The Detroit Red Wings and Dylan Larkin released a joint statement on Friday announcing that Larkin will report to training camp next week, but he will no longer serve as the team's captain. The Red Wings also addressed Larkin's trade request by saying they will deal with his situation once a new GM is hired.

The Red Wings have been searching for a new GM since mid-July, when Steve Yzerman announced that he would step down once a successor is found. On one hand, it seems like the Wings should be expediting this hire a bit more to deal with what could turn into a negative situation inside the dressing room. However, Larkin is also under contract, and the Wings are under no obligation to trade him just to get it out of the way. Either way, the Red Wings seem like a team to fade in your fantasy drafts. Larkin is still worth drafting in nearly all formats, and his value could even improve with a move to a better team.

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John Klingberg announced his retirement on Friday. Klingberg finished the 2025-26 season with 27 points in 56 games for the Sharks. He should be remembered the most as a high-scoring defenseman for Dallas, which is where he recorded a career high of 67 points in 2017-18. Unfortunately, he had been dealing with chronic hip issues and surgeries the past few seasons. All the best to him in retirement.

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Connor Ingram has also decided to retire, making the announcement via his Instagram account late Friday. After a solid season with the Oilers (32 GP, 2.60 GAA, .899 SV%), the 29-year-old Ingram did not sign anywhere during the offseason. Ingram appeared in 134 career NHL games for Nashville, Arizona, Utah, and Edmonton. Ingram, who won the Masterton Trophy in 2024, has stated that his goal is to return to school for psychology. All the best to him as well in his future endeavors.

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As a follow up to Bubble Keeper Week, I have been restocking my team with free agents after my keeper deadline. My team entered the slow auction mostly filled, so I was not able to add any top-tier free agents due to minimal cap space with the need to fill roster spots on top of that.

Despite the limits on my transactions, I am making a series of bets on certain players, which I'll share with you. These are mostly smaller bets, as I need to focus on quantity more than quality this season. On top of that, I need injury replacements for all of Connor Bedard, Brad Marchand, and Kevin Fiala, as all could miss the start of the season. I could be my league's version of the Florida Panthers this season, as I'm already dealing with a rash of injuries after winning my league title last season.

That all being said, one particular player is clearly my most important add. His success or failure could shape my team for many years to come. I'll start off with that player.

Adam Fantilli will take another step forward

In my dynasty league, center was the one position that I needed to upgrade the most. I had one maximum contract that I could use, and I identified four young available centers as targets for my long-term deal. Ranked in order, they were Wyatt Johnston, Fantilli, Will Smith (C-eligible in Fantrax), and Quinton Byfield.

With this being an auction league, Johnston and Smith went well over my tight budget quickly. Fantilli fit in perfectly, with his final price exactly one penny over what I had budgeted to acquire a center. Byfield turned out to be over my budget as well, although that happened after I won Fantilli. In the end, I received the player I wanted, although I know I am taking a risk by paying for future production instead of past production. Think of it as like Zeev Buium's real-life contract with Vancouver.

Here are some reasons that you should target Fantilli:

• He finished the 2025-26 season with 29 points in 32 games
• He is turning 22 in October and on his breakout threshold (213 career games)
• A 2-minute-per-game increase in icetime from the first quarter (17:24) to the fourth quarter (19:30) in 2025-26

One minor detail: Fantilli is still an unsigned RFA. If you're drafting him as a sleeper, keep that in mind in case his contract situation drags into training camp or even into the regular season. 

Ryan O'Reilly can maintain a 65-point pace, at least early in the season

📉 Ryan O'Reilly was fantastic last season — but I'm expecting some regression.

He put up 25 goals, 49 assists and 74 points in 81 games for Nashville last year.

I've got him at 83 GP, 24 goals, 43 assists and 67 points this season.

That's still very useful fantasy… https://t.co/0IWdj40yGD pic.twitter.com/CgxAcetBCD

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) September 10, 2026

In response to this post, I wasn't expecting O'Reilly to reach 70 points again when I added him. I'm fine with him scoring at about a 60-65-point pace. Unlike Fantilli, I'm only investing in O'Reilly short term. That term may only last as long as Connor Bedard is out of my lineup.

The veteran O'Reilly seems like a known commodity for his reliability and leadership, but his 82-game point paces have been all over the map over the past five seasons: 61, 46, 69, 55, and then 75 last season. That can be partially attributed to him playing for three different teams over that span (St. Louis, Toronto, and Nashville). O'Reilly is on a contract season this season, which could give him the incentive to work toward at least one more NHL contract. However, if Nashville decides to sell, O'Reilly could easily end up as a defensive matchup depth piece on a stronger team, which could really hurt his scoring.

Pavel Zacha's regression won't be substantial

Yes, I'm fully aware that Zacha rode a career-high 65 points benefitting from an inflated 22.9 SH% and 13.0 5-on-5 SH%. I'm also aware that Zacha's top linemate Viktor Arvidsson signed with the Red Wings in the offseason. Multiple Dobber writers have pegged Zacha as a regression candidate, and I won't argue with that.

I added Zacha because I need help at center, and his price was fairly reasonable. A player that seems primed for a scoring downturn isn't necessarily a player you should stay away from. You just have to be careful not to draft the player too high, or at least with the expectation that he can repeat the previous season's performance.

Zacha should remain on the top power play for the Bruins, and some even-strength shifts with David Pastrnak could even help offset the expected decline. It's worth noting that Zacha did not line up with Pastrnak for most of 2025-26, although that pairing should not be assumed.

Anton Forsberg will finish with a similar number of starts as Darcy Kuemper

We've seen this on a smaller scale already, as Kuemper's poor second half resulted in him splitting starts with Forsberg. Because Forsberg was the stronger goalie at the end of the season, he was able to start for the Kings during the playoffs. Forsberg's overall season numbers (2.54 GAA, .910 SV%, 58.3 QS%) were better than Kuemper's (2.78, .891 SV%, 48.0 QS%), which could make this one of the more interesting goalie battles.

As a follow-up to my Bubble Keeper Week writeup on Forsberg, I was able to re-acquire Forsberg at a much lower price during free agency bidding than I would have been had I kept him. (I also have Kuemper on my team, so Forsberg is merely insurance.) Forsberg is not necessarily a goalie you need to draft in anything but deeper leagues (which is what this is), but he could become a very popular waiver-wire add during the season. Kuemper has the starting goalie salary compared to Forsberg, which makes Kuemper the safer Kings goalie to draft.

Jordan Spence will record more points than Thomas Chabot

A fourth-round pick of Los Angeles in 2019, Spence has defied the odds. The Kings had no choice but to grant him an NHL spot with 87 points in 102 AHL games over two seasons. Over each of his past three seasons, his point totals have marginally improved. In his first season in Ottawa, the Senators were impressed enough that they gave him a four-year contract extension. That should secure a place for the 25-year-old in the lineup going forward.

On the other hand, Chabot has battled injuries and losing his spot on the top power play to Jake Sanderson. I wrote more about Chabot during Bubble Keeper Week, so this is effectively saying that I have chosen Spence over Chabot. On top of that, the price for Chabot turned out to be double what I paid for Spence. Neither defenseman will oust Sanderson from PP1, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if Spence is chosen for that spot if Sanderson is injured. The Senators also have rookie Carter Yakemchuk, who could outscore them both before too long.

Sam Malinski will see more power-play duty this season

Staying on the subject of offensive-minded defensemen that won't cost a ton, Malinski cracked 40 points last season despite averaging less than 18 minutes per game. Like Spence, Malinski is signed for four more years, so he shouldn't be going anywhere. Malinski's icetime probably won't increase a ton from that given the depth on defense and all of the minutes that Cale Makar eats, but he at least deserves a case for more power-play time.

Only one of Malinski's 40 points last season came on the man advantage, while he logged just 4.4% of the Avalanche's available minutes. Do you know who else on the Avalanche recorded just one power-play point last season? Devon Toews, who averaged second-unit power-play minutes over 68 games. I'd make a strong case for Malinski on PP2, and he should even be considered for PP1 if Makar is injured. 

Other players I have added to my team: Vince Dunn, Jake DeBrusk, Tony DeAngelo, Arturs Silovs.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social