We have reached the big day as the 2026 Dobber Hockey Midseason Guide is set to release later today! It has everything fantasy managers need to push for a championship in the second half, or prepare their keeper/dynasty rosters for the 2026-27 season, including projections, potential call-ups, trade candidates, rookies to monitor, advanced stats (that's my contribution), and a whole lot more. Help support what we do while preparing yourself for the stretch run by grabbing a copy of the Midseason Guide, available in the Dobber Shop later today!

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On Tuesday, Pittsburgh winger Rutger McGroarty collided with a teammate in practice and had to leave. Seth Rorabaugh reports that McGroarty indeed suffered a concussion and is out indefinitely. It could be a week or two, or it could be longer. With concussions, we never know.

The good news is Pittsburgh got Evgeni Malkin back as a regular participant in practice and he looks like he's ready to go.

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J.T. Miller practice in a regular jersey on Wednesday, according to Dan Rosen.

With Adam Fox on the long-term injured reserve, Vladislav Gavrikov was back on the Rangers' top PP unit in practice.

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A quick update on Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon:

Lindy Ruff said Alex Lyon (lower body) is about seven to 10 days away. #Sabres

— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) January 7, 2026

Lyon leads the Sabres with 19 starts, so it'll be up to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis in the interim. The Sabres do not have a back-to-back situation until Wednesday/Thursday next week.

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Corey Perry was designated for non-roster by the Los Angeles Kings as he goes to tend to a family matter. With Anze Kopitar and Joel Armia both missing Wednesday night's game, the Los Angeles lineup is starting to thin out quickly.

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The Dallas Stars snapped their six-game losing streak thanks to a 4-1 win in Washington on Wednesday. Radek Faksa, Sam Steel, Wyatt Johnston, and Roope Hintz all scored for the Stars, with Hintz racking up a whopping 12 shots on goal. He has as many shots in that game last night as he had in his previous seven games combined.

Thomas Harley had a solid multi-cat night with an assist, a pair of shots and blocks, and three hits. Casey DeSmith got the start for the Stars and stopped 23 of 24 shots for the win. That is his 10^th win in his 16^th start to go with a .915 save percentage. On a per-game basis, he has flat-out been better than Jake Oettinger, and probably for the last season and a half now.

Alex Ovechkin scored a goal with a little over two minutes left to snap DeSmith's shutout. Jakob Chychrun assisted that goal while adding six shots, a block, and a hit.

Logan Thompson took the loss in net for the Caps, allowing three goals on 35 shots.

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Alexandre Texier managed a goal, two assists, and three shots as the Montreal Canadiens toppled the Calgary Flames 4-1. Those three points give Texier 11 in 21 games with the Habs, or as many as he had in 31 games with the St. Louis Blues last season.

Cole Caufield scored a goal and assisted on the Texier tally while Lane Hutson and Oliver Kapanen also scored. Hutson now has four goals and 22 points in his last 16 games.

Jacob Fowler was in net for Montreal and stopped 28 of 29 shots in the win.

Joel Farabee scored the lone Flames goal while Dustin Wolf was solid in net but suffered the loss, giving up four goals on 35 shots.

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A four-goal third period blew the door off the hinges as the Chicago Blackhawks smashed the St. Louis Blues 7-3. Oliver Moore, Landon Slaggert, Connor Murphy, and Louis Crevier all had a goal and an assist in the win, with Moore's points both coming on the power play. Murphy finished with two shots, four blocks, and two PIMs in a solid multi-cat night.

Nick Lardis (PP), Andre Burakovsky (PP), and Jason Dickinson all scored as well. Dickinson totaled three shots, a pair of blocks, and four hits in a great multi-cat night.

Spencer Knight held the Blues to three goals on 30 shots for his 14^th win. Going back to the start of last season, Knight's .906 save percentage is the same as Jake Oettinger and Dustin Wolf.

Tyler Tucker, Nathan Walker, and Otto Stenberg scored for the Blues as goalie Jordan Binnington gave up seven goals on 35 shots for the loss. Among goalies with 20 starts this season, Binnington is dead last with an .871 save percentage.

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Lawson Crouse and John Marino scored early in Utah's home game against Ottawa and it was enough for them as the Mammoth took the 3-1 win. Clayton Keller assisted on both goals and that means he's now reached at least 25 assists in every single 82-game season of his career. It is notable that Keller skated 22:31 in this game as he's now skated at least 20 minutes in four of his last five games, and is averaging 20:15 per game over his last 15 games.

Daniil But scored the other Mammoth goal. Crouse finished with three shots, two blocks, and two hits in a nice multi-cat effort, and he's averaging nearly 18 minutes a game over his last six games.

Karel Vejmelka stopped 32 of 33 shots for his 19^th win, which leads the league.

Ridly Greig scored Ottawa's lone goal, assisted by Jake Sanderson, who finished with three shots and three blocks. Leevi Merilainen got the start in net and allowed three goals on 21 shots for the loss. Ottawa is just four points back of a playoff spot but now have to jump seven teams to get there.

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An overtime winner from William Eklund pushed the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 win in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. It was assisted by Macklin Celebrini, who scored with 1:07 left in the third period to tie the game 3-3 and push it to an extra frame anyway. Celebrini also assisted on a first-period Tyler Toffoli power-play goal, so the young superstar totaled one goal, two assists (one PP), seven shots, and a hit. His point streak is up to 12 games, a stretch that has seen him amass 9 goals, 15 assists, and 60 shots. Just an unbelievable player.

Adam Gaudette had the other Sharks goal. The San Jose power play scored twice – once for each unit – and the Sharks now have four PP goals in three games since John Klingberg was injured. Timothy Liljegren had a PP assist, four blocks, and two hits in a solid multi-cat effort.

Yaroslav Askarov stopped 23 of 26 shots for the win.

Both Kevin Fiala and Alex Turcotte managed a goal and an assist in the loss, with Alex Laferriere posting the other tally. The Kings are struggling to score this year, but with 16 goals and 15 assists in 42 games, Fiala might crack the 30/30 plateau, which speaks to how good he still is.

Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on 28 shots in the loss.

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In Tuesday's Ramblings, I started a preview of the 2026 Dobber Hockey Midseason Guide by going over players in from half the league and some of their key advanced stats that fantasy managers should know. Today, the Midseason Guide's preview of advanced stats will cover the second half of the league. We are going to be using the data available from the Player Usage Charts over on Frozen Tools.

Roman Josi (Nashville Predators)

The hope that Roman Josi could turn back the block to the guy he was 3-4 years ago are probably gone now. He is getting incredibly easy minutes – the most offensive zone starts of any Nashville defenseman and very rarely taking top matchups – and still seeing roughly neutral shot differentials and a team-high rate of goals against (relatively speaking). At 35 years old (36 in June) with an injury history that seems to worsen with each passing month, and unable to drive even above-average shot differentials in very easy minutes, it seems the end of the road is here for Josi. His reputation will keep him skating a lot of minutes, but he's a shadow of his former self now.

Shane Pinto (Ottawa Senators

After a very hot start, Pinto has slowed down his production considerably, but what he's been able to do is drive positive team-relative shot differentials while taking the most defensive zone starts of any skater on the Ottawa roster while taking the toughest opposition matchups of any skater on the Ottawa roster. Playing that kind of role frees up the likes of Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk to skate much easier minutes, and at least for Stützle, we've seen the results in his production. Pinto won't be as productive as Stützle, but he'll push for 20 goals again with good hit volume so there's good fantasy value for him while providing great value for the Senators.

Denver Barkey (Philadelphia Flyers)

It has been just eight games for Barkey in a Flyers uniform, but it's been a very successful eight games from him. Unlike most rookies, he's not being thrown all the offensive zone starts he can – those go to Matvei Michkov's line – and Barkey is taking some top competition matchups, and yet the play-driving has been very good in those minutes. Skating on a line with Sean Couturier certainly helps, but Barkey would have to be playing well to remain there, and he is. Injuries to Flyers forwards offered Barkey the opportunity to crack the roster at all, and now he's kicking down the door. Again, it is still just eight games, so let's see where things stand after 28 games, and the fantasy value is modest, but there are obviously positive signs here.

John Klingberg (San Jose Sharks)

It is a shame that Klingberg landed on the injured reserve recently because he had been playing well this season, at least relative to his team and relative to expectations. He had been given the most offensive zone starts of any Sharks defenceman, and that matters, but the team was getting good relative shot differentials in his minutes with a good rate of goals-for per 60 minutes. His 82-game pace was for over 40 points and that was with good-not-great power-play production. Hopefully his injury won't keep him out too long because he worked really hard to get back to where he was and had been helping the team score some goals.

Shane Wright (Seattle Kraken)

It is a good-news-bad-news situation for Wright, who is on pace for less ice time, fewer goals, and fewer assists than last season. The bad news is that production decline, which is what we care about as fantasy managers. The good news is that the team is driving solid shot differentials in his minutes, and it's not leading to many goals against, which helps out goalies Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord. Wright won't skate heavy minutes because of the usage rates of Chandler Stephenson and Matty Beniers, so Wright's fantasy value is minimal, but he can help boost the fantasy value of other players, and he's doing that for his goalies.

Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Speaking of limited goals against, the lowest 5-on-5 goals-against rate of any Toronto forward with at least 30 games played is Cowan (2.04) and it's not even close (the next forward is Auston Matthews at 2.41). Part of that is good goaltending from Joseph Woll, sure, but part of that is limiting the shot attempts against and driving positive shot differentials. He has played all over the lineup, from the fourth line to the top line, and has even been demoted to the AHL, but when we put it all together, it has been a successful first half for Cowan. If he keeps it up for the second half, the Leafs might really have something here in the young forward. 

Daniil But (Utah Mammoth)

There has been very little fantasy value for But in his 16 games since being called up, and he's gotten relatively easy minutes to play, but there are positive shot differentials in his ice time and the team has the lowest goals against with him on the ice than any Utah forward since But's recall in early December. He has helped stem the bleeding of goals that was costing Utah a playoff spot, and though he has no fantasy relevance outside the deepest of formats, that can help out the goalies, and that matters for fantasy. It is kind of like Shane Wright in Seattle, though But is obviously still very early in his NHL career.

Noah Hanifin (Vegas Golden Knights)

Hanifin has been a big part of Vegas' success this season as he's flirting with 24 minutes a game, has taken top PP time when injuries hit the Golden Knights' roster, and has driven very good shot differentials. He hasn't had a lot of production, but there are positive signs of regression, namely a team-worse 7.6% on-ice shooting rate for Vegas in Hanifin's minutes. He doesn't have massive fantasy upside without regular top PP minutes, but he's done a little bit of everything for Vegas this season, and looks like he'll be a more valuable fantasy option in the second half once that positive regression kicks in.