Will Carolina win the 2025-26 Stanley Cup, or will Vegas force Game 7? Let's start with some news entering Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Carter Hart is expected to start Game 6, which should be no surprise despite his recent numbers. Hart has allowed exactly four goals in each of the five games after his success in the first three rounds (12-4-0, 2.16 GAA, .924 SV%). John Tortorella made it known in no uncertain terms after Game 5 that Hart would start Game 6.

William Karlsson will miss Game 6 and Game 7 (if the Golden Knights get there). After missing most of the regular season, Karlsson has nine points in 15 playoff games, including four points in five games in the Stanley Cup Final. Karlsson had just seven points in 14 games in the regular season.

Jordan Staal might be the clutch player of the Stanley Cup Final, scoring at least one goal in every game. With Frederik Andersen out of the picture for the past two games and presumably Game 6 as well with the emergence of Brandon Bussi, could Staal win the Conn Smythe? If the Canes win the Cup, then picking someone from their roster that stands out is a tough task. Staal's goals and 60%+ success rate in the faceoff dot during the final have made him valuable when the games matter the most.

The hot list from the Stanley Cup Final (and perhaps before):

Continuing from yesterday, here are some more one-category wonders. These players were clearly strongest in one category last season, but do they have fantasy value in other categories too? The focus today will be on peripheral categories: plus/minus, shots on goal, penalty minutes, hits, and blocked shots.

Plus/minus: John Marino

Marino's plus-43 has to be one of the most surprising stats of the season. The Utah Mammoth had a few strong plus-minuses, such as Nate Schmidt at plus-31 and Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse both at plus-20. However, Marino was clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the Mammoth in what is usually a team-driven stat. Prior to 2025-26, Marino's career best was a plus-21 with New Jersey in 2022-23.

It is worth mentioning that Marino scored a career-high 36 points as well. None of those points were on the power play, as he averaged virtually no power-play time. With all of Mikhail Sergachev, Sean Durzi, and Mackenzie Weegar on the roster, it will be difficult for Marino to receive any power-play time going forward. Marino is not a high IPP player, as his 37.5% IPP is in line with his career averages. Without power-play time, the point total doesn't have much room to grow.

Marino is also not a strong peripheral contributor, as all of his shots, hits, and blocks have never exceeded double digits in a single season. In scoring leagues, Marino was a borderline option in 2025-26, but not even that in multicategory leagues. If Utah takes another step up the standings next season, Marino could be strong again in plus-minus. However, you can largely ignore him for fantasy purposes. 

Shots on goal: Timo Meier

Meier is known to cover multiple categories, so his addition to this list might seem strange. However, it has more to do with his lack of scoring relative to his high shot total.

First, the good. Meier finished 2025-26 with 268 shots, which was within the top 10 in the league. Meier has surpassed 300 shots twice in his career, so you know he will fire the puck at the net. You know that he'll also play the hits, as his hit total consistently reaches triple digits. Meier is a master of peripheral categories.

Unfortunately, the scoring has dried up over recent years. Following a near point-per-game output in 2021-22 (76 PTS in 77 GP), Meier has experienced a slow decline down to just 44 points in 77 games. All his shots will lead to goals, as he is a safe bet to reach 20 goals year after year. However, he has not cracked 30 assists in four seasons, which has dragged his scoring down.

If you are planning on drafting Meier in the top 100, be sure that you have plenty of scoring elsewhere in your lineup. Again, he'll provide strong doses of shots and hits, which will boost his ranking. His scoring may bounce back a bit in 2026-27 if the Devils can be a bit more stable overall, but a massive gain is unlikely.

Penalty minutes: Nikita Zadorov

Fantasy leagues may be trending away from using penalty minutes. But if you need to fill that category, look toward the Big Bad Bruins. Zadorov led the NHL with 152 PIM in 2025-26, followed by teammate Mark Kastelic with 140 PIM. In fact, Zadorov has led the league in back-to-back seasons in the penalty minutes category, finishing with 145 PIM in 2024-25.

What you'll get with Zadorov is bangers category coverage. Zadorov finished third in combined penalty minutes, hits, and blocks with 451 PIM+HIT+BLK. That also has to do with his high hit total, which was 196 in 2025-26 and has reached over 200 three times in his career. Zadorov also has back-to-back 100+ blocked shots seasons. In other words, a 6-7, 255 lb. defenseman is likely going to play a physical style. Zadorov does that and usually has his way on the ice as well.

What you won't get with Zadorov is scoring. His career high is 22 points, which he has reached three times, including in 2025-26. He has reached 100 shots taken five times and usually has a positive plus minus, but that's about it. Zadorov should be added in bangers leagues, but he should be way down the rankings list in pure scoring leagues.

Hits: Yakov Trenin

This season's hits leader is Trenin, who piled up 404 hits over a full 82 games. Trenin's previous career high was 238, set the season before. His 2025-26 total represented a giant leap forward even by averaging less than a minute more in icetime per game.

Trenin was also first in combined penalty minutes, hits, and blocks with 481 PIM+HIT+BLK; shots, hits, and blocks with 541 SOG+HIT+BKS; and hits and blocks with 443 HIT+BKS. (That might have something to do with the number of hits relative to other categories!) Trenin does not take a lot of penalty minutes, blocked shots, or shots on goal. So even in bangers leagues, he's a one-category wonder.

Trenin is also not a scorer, finishing with 23 points in 2025-26 with a career high of 24 points. Simply put, there is no category other than hits where he is significantly better than league average. Trenin is only draftable if your league counts hits. I can't say that any other way.

Blocked shots: Jake McCabe

McCabe led the league in blocked shots with 190, easily the best total of his decade-plus long career. The 32-year-old defenseman also averaged the highest icetime of his career (22:24), which matters because he has often averaged below 20 minutes of icetime throughout his career. Maybe this is a statement of what the Leafs' defense is like, but that icetime total is the highest among all Leafs.

Back to the multiple bangers categories. McCabe finished in the top 30 in the league in combined hits and blocks with 294 HIT+BKS; and combined penalty minutes, hits, and blocks with 358 PIM+HIT+BKS. McCabe averages over 100 hits per season, so he can provide coverage in that category as well.

McCabe is also a consistent scorer, although his ceiling is very limited. He has averaged between 20 and 30 points in each of the past five seasons. That won't cut it in pure scoring leagues, but there may be a place for McCabe in leagues that count both hits and blocked shots. 

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