For the last 23 years (12 with The Hockey News), Dobber and his team have reviewed each team from a fantasy hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 24th annual review will appear here on Dobber Hockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey, both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future.

Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are considered when examining the depth chart and evaluating the potential of the players on it. Enjoy!

** Be sure to pick up your copy of the 2026-2027 Fantasy Hockey Guide **

Gone – Erik Haula, Fedor Svechkov, Zachary L'Heureux, Tyson Jost

Incoming – Mavrik Bourque, Ilya Lyubushkin, Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Jack Ahcan, Alex Kerfoot, Nils Hoglander, Adam Edstrom, Vitaly Pinchuk

Impact of changes 

New General Manager Chris McFarland quickly got to work restocking the center depth from cap-crunched rivals. He picked up Jack Drury from his former employer, signing him to a five-year deal ($4.5M AAV). Mavrik Bourque was acquired, along with RHD Ilya Lyubushkin, and signed to a six-year contract ($5.5M AAV). Bourque was pushed to the wing in Dallas but will occupy a top six center spot in Nashville. He led the AHL with 77 points in 2023-24, will finally get an opportunity to shine in Nashville.

Alex Kerfoot was signed on July 1^st from free agency, and Adam Edstrom brought in via a trade with the New York Rangers. Pinchuk, who can also play center, comes over from the KHL where he put up point per game numbers with Dinamo Minsk. This center depth is important as Ryan O'Reilly is entering the last year of this contract.

Lyubushkin provides a physical element on the right side and is a candidate to be flipped at the deadline for a mid-round pick. He provided 1.28 hits/game and 1.70 blocked shots/game last season.

With the Avalanche, Ross Colton lost two minutes of ice time, and saw drops in his power play time and shooting percentage. He should rebound to 0.45-0.50 points per game, along with 2+ shots/game and 2+ hits/game.

Talented winger Nils Hoglander was not really given a chance in Vancouver averaging only 12 minutes of ice time in the past three years. He suffered from horrendous puck luck last year, where both his own shooting percentage and his 5v5 shooting percentage were below 5.7%. The overall result of these offseason changes is a revamped bottom six with much more talent.

Ready for Full Time

Matthew Wood reached the NHL late in October last season and should be a full-season participant this season; he will use his elite shot to improve on his 17 goals.

Pinchuk scored 66 points in 65 games placing him 6^th in KHL scoring (but third on his team). The 247 goals by Dinamo Minsk led the Western conference, trailing only Metallurg Magnitogorsk (252 goals) as KHL's most dominant offensive team. Pinchuk, along with Reid Schaefer and Edström are all on their entry-level contracts, and there is a numbers crunch at forward, so one or more of these three might not be on the starting roster. The Dobber Guide projects Pinchuk and Schaefer to be full-timers, with a few healthy scratches along the way, and Edström as a call-up throughout the season.

Fifth overall pick Brady Martin likely plays in the AHL this season as a 19-year-old exception (new rule) but he should get a handful of games in the NHL, and he'll have the chance to make his mark with the big club.

Tanner Molendyk and Ryan Ufko will push for a spot on defense in training camp. Those two, along with Ahcan, are all waiver exempt, making it likely they all start with the Milwaukee Admirals.

Fantasy Outlook

The fantasy relevant candidates here are the same core veterans from last year. Ryan O'Reilly had a sudden resurgence (0.67 to 0.91 points per game) benefitting from an elevated shooting percentage: 1.33 times his career rate. He is listed as a regression candidate in an August 3^rd 'Top 10' article.

Steven Stamkos had a similar uptick (0.63 to 0.80 points per game) also based on a career high 20.4% shooting percentage. Filip Forsberg provides a healthy dose of shots on goal (3.00/game) and hits (1.51/game). He has avoided injury with three straight seasons of 82 games and is projected to contribute about 0.85 points per game.

Jonathan Marchessault suffered from a low shooting percentage and a low IPP, which was especially bad on the power play. His production fell from 0.73 to 0.50 points per game. He should regress upwards.

When Marchessault was injured, it was Luke Evangelista who was promoted to the top power play, where he put up 15 points in 20 games. There are rumors of Marchessault wanting out of Nashville, so keep an eye out for a subsequent deployment change favouring Evangelista. Evangelista led the Preds with a 61% on ice shot attempt percentage.

Roman Josi remains the leader on defense after a bounce-back campaign that saw him record 55 points in 68 games (0.81 ppg). Other than a slightly high secondary assist rate, everything looked good under the hood.

For the first half of the season, the majority of goalie Justus Annunen's starts were in the back-to-back games. As the season progressed, Juuse Saros was able to rest due to Annunen's solid play. In March and April, Annunen got seven starts compared to 14 by Saros. Saros led the league in 181 goals against, but also in saves (1519) due to the second-most games played behind Karel Vejmelka. Annunen may further alleviate the load on Saros if he continues his strong play as he outshone Saros in the GSAx department (+8.3 GSAx vs -9.3 GSAx).

With their core getting older, the Predators will likely end the season with a negative goal differential again. A finish in the bottom half of the central division will make the playoffs unlikely this year, but there is promise for the future with the positive changes that have already begun to be implemented by new GM Chris McFarland.

Grade – C+ (last year was B-)

Check out the rest of the Dobber team previews here.