The calendar flipped to September and all of a sudden we had actual NHL moves to discuss. First, the Rangers signed Eeli Tolvanen to a one year $1.5 Million contract, and then the New Jersey Devils traded for Luke Evangelista, sending a first and a second round pick back to Nashville.

The Tolvanen deal is likely going to be a steal for the Rangers, as Tolvanen was a middle-six winger with top-line underlying metrics on a Seattle team that just couldn't create any offence with their complete lack of star power. He has been fairly consistent over the last number of years in pacing for around 40 points, but some additional ice time and better linemates could really unlock a new level for him. It will be tough to break onto the top line, but there is a second line wing spot that is wide open and his for the taking with a good training camp.

The next deal is a head scratcher if you're a Predators fan (like me) as trading away a 24-year-old who just saw his production pop with a shift up to second line ice time, and was set to top 60 points this season is questionable even before we get into the details. Evangelista is being paid a bargain $3 Million this year, is still an RFA at the end of the deal, and just shattered his career high in points despite shooting only 6.8% last season. The picks that the Preds received also aren't exactly as great as they sound, as the first is Colorado's pick, which is top-10 protected, and the second will be around pick #50 at best. Also, both picks are 2028, and not 2027.

Evangelista is likely going to end up on one of the top two lines, either alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, or alongside Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. Either way, it's bad news for one of Anthony Mantha or Dawson Mercer. This should be a big boost to Evangelista's even strength numbers, especially if he ends up alongside Hughes instead of taking the heavier matchups with the Hischier line. However, he is unlikely to see time with the top power play unit, which would drastically drop his power play production, which was 17 PPPs last season. Knocking 10-12 points off of that will be tough to replace at even strength, making this year's safe projection for Evangelista now somewhat similar to last year.

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After going through the main bulk of a few mock drafts over the last couple weeks, I figured I would tidy it up by looking at some of the last picks in drafts, and who might be able to provide value there. 

Typically, as the end of a draft you're filling out your last couple of bench spots, and maybe targeting a stat or two that you're weak on. It's important to keep track during the draft of what your team's strengths and weaknesses are, as well as which positions you might want to grab at the end – because some disappear faster than others, even (and sometimes especially) past pick #200. 

Oftentimes I find that past pick #200 in a draft, there are a couple of goalies that I think could still have some value in the right circumstances, there are always a ton of forwards that feel like they could break out or put up useful numbers, but the defencemen available at this point are always sad, unless you're only looking for Blks. For that reason, I usually try to fill out all of my active D slots at a minimum by around pick #150. For that reason, Alexander Nikishin and his upside, age, and cross-category coverage at pick #196 on Yahoo really stands out. He likely won't last until that point on your draft day if your leaguemates are any good, but you can note it now and get him 30-40 picks before that for a steal. 

I'll look at both Yahoo and Fantrax, as those are my two most-used platforms, and I think two of the most used overall as well. 

Let's look at Yahoo first, as their ranking system usually means there are a few more bargains to be found. 

If you're looking for multi-category options, then there is a variety still available to you, with Kiefer Sherwood, Darnell Nurse, and Will Cuylle all being players I rostered in parts of championship seasons last year. All three are excellent Hits contributors, without anchoring you down across the board in other categories. Nurse's peripherals have been dropping a little over the last couple of years, but I do wonder if the move to San Jose puts him into much more of a defensive zone role than in Edmonton, which could lead to a lot more Hits and Blks than previous seasons (at the expense of his SOG and plus-minus totals). 

Seth Jarvis is also ranked at #318, which is still too low even factoring in that he is set to miss a month or two of the season. I do wonder if it has been priced in that he may need some time to get fully up to speed, however that's not something I am hugely worried about from a full-effort player like Jarvis, especially considering he was still fantastic last year despite playing through the shoulder injury for most of the year. If he gets back to 100% healthy in the second half, you're going to wish you spend your 13th round pick on him instead of someone like Matt Duchene or Shea Theodore. 

Kevin Fiala is ranked inside the top 100 on Fantrax, but is past #300 in the Yahoo rankings, mainly because of their automated setup which doesn't account for previous season injuries. Fiala should be back to full health for the start of the season, and was a point per game player recently, before being derailed in a system that brought some incredible bad luck metrics his way for three years straight. In a new system this year under Peter Laviolette, expect Fiala to regain some of his previous scoring form. The guide has him around 60 points in 75 games, but I'm expecting a full-season pace of over 70 points. 

Now, over to Fantrax, most of their lower ranks are with the goaltenders, which seems to be purposeful as it tends to happen every year with them. A couple of the surprising names to find in the 200s were Brandon Bussi and Filip Gustavsson. 

Both have some question marks heading into the season, but both with solid last season, have mostly the same strong team returning in front of them, and have the more recent contractual commitment from the team. 

In Bussi's case, Pyotr Kochetkov is his main competition, but Kochetkov has battled injury and inconsistency issues, to the point that he is no longer regarded as one of the higher-potential goalies around despite still only being 25 years old. Bussi is fresh off stepping in for the Canes to lead them to a Cup win, and that is going to go a long way from him holding onto his job (look at Jordan Binnington). He's the better bet to get the larger volume of the starts for the Hurricanes this year, a very safe and productive gig.

In Gustavsson we have a goalie who went into 2025-26 having put up a top-five goalie season in two of the prior three years, and then played solidly except for the final quarter of the season where he was playing through a nagging injury. He is expected to be back to full health sometime in the fall (though after the start of the season). Jesper Wallstedt is very skilled and capable of stealing starts from Gustavsson through the end of this season, but Gus does have the contract, the track record, and the experience with larger volume workloads in his favour.  

One other player who I noticed is much lower in Fantrax is Anthony Cirelli. He has paced for 60 points in two straight seasons, and is still on the right side of 30 while being consistent as they come with his numbers across the board. If something were to happen to Brayden Point, Cirelli would suddenly be thrust into the center role on the top PP as well. There's a lower ceiling here, but the high floor makes him a solid pick even before the #200 slot, let along where he ranked closer to 250. 

There were also a few names that I like, and noticed they were low in both Yahoo's and Fantrax's ranking lists. All three of Shane Pinto, Elias Lindholm, and Dmitry Voronkov are worth looking at as final picks in standard leagues, despite being ranked past 200 on both sites (and closer to 300 for Voronkov). 

Pinto is a big 25-year-old center who has steadily been improving for the Sens, and put up 16 points in his final 21 games last season. Lindholm meanwhile is on the wrong side of 30, but put up a rebound season in year two with the Bruins, though it's masked due to him missing some time and the overall totals falling nearly exactly where they were the year prior in a dozen extra games. At 32 he could still very well hold that 60-point pace.

Voronkov is a bit of a different story, where we're betting on a bit of a late breakout, as he just passed the 200-game threshold despite already being 25 years old. His production has largely been tied to his ice time, and there is room for him to move back up the lineup, especially as a tantalizing option with size alongside new acquisition Valeri Nichushkin, which would be a very difficult duo for opposing teams to contain close to the net. Voronkov also brings some high Hit and PIM totals, though last season's drop in SOG volume is concerning if it keeps up. Worthy of a pick anytime close to or after the 200-mark. 

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Also, a quick happy birthday shoutout to my dad who always preaches preparation, patience, and fun in whatever we do together, especially while teaching me to love hockey.

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See you next Wednesday, and if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments you can find me on BlueSky @alexdmaclean.