Another quiet night on the NHL slate with no games on tap as we inch closer to the Stanley Cup Final, set to kick off June 2nd with the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the Carolina Hurricanes. With the schedule light, we'll get right into it and continue the series, once again using the NHL Fantasy Hockey Projections released back in October 2025 as the baseline for expected production.

Cutter Gauthier – 69 points (Projected: 55)

Cutter Gauthier entered the season viewed as one of Anaheim's more intriguing centre pieces in the Duck organization alongside Leso Carlsson, but few fantasy managers expected a leap from 43 points to nearly 70 in his first full top-six role. After being projected for 55 points, what impressed most was not just the 69 points seasons but also the 41 goals, making him one of the better mid-round fantasy steals among young wingers.

The biggest fantasy takeaway was how quickly his shot generation translated into elite scoring production. Gauthier jumped from 2.3 shots per game as a rookie to 3.7 this season, finishing with 284 shots while maintaining a strong 14.4 S%. Unlike some young players who rely heavily on power-play inflation, Gauthier drove a large portion of his production at EVS, recording 50 points while consistently generating offense regardless of linemates.

Anaheim's improving supporting cast also played a major role. Leo Carlsson continued progressing into a legitimate top-line playmaker, Mason McTavish remained a strong complementary power forward, and Beckett Sennecke immediately clicked with Gauthier at even strength. The Ducks suddenly looked far deeper offensively, which helped create more sustainable scoring conditions compared to the previous season. Gauthier primarily spent most of his even strength minutes with Sennecke and McTavish, very rarely being placed on the top line if not at time being bumped down to the third line. His line combinations posted strong possession numbers across the board, particularly alongside McTavish and Sennecke where Anaheim controlled nearly 57 percent of shot attempts.

There are still areas that cap the ceiling slightly in category leagues. His hit totals are decent but not elite, and his assist production remains secondary compared to pure playmaking forwards, but does it matter when he is scoring 40 goals? Still, fantasy managers who bet on the talent and shot volume were rewarded with a legitimate sniper who now looks capable of becoming a perennial 35-to-45 goal scorer entering his prime years.

Morgan Geekie – 68 points (Projected: 57)

Coming off a 57-point projection, most managers viewed him as a mid-to-late round depth winger riding Boston's system and power-play exposure. Instead, he delivered a 68-point breakout, powered by top-line deployment, elite finishing, and consistent exposure to high-end talent.

Geekie spent a significant chunk of the season next to David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm, and that combination drove the majority of his fantasy value. Even though the line posted mixed underlying results at times, Geekie's production was evident. He finished with 39 goals, and that scoring jump came largely from volume and finishing efficiency. His 21.5 S% immediately screams regression, however some of it can be explained by a meaningful increase in both shot quality and role stability rather than pure randomness. He has also posted similar S% in back-to-back seasons.

Boston also leaned heavily on him in key offensive situations. He averaged nearly 3 minutes of power-play time per game and finished with 24 PPP, a major driver of his fantasy relevance. That usage alone pushed him from a secondary scorer into a legitimate top-six fantasy option. When he wasn't with Pastrnak and Lindholm, he still found ways to stay involved offensively, rotating through different second-unit combinations that kept him from going cold for long stretches. He was not drafted as a difference-maker, but he produced like one for stretches. The question going forward is whether he holds this role or gets pushed down the lineup. If the top-line and PP usage stick even partially, he's no longer just a depth flier, he's a legitimate middle-six fantasy hold with upside tied directly to Boston's elite talent pipeline.

Ryan O'Reilly – 74 Points (Projected: 55)

I for one was not expecting to see O’Reilly landing at 74 points and essentially tying for the team lead in points, finishing just behind Filip Forsberg in the teams scoring race. What stands out isn't just the total, but how stable it looked underneath it all. It was built on consistent usage, heavy minutes, and a central role in both the 5v5 structure and the power play.

At even strength, he lived in the middle of everything. He logged over 20 minutes a night overall and was constantly stapled to Nashville's top offensive pieces, especially Forsberg and Steven Stamkos. That trio, in particular, drove a large chunk of the team's production and gave O'Reilly a level of finishing and assist equity he hasn't always had in recent seasons. The power play was where the gap between projection and reality really opened up. O'Reilly's role stayed intact all year, consistently centered on the top unit and cycling through combinations featuring Forsberg, Stamkos, and Roman Josi. That unit was productive enough to keep him in the 20 power-play point range, which pushed him well past his initial 55-point projection. Even when the scoring was spread around, he stayed involved on the first touch and retrieval layer, which matters more for fantasy than raw goal totals..

Jesper Bratt – 72 points (Projected: 86)

Coming into the season, Jesper Bratt was coming off consecutive campaigns of 88 and 83 points and was projected to finish around 86 points once again. Instead, he finished with 72 points in 82 games, falling 14 points short of expectations. For fantasy managers who drafted him expecting another point-per-game season, was undoubtedly left wanting more. However, the decline appears to have been driven more by circumstances around him than by any meaningful decline in his own performance.

The biggest factor was the environment surrounding him. Bratt’s offensive production has always been closely tied to Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, with Hughes factoring into 17 of his even-strength points and Hischier contributing to another 14. The problem was that New Jersey rarely had a fully healthy lineup for extended periods. As one of the league’s premier playmakers, Bratt depends heavily on teammates finishing the opportunities he creates, and the Devils simply lacked consistency throughout the season due to injuries and lineup instability. Bratt put up 30 points in 24 games from the Olympic break through the end of the season, as his production lines with Jack Hughes' in the same stretch when he was healthy, where he posted 41 points over those same 24 games.

The power play also took a noticeable step back. Bratt still produced 20 power-play points, but that was a decline from the 27 and 34 PPP he posted in the previous two seasons. His PPTOI remained strong at 2:57 per game, so this was not a case of losing deployment or opportunity. Instead, it reflected lower conversion rates and fewer dominant stretches from New Jersey’s top unit compared to recent years.

Generally, Bratts role never really changed as he remained a fixture in the top-six with premium power-play deployment and maintained strong possession numbers. I would not view a 72-point season as his new baseline. The underlying metrics suggest the offensive process remained largely unchanged from the seasons that produced 80-plus points, but rather he looks more like a rebound candidate.

Brayden Point – 50 points (Projected: 86)

Brayden Point finished with 50 points in 63 games, falling well short of expectations and posting his lowest point total since his first season since becoming one of Tampa Bay’s offensive cornerstones. For fantasy managers who invested in Point expecting another near point-per-game campaign, it was one of the more disappointing outcomes among early-round forwards. After recording 30, 32, and 33 power-play points in the previous three seasons, Point finished with just 11 on the man-advantage despite maintaining elite power-play usage.

He remained attached to Nikita Kucherov at both even-strength and on the power-play, playing an ATOI of 18.15 minutes per game, and maintained a healthy 3:47 of power-play ice time. His PPIPP fell to 35.5%, a massive decline from the 50-to-65 percent range he consistently posted during his peak years. When Tampa Bay scored with the man advantage, Point was not involved nearly as often as he had been in previous seasons. Some of that can be attributed to Jake Guentzel becoming a larger focal point of the top unit, creating another high-end finisher who commanded touches and scoring opportunities. His S% fell to 14.1% after finishing above 20% in each of the previous four seasons. While for most NHL players 14% remains respectable, Point has historically outperformed league-average shooting percentages because of the quality of chances he generates around the net. Losing six to eight goals through shooting regression alone has a significant impact on his overall point totals. Not to mention he missed significant time with a knee injury that left him further behind in the race and also forcing him not to play in the Winter Olympics. A return to the 85-90 point range may be aggressive unless the power-play production bounces back significantly, but a finish in the 75-85 point range feels very attainable.

Thanks for reading! See you next week! For more fantasy hockey content and analysis, follow me on X @Punters_hockey. If you have any questions about your team or a trade? My DMs are always open, happy to help!