Dobber's 2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Guide is now available in the Dobber Shop! A purchase includes the Guide itself, which features team-by-team overviews, a schedule breakdown, players due for positive and negative regression, long-term projects to invest in, and a whole lot more. Also included with the purchase is an interactive draft list that contains point projections, peripheral projections for blocks, hits, shots, penalty minutes, and plus/minus, as well as goalie projections. All this is updated through to the start of the regular season to reflect injuries, trades, or other pertinent information. Help support what we do year-round and grab a copy of the Draft Guide!

*

To celebrate the release of the Draft Guide, my Ramblings yesterday covered some excerpts from its pages. The Ramblings consisted of a brief glance at the 84-game schedule breakdown, Jason Zucker as a production outlier, investing in Easton Cowan and Pavel Mintyukov, and more. Go read that for some thoughts from myself and the writers in the Guide, and if you are interested in a lot more fantasy analysis from those sections and others, head to the Dobber Shop and pick up the entire Guide!

For today's Ramblings, we'll continue with some excerpts from the Guide but move from the articles to the team-by-team outlooks. These projections and breakdowns come from Dobber himself.

Boston Bruins – J.J. Peterka's Rebound

Last month on BlueSky, I noted how if you look at Peterka's fantasy production in his season with the Utah Mammoth, the two reasons for his decline were his overall ice time and power-play usage. Losing over two minutes per game, and nearly half that time coming from the power play, put a lot of downward pressure on his fantasy value.

The projections in the Dobber Guide have Peterka getting to the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career and getting back across the 60-point mark for the second time. Both would be substantial improvements on his 2025-26 season where he posted 25 goals and 47 points, and the big reason why is Peterka getting slotted on the top line and top PP unit with David Pastrnak. It might not push Peterka across the 18-minute mark as he did back in 2024-25, but it's enough to get well past the 17-minute mark, and that is a level that puts the 30-goal, 63-point projection in range.

My one concern for Peterka was the power play. The Bruins were a top-10 team by goals per 60 minutes with the man advantage last season, and they may not want to rock the boat. However, Peterka is a true dual-threat offensive weapon, and Morgan Geekie can take up the right-handed face-offs left behind by Elias Lindholm if he gets moved to the second PP unit. I am still not entirely convinced that Peterka is a lock on the top PP unit all season, but even if he's there for 50-60 games, that elevated PP usage combined with a top-line role is enough to see him have a big turnaround.

Chicago Blackhawks – Buy on Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov

Back in November over on Dobber's YouTube channel, Victor Nuño highlighted Kantserov's offensive upside, and that was before putting up a 36-goal, 64-point season in 63 KHL games. As Dobber noted in the Guide, which was first covered in the Fantasy Prospects Report, Kantserov's 36 goals "broke Kirill Kaprizov's record for most snipes in the KHL by a U22 player." Whenever you can break a goal-scoring record held by Kaprizov, you know you're in good company.

Even with the addition of Patrick Kane, there is a dearth of offensive talent on the wings in Chicago. Kantserov having high offensive upside and then displaying that upside over an 84-game season are two different things, but Dobber's projection has him for 26 goals and 55 points. That will play in many fantasy formats, and he will not be drafted as a top 200 player.

Not to be outdone, Frondell's projection in the Fantasy Guide is for 23 goals and 65 points. Whether he plays centre or wing remains to be seen – especially until Connor Bedard returns from his shoulder injury – but between Bedard, Kane, Kantserov, Frank Nazar, and Tyler Bertuzzi, there are legitimate offensive weapons for Frondell to skate with. He played just 12 games last season, but in my limited viewings, Frondell's patience always came to the forefront, a great sign for such a young player. If he can earn regular top PP minutes, he can absolutely cross the 60-point threshold.

Dallas Stars – Justin Hryckowian is a Potential Lynchpin

Dallas has a handful of superstars at the top of the roster, but the true talent level of this team will be determined by whether their support group can step up, and Hryckowian is a big part of that. Despite just 86 career NHL games, he is an older player, turning 26 years old this coming February. He will be relied upon for secondary scoring, and his 0.81 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 last season exceeded names like Wyatt Johnston (0.79), Matt Duchene (0.57), and Roope Hintz (0.36). Hryckowian accomplished that by shooting 16.9%, so that's the concern, but he translated his AHL success to the NHL, and that matters.

What makes Hryckowian notable for fantasy are the peripherals. He skated just 13:18 per game last season but managed 44 blocks, 119 hits, and 43 PIMs. With just 15 minutes a game, he can post 50 blocks, 130 hits, and 50 PIMs. It isn't hard to see him slot into Mavrik Bourque's role, skating between 15-16 minutes per appearance as a staple of the top 6 forward group. His projection in the Dobber Guide is for 13 goals and 37 points, so if he can approach the 15-goal, 40-point marks, with the peripheral coverage he's already displayed, he is an intriguing name for multi-cat formats.

Los Angeles Kings – The Brandt Clarke Breakout

In a Ramblings last week, I discussed early ADP data among defencemen, and Clarke was among the names listed. The concern I wrote about, and still have, is that the Kings use a five-forward top PP unit. It was something they often used last season, and though Anze Kopitar is now retired, they have a healthy Kevin Fiala, added Mats Zuccarello, and Artemi Panarin is there for a full season. With Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe, and Alex Laferriere, it seemed reasonable they might use five forwards again, even if they have a new Head Coach in Peter Laviolette.

Dobber doesn't seem as concerned. He has Fiala and Laferriere on the second PP unit with Clarke on the top PP unit as the quarterback. That, combined with Clarke increasing his point-per-game production each season of his career, pushes his projection to 48 points in 83 games, clearing his 2025-26 output by 20%.

As a long-time Clarke booster, this would be great news. Regardless of the power play, I think he clears 20 minutes a game, which is crucial. If he does get that top PP role, he can absolutely be a 50-point defenceman, and considering his shot and block volume, he has the tools to be a great multi-cat blue liner. I have concerns about Clarke and whether I draft him will continue to depend on his ADP, but there are diverging thoughts about what happens here, and that's both the fun and frustrating part of fantasy hockey.

St. Louis Blues – Final Spot for PP1

The Dobber Guide has Mason McTavish projected for 53 points, slightly exceeding his previous career-best mark of 52 points set back in 2024-25. The reason for that is Dobber has McTavish winning the spot as the fourth forward on the top PP unit, edging competition from Pavel Buchnevich, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Connor McMichael. In short, McTavish should have a top 6 and top PP role, which is the reason for his career-high projection.

This is a situation that looks like it'll be unsettled all year long. Unless the Blues have a massive PP turnaround – they were 27^th by goals per minute last season – then we probably see a lot of power-play shuffling and the only name that we can etch in stone for top PP time is Robert Thomas. However, like Dobber, I do think that McTavish gets the first crack as the fourth forward, and just getting the first opportunity is important. While McTavish's defensive issues are well-known, he is a dual-threat option that can help replace the offence lost by the Jordan Kyrou trade, and McTavish is a left-handed centre who can take some of the face-offs not taken by the right-handed Thomas. I am expecting a big rebound from McTavish offensively this season, and Dobber agrees.

Washington Capitals – Keep an Eye on Justin Sourdif

All the additions the Capitals have made in the offseason, and the return of Alex Ovechkin, have taken the headlines, but we can't forget about the depth they already had. Sourdif was a big part of that depth last season, especially with the injury to Pierre-Luc Dubois. As Dobber notes in the Fantasy Guide, Sourdif had a stretch that included 32 points in 57 games, showing the offensive upside he has with productive wingers on his flanks. While the Caps did add a lot of depth, the additions of Kyrou and Alex Tuch were on the wing, and Boone Jenner is likely stuck in a third- or fourth-line role. The real competition for Sourdif's third-line centre role will come from Ilya Protas, and Dobber has the younger Protas skating alongside Jenner.

There is a real chance that Protas asserts himself and makes him an undeniable part of the Caps' middle 6 forward group. With that said, Sourdif was great last year when called upon and a full season makes him a threat for 50 blocks and 100 hits. He has genuine 20-goal, 40-point upside even with secondary PP time, and at 24 years old he's just entering his prime. Even with all the depth, Sourdif is one injury away from a meaningful top 6 role, and he will still have depth multi-cat value even if he's stuck on the third line.