Over the last few weeks, these Ramblings have been reviewing my fantasy hockey projections for the 2026-27 season. In Friday's Ramblings, the topic was multi-position centres and those who are more valuable as wingers than they are as centres. Contained in those Ramblings are a handful of links discussing draft values for shallow and deep league forwards/defencemen, goalies, rookies, and more. To get a primer on multi-position players, or links for prior Ramblings discussing the fantasy draft value for dozens of players, go check that out.

*

For a lot more fantasy information, including a draft list containing projections for all roster players across the league, go grab a copy of Dobber's 2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Guide, now available in the Dobber Shop!

*

In today's Ramblings, we're going to continue with multi-position players, but we're focusing on those with LW/RW designations. I am using a method called 'Z-Score' for fantasy value, which compares a player's output to a replacement-level option in a 12-team league. The fantasy stats used are goals, assists, shots, blocks, hits, and power-play points with data from Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, All Three Zones, and Frozen Tools. ADP data is from Fantrax.

As a refresher, using my projections and roster depth of 12-team leagues, left wingers are expected to be much less productive than right wingers, but have a huge average projection in hits:

If a player has both LW and RW eligibility, those whose value is derived from goals, assists, and power-play points are better off being used at LW. If their value comes from hits and blocks, they're better used at RW; it isn't quite that simple but it's a good guideline. Here are some dual-eligible wingers who have good draft values and should be used at left wing.

Eeli Tolvanen (New York Rangers)

Over the last three years, here is the list of players with at least 50 goals, 60 assists, 200 blocks, 400 shots, and 600 hits:

• Eeli Tolvanen

That is the entire list. (Tom Wilson was just shy in blocks.)

Tolvanen shot 8.5% in 2025-26 after being at least 10.5% in each of the prior three seasons, averaging 14% in that span. If he shoots 14% last season, he scores 20 goals, and it's a wonder if Seattle lets him walk.

Regardless, Tolvanen is on our list in a big way giving a lot more value as a left winger and also providing high draft value by ADP:

My projections for Tolvanen aren't sky-high with 21 goals, 22 assists, and 152 shots in 84 games, but there are a lot of blocks and hits here, so when we combine the modest goals/assist value with high peripheral value, we get a very useful multi-cat forward here. So far in training camp, Tolvanen has been skating on the third line, but injuries happen, and he is more than capable of overtaking Oliver Bjorkstrand for a second-line role. He might not be a target in shallower fantasy formats, but he's at least someone to keep an eye on early in the season.

Rickard Rakell (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Rakell missed 22 games last year and that seems to be hurting his reputation. We should remember what he did the year before when he had a 35/35 season across 81 games. If he can manage 75 appearances, he is a threat for 30 goals, 30 assists, 200 shots, 20 power-play points, 100 hits, and 60 blocks. That is great across-the-board coverage and a good draft value:

That Rakell can bring a solid amount of hits/blocks with very good production is what makes him stand out at left wing over right wing. In fact, his projected 84-game fantasy value as a left winger (5.16) is similar to that of Andrei Svechnikov at right wing (5.13). By ADP data on Fantrax, Rakell is around pick 130 and Svechnikov is around 74. That is a gap worth taking advantage of.  

I get the reticence because the Penguins are an aging team and everyone is waiting for the floor to fall out. Maybe that's this year. Then again, maybe it's not, and in a healthy season, Rakell's fantasy impact far outstrips where he's being drafted, and that is especially true as a left winger.

Mackie Samoskevich (Seattle Kraken)

On some level, it does worry me that my projections are moderately bullish on a few Kraken skaters as guys like Jared McCann, Matty Beniers, and Brandon Montour all grade out as solid draft values. We can add Samoskevich to that list:

In terms of value, Samoskevich is kind of like Tolvanen where the expected production isn't high – my outlook as him at 20 goals and 26 assists – but that is passable for a guy who can post near two shots and two hits per game. It is also nice to see him line up with Beniers and McCann on the top line so far in training camp, though things can and will change, perhaps very quickly.

That Samoskevich plays for the Kraken limits his upside. In five seasons, that franchise has produced four 60-point seasons from a forward, and three of them belong to McCann (the other was Jordan Eberle in 2022-23). Barring a lot of luck or some turn of events we can't see coming, it's hard to imagine Samoskevich having a monster 34-goal, 73-point season. He is still a good draft value, though, and fantasy managers in medium-to-deep formats should circle his name.  

William Eklund (Ottawa Senators)

Every year, there are a handful of players that fall into 'My Guy' category, and Eklund is definitely one of My Guys. He is already an excellent playmaker and is more than capable of 20 goals (he just can't shoot 8.5% as he did last year). My projections have him scoring his first 20-goal season, surpassing the 65-point plateau, and when we combine that production with the fact that he can be used at left wing, he appears on our list:

So far in training camp, Eklund has been lining up on the second line with Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund. I would prefer to see him with Tim Stutzle, but Eklund will get top power-play time, he'll be on the ice in empty-net situations, and I'm sure there'll be instances where he gets moved up to play with Stützle. Either way, Eklund is going to get a lot of ice time, and now he's on a team whose defencemen are capable of moving the puck from top to bottom. That matters.  

Vasily Podkolzin (Edmonton Oilers)

In one of the bigger surprise lineup configurations in training camp, the Oilers have gone straight to a top line duo of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. The third wheel isn't Zach Hyman or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but Podkolzin. With that in mind, he's on our LW/RW list today:

My projections assumed Podkolzin would skate half his 5-on-5 time with Draisaitl, but almost none with McDavid. It is safe to say that if the training camp combination sticks for a substantial length of time, that equation changes.

My projection for Podkolzin isn't that high – 17 goals and 20 assists – but that he can bring a good amount of hits and blocks make the most of that modest production. And if that training camp top line can stick for a month or two? He should be a good draft value regardless, but there is very high multi-cat upside here if all the pieces fall into place.

Zachary Bolduc (Montreal Canadiens)

I wanted to quickly mention Bolduc. He grades out as a good draft value, but clearly for deeper leagues as his ADP falls outside the top 300. Bolduc is projected for roughly 15 goals and 19 assists with 1.5 shots, 0.5 blocks, and 1.9 hits per game. That is good category coverage for a multi-cat league, and it's also with a projected TOI rate of 13:30 per game. If he can somehow get close to the 15-minute mark, he becomes a great value. He is a solid draft target as it is, but there is upside here if he can earn some more ice time, though with Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and Ivan Demidov, plus the signing of Chris Kreider, that may be tough to do.