For the last 22 years (13 with The Hockey News) Dobber has 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 I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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For full team breakdowns, projections, category-specific options, and a whole lot more, pick up a copy of the 2025-26 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide today! It will be updated all through the offseason and training camps, and is available now in the Dobber Shop.

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Gone: Nick Bjugstad, Josh Doan, Matias Maccelli, Michael Kesselring

Incoming: JJ Peterka, Brandon Tanev, Nate Schmidt, Scott Perunovich, Vitek Vanecek

Impact of Changes: The big shake-up in Utah was trading Doan and Kesselring to Buffalo for Peterka. Peterka has had a steady rise in the NHL by increasing his points per game, overall points per 60 minutes, and even-strength points per 60 minutes in each of his three seasons, topping out with 27 goals and 68 points in 2024-25.

Despite having a right-wing designation on many sites, Peterka is a left-hand shot who primarily played the left side in Buffalo, most often opposite Jack Quinn or Alex Tuch. If Peterka remains on the left side in Utah, he'll be on the second line behind Clayton Keller. In 2024-25, Keller was the only Utah forward to exceed 15 minutes a game at even strength; Peterka skated 15:16 in Buffalo (per Frozen Tools). In other words, Peterka could be in for a slight decline in even-strength ice time. On a positive note, he is a genuine dual threat forward who can both score and make plays for his teammates, which is something that can elevate the scoring of the entire second line. The change in teams isn't necessarily a fantasy boost for Peterka, but it is a boost for Utah's secondary scoring options like Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton.

Losing Bjugstad, Doan, and Maccelli but only bringing in Peterka and Tanev opens a full-time roster spot for someone like Michael Carcone or Liam O'Brien. Over the last three seasons, O'Brien has played 159 games in which he's racked up 317 penalty minutes and 532 hits. Over a full 82-game season, that works out to 164 PIMs and 274 hits. He is very unlikely to play 80-plus games, but he'll have waiver wire value in banger formats if he can manage 50-60 appearances (he played 75 games in 2023-24).

Adding Vanecek in net is a move made in case Connor Ingram is unable to play a full schedule. Ingram was cleared by the Player Assistance Program a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully he is able to be a full-time member of the roster, but there is genuine competition for the backup role to Karel Vejmelka.

Ready For Full Time: None

As things stand, Utah has 13 forwards signed to an NHL contract (per PuckPedia), and the only player who can be sent to the AHL without waivers is Logan Cooley, who is not going to the AHL. Prospects like Tij Iginla and Daniil But could blow the doors off in training camp and force the hand of the coaching staff, but they will need to take a roster spot from a signed veteran, and that's never easy. But is more likely for a mid-season call-up after starting in the AHL, and both are better options for 2026-27 once some veteran contracts expire.

The same can be said for the defensive trio of Artem Duda, Dmitri Simashev, and Maveric Lamoureux. Utah's blue line has seven defencemen signed for the season and all require waivers to be demoted. For any of those prospects to crack the roster, they need a significant injury to a lineup regular, or they need to make an undeniable impact in training camp. Lamoureux looked good in his 15-game stint before being injured last season, but without an injury to a veteran, he and the others are more likely to be called up during the season than on the roster for Game 1 to the end of the year.

Fantasy Outlook: There is a lot of fantasy goodness in Utah. Keller has averaged 34 goals and 52 assists per 82 games over the last three seasons, Cooley had a break out with 25 goals and 40 assists in his age-20 season, Dylan Guenther had a break out of his own with 27 goals and 33 assists in 70 games, Peterka is coming off his big year in Buffalo,  Schmaltz has had four straight seasons with an 82-game pace of 20 goals and 40 assists, and Mikhail Sergachev had 15 goals, 53 points, and over 200 combined hits and blocks in his first year with the Mammoth. There is no upper-echelon superstar in the Nathan MacKinnon/Kirill Kaprizov tier, but there are several high-end options available.

Vejmelka signed a long-term extension after the season and with Ingram's downturn last year, Vejmelka looks like a true starting option for the Mammoth, but there should be caution exercised. Vejmelka himself was not great to start his career, posting a sub-.900 save percentage in each of his first three seasons, and was among the bottom-third of regular goalies in that span. Ingram, meanwhile, posted a .907 save percentage in each of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons (74 total starts) before a poor 2024-25 campaign. One good year does not make a goalie's career, so even if Vejmelka has the starter's job to begin the season, a bad month could see him cede starts to Ingram, especially if Ingram reverts back to the goalie he was before the 2024-25 campaign.  

If the youngsters in Cooley, Guenther, and Peterka take another step in their development, Utah could very well have three 30-goal scorers, a couple point-per-game forwards, a handful of 60-point attackers, and a 60-point defenceman in Sergachev. There is not a top-25 fantasy pick on the roster, but there are between four and six top-125 picks.  

Fantasy Grade: B+ (last year was B)

*For the rest of the Offseason Fantasy Grades series, just click here.