I realized this past week that it has been over 10 years writing at Dobber (September 2016 was my first appearance as a columnist). I started writing about hockey on the DobberHockey forums, posting in every thread I could find, both making a name for myself and having intelligent conversations about players and fantasy hockey strategies. All of those discussions really elevated how I viewed the game and how I evaluated individual players, trades, drafts, and more. It's a great place that both made me a better evaluator and kick-started my hockey writing. I actually found the best way that I grew my evaluation skills was being the first one to either comment on a thread, or to put in a dissenting opinion. What would follow afterwards was either reinforcement from others that I was on the right track, or a correction that would open my eyes to what my evaluation had missed – especially if I had explained my thinking.

I started writing the Capped column in Sept of 2016, about three months after joining my first cap league. There was a bit of imposter syndrome going on there, but regardless of the league format, finding value and winning formulas all comes back to the basics, and I was able to draw on that experience as a base and apply it to the cap league specifics. From there I branched out with cap league rankings, FA contract projections, more general writings, and also some dabbling in public scouting evaluations.

About five years ago, I took over from Cam Robinson and joined the editor core, trying to bring some fresh perspectives to the Ramblings, while keeping the core feeling of why I fell in love with reading them years ago. I have been writing for the site since before I got married, moved into my current home, had kids, and got promoted to my current job. It's fun to look back on milestones, and remember how far we have grown, and how much the league has changed in that time too.

Back then, I owned players like Shea Weber, Henrik Zetterberg, and Dustin Byfuglien, and was dominating Yahoo Public leagues. Nowadays I own players who were born after the Webers, Zetterbergs, and Byfugliens were already in the league. I also have fewer leagues, and they're both a bit more complex and have much better competition. It's more fun when it's more of a challenge (as long as you're not a sore loser) and you have leaguemates that are knowledgeable and fun to talk shop with. It may not be as in-person as it could be or used to be, but the connection can still be there.

I thought at this point now that we're a month into the season, I would take a quick look at my fantasy teams and whether to be worried, be patient, or to start making some tweaks – all with the purpose of allowing you to borrow the lens after and better evaluate your own standing at this point in time.

League #1: PQMC

12-team H2H-categories league, partial keeper

Current Rank: 6th

I have been in this league long enough to know that even if I was in 11^th right now I wouldn't be worried, because with my core group of keepers I can usually game my way up the standings by the end of the year based on some keen adds and drops, as well as buying a couple of specific targets midway through the season when other teams start selling (paying draft picks for next year).

I have played a mixed bag of teams thus far, two currently in playoff spots and two on the outside. I have also been getting by without Aleksander Barkov, who makes a big impact at C with his FOWs instead of me having to look to stream those by the end of the week to keep up. Recently bailing on Tristan Jarry will hopefully help me in the long run too.

I'm shopping for an upgrade on the wings, and would be willing to give up the future potential on Carter Yakemchuk here for an upgrade at forward. It's a balance with defencemen being tough to fill out keeper slots for sometimes, but I feel like by the end of the year I should be able to buy another one who covers our categories more anyways.

League #2: Thornton's Beard

Eight-team H2H-categories league, full redraft

Current Rank: 6^th

In this league I typically limit myself with an internal team rule at the draft that I stick to all season This year I decided that after selecting Macklin Celebrini first overall, that I would limit my team to only rostering players 25 or younger. In previous years I have done only Leafs/Oilers (that was a hard one), only European players, only Western Conference players, etc.

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The group I play with here is a real-life friend group though, so it's not as competitive, and I do this to limit my spot in the standings and add a quiet layer of fun and challenge for myself. All that to say, sitting in a playoff spot early in the season as I get Aleksander Nikishin, Connor Bedard, and Wyatt Johnston back, I'm feeling pretty good about things. I own Yarolav Askarov and Spencer Knight here, as reliable goalies 25 and under are very tough to find. Defencemen are proving to be a bit of a challenge there, so I'm keeping my eye on the wire, having recently grabbed the multi-category coverage of Tyler Kleven to fill an injury void.

League #3: She's a Keeper

Eight-team H2H-categories league, partial keeper

Current Rank: 2nd

With a loaded set of keepers, a solid draft, and some injury luck thus far, I'm fairly content with where the team is at. The goaltending has been a little suspect between Karel Vejmelka, Spencer Knight, and Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen, so I would ideally like to find an upgrade there. Not something I'm desperate and going to over-extend for though.

League #4: RHRS

12-team ROTO league, full redraft

Current Rank: 10th

This is the one I'm the most concerned about. I wasn't happy with my defence or my goaltending post-draft, and made a couple trades with Joel Eriksson Ek and Lukas Dostal going out in separate deals to bring back Dougie Hamilton and Mackenzie Blackwood. My offence has also been slow out of the gate, thanks to colder than expected starts from Mitch Marner, Brady Tkachuk, Martin Necas, and others, along with missing Jake Sanderson for about 10 games. I do think that the 10^th overall spot in the standings isn't reflective of where this roster should be by the end of the season, but it's definitely a roster with holes that will likely have to be filled via the waiver wire.

I'm trying not to panic here, but if by the quarter mark of the NHL season I'm still 9^th or below, then it will be time to flip the switch into a new level of worry.

League #5: WHL

24-team H2H-points, salary cap league, for all intents and purposes this is a dynasty league

Current Rank: 8th

Right now, my team has been missing Aleksander Barkov all season, and is sitting 6^th in points for, so holding down the final playoff spot seems like a reasonable spot to be. I expect to have the team up in the top-five by the end of the regular season, with a good chance at doing some damage in the playoffs. For now though I'm still tinkering with the bottom half of the roster, while the top half is mostly set.

I'm not worried about this team per-se, but I am getting a bit of an itchy trigger finger though as the top team in Point-For is starting to inch away from the pack, and there is a cash prize for that at the end of the year that I think I can be in contention for. As it's a dynasty league, I do want to keep the longer game in mind, though my window is the next four years, so anything that makes me better this year technically fits that window anyways.

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I am trying to leverage my depth at RW and some available cap space in order to find some upgrades, but other teams are also seeming to think it's a little early to be making big moves, so there haven't been many offers on the table yet.

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Kent Johnson picked up three points for Columbus to bring his season pace up to a point per game. He's shooting more per game than he ever has, which will hopefully keep his value up as the shooting percentage comes back down.

Noah Cates scored his first goal and only third point of the season for the Flyers in the loss. Dan Vladar stopped only 11 of 15 shots.

Cole Knuble is the first of a few prospects that I'll mention as players I recently added in my dynasty league and might be worth taking a look at in your leagues too. He may stand at only five-foot-10, but the 22-year old Knuble was one of the standouts in camp and has made certain that the Flyers will hesitate to send him down again based on the effort and high level of play he has shown to this point. He was skating on the "top" line with Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak last night, and thus far has two goals through four games.

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Semyon Varlamov was looking for his first win of the season and after allowing three goals in the second-half of regulation time, he had to go all the way to a shootout to pick it up. In four games this season he has been solid, which is all the Isles need from him backing up Ilya Sorokin.

Dryden Hunt notched his first point with the Predators, while Filip Forsberg was the only two-point scorer in the game. Bo Horvat did pick up a goal in the game and the shootout clinching marker though, for leagues that count such things.

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If you're an owner of a Winnipeg goalie at the moment, then ~~I'm sorry~~ here's a possible outline for the upcoming back-to-back schedule. It does seem likely that Nico Daws will get his first start in Winnipeg soon.

Meanwhile, the Florida power play continues to feast, and Seth Jones is holding his value as one of the best mid-range defenceman picks, picking up three power play assists last night.

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Alexander Nikishin has arrived at Canes practice. After signing a very small (relatively small – it is still $3 Million after all) one-year bridge deal which would lead him to having arbitration rights next summer.

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Connor Hellebuyck made his New Jersey Devils debut, and he put on a show with a big win, although he only had to make 16 saves and couldn’t hold onto the shutout. Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and Luke Hughes each had two points in the win while Justin Hryckowian had the only goal for the Stars.

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On the second night of a back to back after lighting up the Rangers on Monday night, the Kings fell flat to Chicago, with their fourth line supplying their only goal of the evening. Anton Forsberg can’t be blamed for not doing his part, as he stopped 25 of 27, but Spencer Knight had 25 saves of his own to earn the win.

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Brayden Klimpke is off to a really hot start in the WHL this year with 15 points in 12 games, and has an interesting profile as a slick and intelligent offensive defenceman. He was selected in the 4^th round by the Habs in the 2026 draft, in part thanks to a massive growth spurt over the past couple years that saw him grow eight inches and nearly double his body weight. It's early and the scoring could just be a blip on the radar, but I'm always intrigued by the smaller skilled players who have very late growth spurts and suddenly have some size to play with too.

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Notes on the four later start games in the morning.

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