This week on Frozen Tools Forensics we are going to take a break from point production and look at players who are contributing across multiple potential fantasy categories.

To gather the data for this review I ran the Multi-Category report on the Dobber Reports page. This report gives us basic scoring information as well as several peripheral categories that includes shots, hits, blocks, plus/minus, and penalty minutes. It also gives us some of those stats combined. All these categories are already split for us on a season and per game basis for easy analysis. For the purposes of this article, I am focusing on shots, hits, and blocks (no penalty minutes). All the data here is also going to focus on the 25-26 season, we won't be hitting projections in this specific review.

To make the tables we will be looking at, I have exported the report and done some rearranging of the columns to focus on the relevant information. The tables start with basic player information on the left (name, position, team) and then the current season information (games player, shots per game, hits per game, blocks per game, and combined blocks, shots, and hits).

Today we are going to specifically target forwards. The following table contains those players who are putting over two shots per game, about 1.5 hits per game or higher, and have the highest block rates. We actually had no forwards putting up over one block per game in the data, so we are getting the top list here.

Tom Wilson, Blake Coleman, and Timo Meier all made this list last year too, and though things have changed, not much has changed.

I am not sure there really needs to be much else said about Tom Wilson at this point. Wilson's overall peripheral contributions dropped again slightly in 25-26, but it was well within the range we have come to expect over the last five seasons for shots, hits, and blocks. On the plus side, he did also put up more points so that is helpful. He is still averaging a little over two shots but dropped from almost three hits to about two and a half, and dropped a bit in blocks as well. There are a bunch of new faces in Washington, so we will see if his time on ice changes significantly. Given that and his decreases of the last couple of years we might not see career highs in these categories in 26-27, but his track record is strong enough that he is still a good option.

Honestly, kind of copy/paste Wilson for Timo Meier. He is hitting this mark for about the 5th time in a row. His shot rates have fluctuated between three and four per game, his hit rates between about 1.5-2, and has generally been close to .8 blocks per game. He dropped a bit in blocks in 25-26 but increased his shots. He is certainly upholding his peripheral contributions, even if his point production hasn't necessarily been up to what folks were hoping after his transition to New Jersey.

For Blake Coleman, playing a supportive depth role is nothing new, and he has consistently been shooting and hitting at reasonable rates for several years. The blocking is a bit of a new addition, but he has now been doing it for three straight seasons. He will be turning 35 in November, so we have to imagine at some point this style of play will catch up with him, and we have a question mark about his usage on a new team, but there isn't currently a sign of slowing down.

Emil Heineman is a new addition this year and it really comes down to a jump in shot and block rates, as he has shown high hit rates in the past. The big difference in 25-26 is the over 16 minutes of average ice time he got compared to 11.5 the year prior. Given it is his first time with a larger role, we will see if he maintains it, but if that time on ice stays consistent, he should be a valuable peripheral contributor in 26-27.

Similarly, Dylan Holloway is a new entry here. His increased role on the team saw him increase all his peripheral contributions, though they were certainly reasonable prior to 25-26 as well. Holloway is certainly an intriguing addition to this list, as if the end of last season is any indication he has some exciting offensive upside to go along with his peripheral contributions. He is certainly someone to target in multi-cat leagues.

Since forwards are not necessarily known for blocking, managers don't always take that into account when considering multi-cat players. Shots, hits, and points though? A valuable combination. Everyone on the list below shoots more than two and a half times per game, hits more than 1.5 times per game, and puts up more than a 60-point pace in 25-26.

This is not a lot of new information for anyone. Alex Ovechkin, Brady Tkachuk, and Filip Forsberg have been on this list for years and we just discussed Holloway. There are a couple of question marks around Tkachuk as we will have to see what his deployment is like on a new team, and kind of the same with Ovechkin. He is returning to the same team, but it isn't really the same team. The Washington Capitals seem ready to turn the page from the Ovechkin era so it really isn't clear what kind of role he will get and how that will impact his contributions.

Adrian Kempe has been hitting this milestone for several years as well, though usually when we write up the list he doesn't make the three shot per game threshold. That accounts for Andrei Svechnikov, too. With a slightly lower shot threshold though, they are both excellent additions and certainly worth targeting in multi-cat leagues.

That is all for this week.

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