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 the dive I can provide with my reply.

Question #1 (from Steven)

I’m in a 13 team, salary cap keeper. Rosters are 23 players, with 9F, 6D, 1G and daily changes, but no team can have more than 82×16 games played for the season, although that would mean one player at each position every day. And you'd be surprised how many teams fall well below the max. The cap is set at the NHL cap (total salary, not AAV) plus 10%, and thus us projected to be $105.05M . We can keep up to 13 players each year at any combination of positions. We also have 10 free agent moves we can make each year; so between drafting 13 players and the 10 free agent moves there is room to improve one's team. Categories and scoring are G(3), A(2), +/-(1), PIM(0.2), SOG(0.1), SHG(1), W(4), L(-2), GA(-1.5), SV(0.2), SHO(5).

I have pretty much determined my 12 of 13 keepers, leaving one decision remaining. The 12, along with their 2024-25 salaries for this league are as follows.

F – Shane Wright ($0.855M), Marco Kasper ($0.855M), Barrett Hayton ($2.65M), Jordan Kyrou ($10.5M), Seth Jarvis ($10.95M), Wyatt Johnston ($8.4M), Dylan Strome ($4.5M), Logan Stankoven ($0.81M), Ryan Leonard ($0.95M)

D – Quinn Hughes ($10.25M), Noah Dobson ($12.0M)

G – Anthony Stolarz ($2.25M)

Viable choices for my 12th keeper are Roman Josi ($8M), Stuart Skinner ($3M), Jared McCann ($4.25M), Jonathan Drouin ($4M), Alex Laferriere ($3.5M), and Nicolaj Ehlers ($10M). With the type of roster construction stated above, D and G are always at a premium. McCann has sneaky value at that salary. I threw Ehlers into this conversation for fun but likely at that salary, and in view of Carolina’s forward deployment, he's probably not a realistic option. In my view, its likely between Josi (expensive, health issues, and coming off a down year) and Skinner (inconsistent but plays behind McDavid and Draisaitl so the potential for a monster season is there). Who would you keep?

Looking at the 12 you've decided upon keeping, Dobson sticks out, and not in a good way. I get that he's in a better situation team-wise; but unless Lane Hutson implodes I think that is quite a lot to spend on a defenseman who might struggle to top 50 points. I'd swap in Josi for him. I realize Josi is a decade older and I've pointed out that even though he hit the point per game mark not once but twice from the age of 30 to 34, the other four defensemen in NHL history to also do so, namely Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, and Larry Murphy, all went downhill not soon after, and none bounced back once they faded. Still, for $4M less, I'm tossing back Dobson for Josi, and hoping for the best since Josi will remain the unquestioned source of blueline offense for Nashville until he shows he can no longer be.

Now there is one less player from whom to choose when it comes to the 13th keeper, who I feel is a slam dunk in McCann. I realize his scoring rate has slipped each of the past two seasons, but he still shoots a lot and his TOI was pretty good given how stingy the Kraken were in that area. With a new coach, plus McCann having scored 40 goals as recently as 2022-23, he's an easy keep for me as his price.

What about Skinner? I'm leery. Not only could Edmonton convince itself to give Carter Hart a try, but maybe they pull off a huge trade to land a top tier goalie, the latter in an attempt to persuade Connor McDavid not to leave as a UFA after the season? Also, Skinner is not a good goalie in this format. His SV% was under .900, which might be okay if he faced a lot of shots, but the Oilers only gave up 26.8 per game last season, ninth fewest in the NHL. At 0.2 point per save, he had an average of 4.8 points from saves. But he also had a 2.81 GAA, meaning -4.2 points there. He had only six more wins than losses, although he did have three shutouts. In short, I'm not sure he's that good in this format despite playing for the Oilers. In fact, if for whatever reason you didn't want to keep Josi, but bought into my reasoning on why Dobson ought not to be kept, I might even advocate for Drouin as the 13th keeper. The Islanders are weak enough offensively that he's bound to get superb deployment. Yes, he won't have anywhere near the surrounding talent on Long Island that he did in Colorado, but I could see a universe where he gets 60+ points, which, for $4M, is not bad. I still like Josi more though; or to put it another way, I like him as the lesser of all evils, ahead of Dobson, Skinner and Drouin. Good luck!

Question #2 (from Randy)

I’m in a 14 team league, with rosters of 19, and weekly starts of 9F, 3D, 2G. Scoring is one point for a goal or assist, plus an extra half point for a SHP or PPPt, and defensemen also get a tenth of a point for each BLK or HIT. Goalie scoring is 2 points for win, 1 point for OTL, 2 added points for shutout, and 0.1 point per save. We can keep up to six players, with no limit on how many years they can be kept, except that at no point can a team keep more than one goalie or more than two defensemen.

My projected keepers are Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes, and Ilya Sorokin, so I need to land on two more, the choices being Tage Thompson, J.T. Miller, and Moritz Seider. I'm leaning toward Seider and Thompson mainly due to age and Miller not getting credit for his ample HIT. But I also have a chance to trade all three for Robert Thomas and Miro Heiskanen, solving my keeper issue in the process. Would you take the deal? If not, which two of the three would you keep?

Let's start with the trade offer. I like Thomas better than all three of your choices, but I'm guessing you would expect that, given the offer on the table. The problem is Heiskanen. 

Yes, he already has a 73 point season to his credit, and those who also did so both by age 23 and their fifth season since 2000-01 consist of only Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin, Adam Fox, Erik Karlsson and Mike Green, all of whom were not "one hit wonders." Still, I think Heiskanen is less like them, and more like the new version of Drew Doughty or Duncan Keith, namely a "top dog" for his team but not normally a huge point producer.

For one, Heiskanen could realistically lose the PP1 gig, as he's gone from having cumulatively the eighth most PPPts among all defensemen in 2021-22 and 2022-23 despite only ranking 23rd in cumulative PPTOI, to since then ranking 17th in cumulative PPTOI yet only 23rd in PPPts. This can be explained by Heiskanen's PP IPP cratering, as after it was 64.7% and 66.7% in those two outstanding years, it shrank to 53.8% in 2023-24 and then last season to 41.2%.

Also, Heiskanen's OZ% has been trending down, from 60.6% in his 73 point season, to 58.9% to 56.5%. As this has occurred, his overall IPP has fallen twice as well, dropping by half from 2022-23 to 2024-25, while his percentage of secondary assists has risen, with a staggering 15 of his mere 20 assists last season being secondary. There is also the fact that when Heiskanen was sidelined in the second half, Thomas Harley stepped in and thrived, both at ES and on the PP.

Is Thomas "more better" than the other three to justify having to take on Heiskanen, who does not even contribute well in HIT and BLK? I'd say no, as I'd rather have Thompson and Miller. Seider has such allure, but he really does not seem to be living up to lofty offensive expectations, and that's after he finally got to run PP1, where he did quite well. The issue is his 24 PPPts were more than his 22 that he had not on the PP. His overall IPP has remained steady at 40%, which is not going to cut it in a league where scoring is so key, and does not bode well for him to be much more than what he is now. As for Miller, once he got acclimated in New York he did quite well, and he will get great deployment there.

Thompson is an unquestioned top line center on a team with a lot of wings. Yes, the Sabres are not connecting the dots of late; however, Thompson still nearly hit the point-per-game mark despite having only 16 PPPts, which has only one way to go and that's up. It's unfortunate to not get Thomas, who is poised to be a 100-point player if his 45 points in his last 30 games last season were any indication. But in my view – and others will differ, as indicated by spirited debates that occurred in the DobberHockey Forums- he’s not quite good enough to compensate for Heiskanen's ample question marks.

One option though is to make the trade and then turn around and trade Heiskanen to someone else with another player you plan not to keep. But that has a lot of moving parts, so probably best to just not do the deal and plan to keep Tage and Miller. Good luck!

Question #3 (from Bill)

I’m in – and have won three straight seasons – a 12 team keeper having weekly line-ups of 12F, 7D, 3G but with no bench and only three pick-ups per season. We can keep between 7 (the minimum) and 12 (the maximum) players, with the only other factor being that no team can keep more than 2 goalies. Some teams keep fewer than 12, if they think they can get better players at the draft. Categories are G, A. SOG, +/-, PIM, SHP, BLK, HIT, W, SV%, SO.

My keeper options are Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Tage Thompson, Travis Konecny, Wyatt Johnston, Adrian Kempe, Alex Tuch, Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Kiefer Sherwood, Mason McTavish, Valeri Nichushkin, Cale Makar, Jacob Trouba, Dougie Hamilton, Rasmus Dahlin, Jake Middleton, Jake McCabe, Alexander Romanov, Igor Shesterkin, Joseph Woll, MacKenzie Blackwood. My locked players are Marner, Kempe, Konecny, Tuch, Johnston, Thompson, Tavares, Makar, Dahlin, Shesterkin and Blackwood. Defense is hard to get, so I’m learning towards keeping Hamilton for my last spot. Do you agree with my sure things, and, if so, with Hamilton as the 12th keeper?

Before getting to the keepers, I'm astonished that you were able to get the likes of Sherwood, Trouba, Middleton, McCabe and Romanov all on your roster. Given that PPPts don't count, I'd think other GMs would've gravitated toward those d-men in a banger league. I was all set to say that you ought to be prepared to not be able to get that caliber of players again; however, you indicated that you've won the league the past three seasons. What that suggests, to be blunt, is you're playing chess while the rest of your league is playing checkers. Normally in cases like that, I trust the opinion of the proven winner. Still, let's see if I think you might want to reconsider any keepers, or, as noted, keep fewer than 12.

Your non-keeps would be Nelson, Horvat, Sherwood, McTavish, Nichushkin, Trouba, Middleton, McCabe, Romanov, and Woll. That means you're not protecting any banger guys, unless you do so in lieu of Hamilton as your 12th keeper. But I'd also consider whether to keep Tuch. I realize he's playing for a UFA deal and is solid in banger categories; but he's not going to get you nine SHP again, as he had two in his entire career before 2024-25, and his big scoring season seems more and more like an outlier.

I believe you have four plausible scenarios. You can (1) not keep Tuch or Hamilton, and go with ten keepers, or (2) keep one but not both, and go with 11 keepers, or (3) keep one but not both and swap in one of the non-kept players, or (4) keep neither and swap in two of the non-kept players.

Here is where I'm going to defer to you as a three time champ and figure that if you think none of the banger guys merit keeping, then I won't suggest you keep them. Of course that might have been with the assumption you'd be keeping Tuch, who, based on 2024-25 stats, would represent by far your "best" banger forward keeper. But does he merit keeping?

Looking at the other options, I think that Horvat should fare much better, as although he's never been very good on the PP, as indicated by him having received the 38th most PP minutes of any forward from 2021-22 through 2023-24, but only tying for the 61st most PPPts, last season he had a measly seven PPPts despite still being a PP1 staple, with not only a career low in PP IPP, but a six year low in secondary assist rate. Still he nearly managed a 60-point scoring pace for the lowly Isles. But why keep him when others will value him too low, making him a likely draft bargain? McTavish also is someone I see as being poised to do a lot better, not only because he's now a true first line center but also due to him having ended 2024-25 with 34 points in his last 39 games and a much better SOG rate. That is well disguised by his season-long totals. Although MacTavish might not be the bargain Horvat figures to be, I'm not sure he bumps one of your keepers, although were it not for Tuch's banger stats I'd say keep him over Tuch. Nelson is also one to ponder, as he seems ticketed for PP1 plus will have a much better supporting cast even on the second line. But this is not the same Avs team which saw Nazem Kadri go nuts as a #2 center. I'm not keeping Nelson, nor am I drafting him, as I see him being overvalued.

After looking under the hood, it appears if you ought to keep Tuch, as there are seemingly not any better options. As for Hamilton, I think either him or a banger D-man is kept versus the option of not keeping 12. I do have concerns about Hamilton having started to coast; however, if he does get moved, which seems plausible, he tends to do well in new territory. I think he is worth a gamble, as I do feel banger guys, as shown by your 2024-25 squad, can be had without needing to keep them. Good luck!

Question #4 (from Austin)

I'm in 15 team, keep 10, roto league with rosters consisting of 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 4D, 2UTIL, 2G, 7Bench, 5IR+, 1NA and categories being G, A, +/-, PIM, PPPt, SOG, GWG, FW, HIT, BLK for skaters and GS, W, GA, SV, SV% and SO for goalie. I finished last this past season and am realistic about not being close to competing this season, and maybe not even for several more. As such, I'm inclined to keep players based on potential and using multi-cat as sort of a tiebreaker. If you have other suggestions for a draft/keeper strategy please share them. Otherwise, here are my keeper choices. Note that offseason trading is not permitted. Also, I pick first overall in our draft due to finishing last.

F – Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Jesper Bratt, Cole Caufield, Dylan Guenther, Jonathan Huberdeau, Zayne Parekh, Dylan Cozens, William Eklund, Kent Johnson, Ryan McLeod, Marco Kasper, Shane Wright, Jiri Kulich, Sam Colangelo, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Oliver Moore

D – Lane Hutson, Brandt Clarke, Simon Edvinsson, Oren Zellweger, Artyom Levshunov, Luka Cagnoni

G- Lukas Dostal, Jesper Wallstedt

I'm pretty locked on Celebrini, Bedard, Bratt, Caufield, Guenther, and Hutson. For the other four I'm having a tougher time, but was inclined to go with Clarke and Levshunov as two of them. What do you think of my plan? Would you keep a different eight? And either way, who else would you keep?

I think four of your five are slam dunks, with the one exception perhaps being Bratt. I realize he's only 27 and coming another season of increased scoring rate. But I'm concerned that his OZ% was 67.2%, after never once being above 60%. Still, Bratt also had 20 points in 19 games without Hughes, which was near his norm. Yet had had seven PPPts, which was lower. Given all this, I'm not entirely sold on Bratt as more than an 80ish point guy, meaning I could be persuaded to not keep him if someone was younger and a safe bet to do at least as well as he has. But are there five more who fit that bill?

Let me pivot though and wonder why you're not considering Dostal. He's poised to be the #1, or at worse 1A, for a team that should be better now and continue to improve. I suppose that with only 150 players being kept, Dostal could be safely thrown back into the mix. But if you do, I think the price to get him again via drafting would be higher than most if not all of your skaters. That also brings up a point to make, which is that nearly all the other players who are in consideration as keepers would normally not be considered keeps when only 150 are kept. But in your league, you are not penalized for keeping ten, so you should. In cases like these, you will end up keeping guys who don't "deserve" to be kept solely because you're rebuilding.

Before going further though, it is worth noting that that you listed Clarke and Levshunov as ones you're favoring as keepers, over the likes of Eklund, Johnson and Wright, who are not only highly regarded but likely "closer" to panning out, I take it that you are willing to forego nearer term success for home run potential, and as such my advice will take that into account, and thus may differ from what I'd normally provide without you seemingly favoring home run potential. Let's start with Clake and Levshunov.

I can get behind keeping Clarke. He slowed considerably after 12 points in 11 games to start the season. But Drew Doughty has taken the ice for 1206 regular season games, not to mention another 101 in the playoffs, and 32 in post-juniors international play. He turns 36 this season but his legs likely feel closer to age 40. Clarke is the clear heir apparent, as LA has no other highly touted prospects on D. So you are correct that Clarke makes sense as a keep.

I do not, however, agree with you about keeping Levshunov. I understand he was a second overall pick; but there are two other first rounders under the age of 22 who loom in Chicago in Sam Rinzel and Kevin Korchinski, not to mention Alex Vlasic, who is still only 24 and could factor into the equation. If I had to bet on which of them would emerge as the top option for blueline offense, I would indeed go with Levshunov; but I'm not inclined to keep him when he should be able to be redrafted and things are as murky as they are.

Who would I keep other than Clarke, again given what seems to be your willingness to take on risk and wait longer? For starters, Kasper. He looked solid at the end of 2024-25, finding a home on the second line and finishing with 14 points in his last 18 games. Sure, he has no path to PP1 for now; but I think once Patrick Kane is out of the picture Kasper he will slot onto PP1. And Kasper also is great in multicat.

Zayne Parekh is a risk/reward keep, but to me a risk worth taking given your leanings. For one, true scoring d-men are a rare breed, and Parekh has been sensational at every stop in his brief career. His path to running PP1 for the Flames need only go through MacKenzie Weegar, who's done fine in that role but would better serve the Flames by focusing on defensive areas, and Rasmus Andersson, who has been tried at PP1 so many times yet never grabbed the brass ring. Parekh might not pan out, or he might be the next truly top tier offensive defenseman. I'm keeping him. As I said, it's a risk, but I think it is consistent with what I see as your plan.

Looking at the rest of the options available, the choices strike me as between Eklund, Johnson, Wright, and Zellweger. If Bratt is kept, plus those I already mentioned (Clarke, Kasper, Parekh), then only one of these five would be kept, assuming Dostal isn't. Part of me wants to say Zellweger, since I'm inclined to opt for a defensemen due to it being a position of scarcity. But he's lost some of his veneer, in part due to him not doing so well thus far, but also Jackson LaCombe shining. Although perhaps not as murky of a picture as in Chicago, it's murky enough to not keep Zellweger.

Eklund is enticing due to the Celebrini stack. He also hits his breakout threshold this season and San Jose, as noted, should be a team on the rise. Johnson had a fine season, but there are a lot of forwards in the Columbus pond, and he's lousy in multicat. Wright's stats were actually pretty solid considering how low his TOIs were. He still could realize his full potential.

Part of me wonders if the solution is Dostal. Yes, Eklund, Johnson, and Wright likely would be tougher redrafts than Kasper, Parekh and Clarke, but I still like those three more as keepers, especially since you had noted a preference for Clarke and Levshunov and not any of Eklund, Johnson, and Wright. I'd say Dostal would be the final keeper if Bratt is kept, which I can get behind if you want to do that. But if you do decide Bratt does not need to be kept, I'd swap in Eklund for him. Tough question – good luck!

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I've received a couple more mailbag questions and would be happy to do a part 5 if I get more. You can sent your questions to me in one of two ways: (1) by emailing them to [email protected] with the words "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line, or (2) by sending 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.