 2.72 and his SV% from 0.905 to 0.919. He's also never had under 50% Quality Starts. Care to guess the other goalies in the last 50 years who, like Otter, had 30+ wins, a .905+ SV%, a 2.72% or less GAA, and 51% or higher QS% in four seasons by age 26? Try Martin Brodeur, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Henrik Lundqvist. Just two who are already in the Hockey Hall of Fame and two who will be. If that wasn't enough, the Stars, as noted above, are poised to be an elite NHL team for the foreseeable future.

I realize in a dynasty you must think about the future, and there are likely lots of players owned. But Oettinger is a keep pure and simple, whereas Stankoven and Walman you can do without. Walman may have seen his scoring rate increase every season of his career and produced at a 50-point pace for the 2024-25 campaign, but 26 of his 40 points came in his first 32 games, meaning he had 14 in his last 33. He has also played for four teams in as many seasons, plus, upon landing in Edmonton, who gave up a good amount to get him, fared poorly and the team deemphasized him. As for Stankoven, his situation reminds me of that of Matty Beniers, where he made a huge mark in an abbreviated first season, and from that many expect major success to occur, and soon. But he is undersized, meaning he might not hit his full stride for a while, plus, he plays on Carolina, which has no shortage of wingers who make as much or more in salary and for the most part also have more NHL experience. On the plus side, even if, as I'd expect, Stankoven lands in the middle-six with PP2 time at best this season and perhaps beyond, for a team like Carolina, with its very balanced approach, that should mean a floor of 45-50 points. Due to his name value, and playing for Carolina, he seems like the perfect player to trade.

In short, do not trade Oettinger. Or if you even contemplate doing so, get more in return than UPL plus a first rounder, as UPL had a very poor 2024-25, and at best might become a Jordan Binnington type but at worst could be a placeholder until Devon Levi is ready for prime time. Good luck!

Question #2 (from Justin)

I'm in a 14 team, points only keeper. Which of these three would you say is the best to keep: Trevor Zegras, Andrei Kuzmenko, or Marco Kasper?

Before giving my answer, I'll again remind those submitting questions to provide as much information as possible. Here, for example, knowing this team's other keepers, if they figure to contend or are in more of a rebuild, as well as league rosters and starting lineups, plus if positions matter, and also positional eligibility all would've helped me provide a better answer. I'll still reply; but do see this as an example where a submitter would have helped me – and them – by providing more information/context.

For Zegras, I'll trot out again the player comparable I've cited many times when discussing him, which is the list of centers who, dating to 2000-21, had 20+ goals, 60+ points, and 180+ SOG at least twice by age 21, which, in addition to Zegras, consists of just Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Evgeni Malkin, Anze Kopitar, Auston Matthews, Patrice Bergeron, John Tavares, Sean Monahan, Jonathan Toews, and now also Connor Bedard. Even if Zegras only rises to the level of Toews or Monahan, that still means at least one point-per-game season and several more with solid numbers. Also, the thing to keep in mind is Zegras has cumulatively missed nearly a season's worth of games in the past two campaigns. When he finally had a stretch of over 30 games played, he hit his stride, finishing 2024-25 with 15 points in 20 games. I realize that's barely a 60-point scoring pace, but it's a step in the right direction. And it occurred with him not being a PP1 fixture and with lower TOI than his two successful seasons. He also is coming to a Flyers team with no shortage of talented wingers, but only the aging Sean Couturier as a top-six center. In short, I like Zegras due to his past, him showing signs of getting back on track at the end of 2024-25, and the opportunity he stands to get in Philly.

Kuzmenko saw his scoring and SOG rates drop for the third straight season, and LA marks the fifth club he's been on during those three campaigns. He's shown flashes of top tier skill, but also played so poorly as to have been a frequent healthy scratch. One could look at his 17 points in his last 15 games to end 2024-25 and think he might have finally gotten his head screwed on straight, were it not for the fact he ended 2023-24 with 17 points in his last 11 contests, only to once again falter as a whole the following season. He technically is right at his 200-game breakout threshold; however, whether that benchmark applies for a player set to turn 30 this season is debatable. There is no universe where I'd keep him over Zegras in a points-only league. The risk/reward cannot justify it.

Like Zegras, Kasper was an early draft pick, albeit with less surrounding hype and not as fast of a track to full time NHLer. Still, Kasper not only made the Wings after a just so-so first AHL season, but stuck with them despite starting 2024-25 with four points in 18 games. And by the end of the season, they looked quite smart for having had faith in him, as he finished with 14 points in his last 18 games. Also, despite only 37 total points, Kasper had nine games with two or more points. Now on the one hand this meant he had far more games than it would otherwise appear with zero points, that total of multipoint contests shows he has big game talent. Remarkably, however, Kuzmenko had the same number of multipoint games and total points. Of course, Kuzmenko has his checkered past, and is almost a decade older than Kasper; so in Kasper's case, it could portend him being a high scoring winger once he becomes more consistent. What also was good to see for Kasper is he was seemingly locked into the top six by the end of the season, skating mainly with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. But he has no viable path to PP1, at least not yet. Plus, his multicat prowess is not relevant for purposes of this league. Although I think Kasper has good to even very good long term potential, I'm still going with Zegras due to his past results and him stepping into what looks like the perfect spot for him to rebound. Good luck!

Question #3 (from Cedric)

I'm in a points only league where you can keep 8 players and get to spend up to 125% of the actual NHL salary cap on your entire roster. You can draft as many additional players as you want, so long as you are cap-compliant; and for stats purposes, only your best 10F, 4D, and 1G count.

I am very much hoping to be at or near the top of the standings this season. Given that, which one of these 9 players would you say should not make the cut as one of my 8 keepers: Nathan MacKinnon, Kirill Kaprizov, Sidney Crosby, Artemi Panarin, Brayden Point, Martin Necas, J.T. Miller, Dougie Hamilton, Connor Hellebuyck. My gut tells me it's Hamilton, Necas or Miller. If I cut Hamilton, my offense and goalies would be very good, but I'd walking into the draft without a single defenseman. If, on the other hand, I cut Necas or Miller, I don't think I can find offensive talent of their caliber in the draft, plus Necas has – for now – a lowish cap hit. What would you do?

In reading your list, those are indeed the three names that likely should be in contention. I happen to think that Brayden Point is not as great as he's made out to be, and him having scored 42+ goals in each of the past three seasons is not of added benefit to you in a points-only format, plus his scoring rate has fallen in each of the past three seasons. He also makes $9.5M, versus only $8M for Miller. One option is to dangle each of them in trade, plus perhaps Hamilton, for an upgraded defenseman. Then you keep whichever of Miller or Point is not traded, plus the defenseman you get in return.

If that is not viable, then the other option is to just drop Hamilton. The fact that only four defensemen count makes them somewhat important, and fewer will be great in points only, with Hamilton one of maybe a dozen, at most who, when healthy, can produce at a 60+ point rate. But he has to stay healthy, which has become difficult of late. He also seems to have eased off the gas pedal, perhaps complacent to earn $9.0M per season, which is a lot. Luke Hughes also looms, and Hamilton might even get traded if, as rumored, Quinn Hughes is dealt to New Jersey. If Hamilton is traded, it might breathe life into him, as it did soon after he arrived in Calgary and New Jersey. But those are a lot of ifs, and more than exist for either Miller or Point, who seem like safer bets for similar cap hits. Despite the fact d-men like Hamilton don't grow on trees, given his health issues, salary, and age, not to mention Luke Hughes, I think Hamilton is the drop if you do not trade him plus one of Point or Miller. Good luck!

Question #4 (from Simon)

I'm in a 10 team keeper with 23 players rostered (3C, 3WL, 3RW, 4D, 2G, 1 Util, plus 7 bench) per team. The H2H skater categories are G, A, P, +-, PPP, GWG, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK. If we want, we can keep all of our 23 players and skip the draft, although no team can keep more than four goalies. If we keep only 22 players, we get a first round pick, and if we keep only 21, we get picks in rounds 1 and 2, and so on. Most years the draft is no longer than 2-4 rounds, meaning all teams keep at least 19 players.

I finished last season with more than 23 players due to IR and now need to make cuts. Most of my keepers seem obvious, but I’m struggling with the last couple. I’ll need to drop at least 3 to get to 23. My potential keepers are: Jack Hughes, Roope Hintz, Mitch Marner, Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas, Joel Eriksson Ek, Tomas Hertl, Jordan Kyrou, Wyatt Johnston, Quinton Byfield, Leo Carlsson, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, Kent Johnson, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Jared McCann, Adam Fox, Rasmus Dahlin, Moritz Seider, Luke Hughes, Jake Sanderson, Igor Shesterkin, Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin, and Dustin Wolf. I’m stuck between keeping 2 (or just 1 or even zero) of Tippett, Johnson, Giroux, Pinto and McCann. I’m leaning toward keeping Johnson and one of Pinto or Giroux, and thus dropping McCann, Tippett and the other of Giroux and Pinto, then not drafting. What's your assessment?

With up to 230 players being kept, I can see why many teams would opt to keep most, if not all, of their players, since the pool of unowned talent is likely to be pretty shallow. Other than promising rookies or players who somehow had major value jumps in the offseason, it likely makes sense to hold onto who you have. That all having been said, you do have to drop at least three players given that as it stands you have 26. And I agree, it comes down to Johnson, McCann, Tippett, Giroux, and Pinto.

The first question is whether it makes sense to drop more than three players, and allow yourself to draft. You'd need to look at your league's prior draft results to assess whether all five of these players offer more value than what could be obtained in round 1 (if you drop four of the five) and round 2 (if you drop all five). From where I sit, and without all pertinent information, I think you just drop three, keeping two and not drafting. But who to drop?

Pinto is an easy drop. If Josh Norris had been moved and the Sens did not get a center in return, Pinto would hold a lure. But Dylan Cozens looks to be a lock to remain the second line center, leaving Pinto with third line minutes and PP scraps. Cozens and Tim Stutzle not only block Pinto's path to the top six, but are young as well, meaning it could be like this for a long time. Tippett had a major let down season. And although he's one campaign removed from having averaged the fourth most SOG per 60 minutes of any forward in the entire NHL, and is paid well enough to likely at least start him in the top six, PP1 minutes might be a tall order, plus the talent pool at wing in Philly is deeper than it was when he inked his deal. I see him as a drop too. Giroux might be intriguing if he has winger eligibility and due to him still getting 18 PPPts despite being on PP2. But I fear he is due for a decline, and he's paid so little as to not prevent being deemphasized.

Johnson and McCann are the keeps. Johnson is weak in multicat, plus there's a glut of forwards in Columbus. But he's a former top five pick who had 57 points in 68 games and was a top six forward and PP1 mainstay, with neither of those spots in jeopardy and him likely to only get better. McCann's scoring rate slid each of the past two seasons; but his TOI rose in both and he finished with a scoring rate above 60 this past season, which is saying something given that just four Kraken forwards in total over the past three seasons averaged even 18:00 per game and two forward units see almost equal shares of PP time. But there'll be a new coach in Seattle this season, and, with that, the most talented players –which McCann is one – likely will see ice time upgrades overall and on the PP. I see no universe where McCann fails to score at a 60+ rate, and more likely he rises back to 70+, with a nice combination of goals and assists. Keep them, and don't draft. Good luck!

Question #5 (from Michael)

I'm in an 11 team, keep 9 auction draft style league, where each team has a $260 budget for drafting, minus keeper values, which are $3 beyond last year's price for $1-9 players, $4 beyond last year's price for $10-19 players, and $5 beyond last year's price for $20+ players. There is a maximum games per position rule where C, LW, and RW sots get 258 total games for each spot, but defensemen get 340 games for each spot. Goalies get 150 games per each spot, plus there is a Utility slot that is capped at only 86 total games. Teams can only roster a maximum of 3 goalies at a time unless one is on IR. Each team also gets 5 bench and 2 IR spots. Total roster size with bench spots is 20 skaters and 3 goalies. Categories and scoring are G (3) A (2) PIMs/Defense Pts (0.5each) PPG/PPA//SHA/GWG (1 each) SHG (2) Hat Tricks (3) SOG/HIT/BLK (0.25 each), W (5) GA (-.75) SV (.15) SO (4) OTL (2).

I finished second two years ago, and won this past season. I'd like to remain competitive while not sacrificing my future. Here is my current roster, with positions plus values to retain them next year.

Kent Johnston (C), Will Smith (C), Logan Stankoven (C), Frank Nazar (C), Lukas Dostal (G) – $4 each

Matt Duchene (C), Darcy Kuemper (G) – $6 each

Gabe Vilardi (C, RW), Joey Daccord (6) – $7 each

Vincent Trocheck (C) – $8

Shea Theodore (D) – $11

Evan Bouchard (D), Tage Thompson (C) – $14 each

Alex Pietrangelo (D), Nicolaj Ehlers (LW, RW) – $15 each

Mike Matheson (D) – $16

Nick Suzuki (C) – $19

Alex Tuch (RW) – $22

Miro Heiskanen (D) – $25

Brady Tkachuk (LW) – $27

Kevin Fiala (LW) – $31

Artemi Panarin (LW), Mikko Rantanen (RW) – $35 each

I went Zero G last year but am planning to keep Dostal, and wonder if I keep Daccord either instead of or perhaps in addition to Dostal? I was optimistic about Kuemper but far less so after LA's offseason blueliner turnover. As I see it, I have seven locks in Dostal, Theodore, Bouchard, Thompson, Tkachuk, Panarin, and Rantanen, leaving me two spots. I'm having a hard time throwing Vilardi, Johnson, Ehlers, Smith, Tuch and Suzuki back into the pool….. but I can't seem to justify dropping any of my other keepers. So currently I've got 7 guys vying for my final 2 keeper spots. What do you recommend?

First off, Suzuki is a must keep. His scoring rate has increased every season, plus Montreal is poised to be much better and he's a true #1 center. I think he hits 100 points this season or next, and thus is a must keep at that price. I'm also unsure why you're not considering Trocheck. He's aging, and also due for another subpar season based on his pattern of great season followed by two disappointing ones; but he still should be in the top six and on PP1, plus shoots and hits. For only $8, he seems well worth it.

As for goalies, if Daccord was available for $3 last season, maybe he goes for more this time, but if so then likely not much more, as although he started more games his stats got worse. Dostal, despite now the unquestioned #1 in Anaheim, is kind of comparable to where Daccord was last season. Or to put it another way, their cost to draft could be roughly similar to their cost to keep. And usually if that's the case it does not make sense to keep a player, plus you found success with Zero G, meaning you can likely do fine without them.

But is there a better keeper than Dostal? Smith was connecting the dots by the time the season was ending, with 30 points in his last 33 games and eight of his 12 PPPts in his last 24 contests, although he is quite lousy in banger stats, much like Johnson, who also fared well. I do not see Stankoven being in the conversation, as he has too many impediments to being impactful, and even if he was learned on, Carolina has a balanced approach such that he'd not be a keep for me if Johnson and Smith are options.

As for Panarin and Rantanen, those are tough calls. Rantanen was amazing for the Stars, but his ice time was not what Stars players normally got, although they have a new coach who may lean on his top players more. Still, with so much top tier talent in Dallas, I'm afraid Rantanen will have a tough time tallying more than 90 points, which would not be enough for a $35 cost. Panarin is a UFA to be, so he will have added motivation to succeed, although he is lousy in banger categories too.

Ehlers seemingly has escaped his poor deployment in Winnipeg, but he too might not thrive in Carolina due to their ice time philosophy. Although past results do not dictate future outcomes, and Martin Necas was thriving before being dealt last season, it has been almost two decades since a Canes winger had a point per game full season. On the other side of the coin, Vilardi is on the top line and top PP in Winnipeg. He seems like a bargain at that price, especially versus many of your other options.

If I were in your shoes, I'd keep Smith, Vilardi, Trocheck, Theodore, Bouchard, Thompson, Suzuki, and Tkachuk. That leaves one more spot. With all the savings, it could be Panarin or Rantanen. Of course, you could just let them go and redraft them, since this is an auction league. If so, I think Panarin might be the bigger draft bargain given what Rantanen did in the playoffs. I'd retain Johnson, then plan to draft Panarin again. Or if you really want to keep a goalie, go with Dostal over Johnson. Good luck!

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As noted in the title of the column, this is part 2 of my mailbag, and I've received enough questions for there to be a part 3. But I certainly can answer a couple more in part 3 beyond what I have. To get your questions to me you can: (1) email them to [email protected] with the words "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line, or (2) send them to me via a private message on the DobberHockey Forums, where my username is "rizzeedizzee".

When sending me your questions, remember to provide as much detail about your league/situation as possible. Examples of things I need to know include what type of league you're in (i.e., limited keeper, dynasty, or one-year; roto vs. H2H; auction – if so, what the budget is – or non-auction), how many teams are in the league, does the salary cap matter, how many players are rostered (and of those, how many start at each position as well as how many bench and/or IR spots there are), what categories are scored and how are they weighted, plus other details if pertinent. If your question involves whether to pick up or drop a player, give me a list of top free agents available and let me know if the number of pick-ups is limited or if there is a priority system for pick-ups. If you're thinking of making a trade, it would be good to know not only the roster of the other team you might trade with but also where you stand in your categories. If your question involves keepers, in addition to giving me the options for who to keep, let me know if offseason trading is allowed and to what extent it is a viable option given your league. In sum, the key is to tell me enough for me to give you a truly proper answer, and for readers of this column to benefit from the answer/advice I provide. When in doubt, it's best to err on the side of inclusion since I can always omit or disregard things that don't matter.