Every Sunday, we share 21 Fantasy Rambles from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week’s 'Daily Ramblings'.

Writers/Editors: Ian Gooding, Michael Clifford, Alexander MacLean, Brennan Des and Dobber

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1. A lot of effort is put into prospects and rookies for fantasy hockey purposes because they are the building blocks of the future of any fantasy keeper/dynasty roster. It can cause us to look past the rookies we were invested in a year prior, so this is an update for that.

Let’s take a look at second-year players and how they’re performing when compared to their rookie year. Data from Frozen Tools and Evolving Hockey, unless otherwise indicated.

JJ Peterka

Despite Buffalo’s letdown season, Peterka has been a big bright spot. He has seen sizable increases in ice time per game as well as goals, points, shots, and blocks per 60 minutes. There has also been a small rise in assists/60. The play-driving has improved dramatically and while his shooting percentage has also jumped, it’s still just 11.5% and that’s more than manageable.

Peterka is a favourite across many of the Dobber writers and editors, and he’s showing the growth we want to see as fantasy managers. There is still more rounding to his game to do, particularly in some of his playmaking numbers (in the tracking data from AllThreeZones), but for a second-year player on a team that’s declined offensively, there are a lot of great signs. (jan23)

2. Owen Power

When discussing some of Buffalo’s problems this season, the blue line is a big part of it, Power included. Not only are his goals, assists, and shots per 60 minutes down from a year ago, which is bad news when coupled with his ice time drop of over 2:30 per game, but his offensive play-driving has cratered, too. That is not what fantasy owners want to see.

On the bright side, the tracking data has him improving his playmaking numbers, and the team is generating more chances off his zone entries than a year ago (he’s improved the zone entry numbers, too). He has also improved his hits and blocks per 60 minutes, so even with the loss of ice time, he’s likely to surpass those numbers from a year ago. At just 21 years old, there are no long-term concerns here, it’s just reasoning why his season hasn’t been as productive as his rookie year. (jan23)

[Follow the link for more…]

3. Entering Saturday action, no goalie has had more really bad starts than Igor Shesterkin (5) since January 1. Not surprisingly, Shesterkin’s struggles coincide with the Rangers’ roughest stretch of the season, where they've won only four times in their first 13 games this month. Looking at it from a different angle, Shesterkin has had only one really bad week in January, which is hardly the worst in the league. However, he had yet to post a quality week in January, which is something you’d expect from him over nearly a month.

Shesterkin’s track record shows that he should bounce back, so it will be interesting to see whether the All-Star break will give him some time to reset. He is participating in the game in spite of an .899 SV%, which is 40^th in the league among 58 goalies that have played in at least 15 games. Not exactly the best return on investment for those who drafted him in single-season leagues (15 ADP in Yahoo). (jan27)

4. Entering Wednesday, David Rittich had taken over the crease in LA, like Samuel Ersson (PHI), Alex Lyon (DET), Joey Daccord (SEA), and maybe even Nico Daws in New Jersey. With goalies you have to ride the hot-hand in season or you risk being left behind. Rittich is someone I am riding in a few leagues, and with goalies not often being traded at the deadline, it could just be internal hot hands cycled for the Kings. (jan24)

5. It’s been a tale of two seasons for Cam Talbot. The current story paints a grim picture.

– Talbot from October 11 to December 23: 14-6-2, 2.06 GAA, .925 SV%, 15 QS.
– Talbot since the holiday break: 0-7-3, 3.86 GAA, .881 SV%, 4 QS.

That’s right. Talbot’s last win was on December 23. He’s also been tagged with really bad starts in three of his last four games. Talbot was chased from the net in the first period after allowing three goals. The Kings have two more games before the All-Star break (@STL, @NSH), and it seems like David Rittich will be starting at least one of those games. Bench Talbot until things improve. Rittich might be worth a short-term pickup, although the Kings are having a very difficult time picking up wins at the moment.

6. The Avalanche have signed Zach Parise to a one-year contract worth $825,000. Parise should provide Colorado with scoring depth, which should help a team that seems to deal with more than its share of injuries (currently without Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin). A point-per-game scorer early in his career with the Devils and a fairly consistent scorer with the Wild, Parise has seen his scoring numbers drop to around a 35-point pace over the last three seasons. Expect the 39-year-old Parise to slot in at around the third line with possible second-unit power-play minutes for the Avalanche while making his debut after the All-Star break. (jan27)

7. Owen Tippett has used his time on IR to sign an eight-year, $49.2 million contract extension. The Flyers obviously view him as a major contributor going forward, which should make keeper owners more confident. Tippett is currently a bargain in cap leagues at $1.5 million per season, so cap leaguers will need to create more room for him starting next season. That being said, Tippett has demonstrated tremendous value in multicat leagues for his shot and hit totals, so he may be worth it. Also, the Claude Giroux trade has reaped benefits for the Flyers. (jan27)

8. Alex MacLean released his top-200 cap league rankings recently and it’s strongly encouraged to go check his projections for any fantasy hockey manager in a cap league.

His cap league goalie rankings are here, while his top-100 free agent salary projections are here, both also published late this week.

9. In wonderful injury-ish news, Calgary defenseman Oliver Kylington returned to the Flames lineup Thursday for his first regular season NHL game since April of 2022. He had been away from the game for nearly two years to deal with personal matters, and now he’s back in the NHL. Just really awesome stuff to see.

Kylington was a very impactful defenseman for Calgary back in 2021-22 and is still just 26 years old. If he can regain that form, he is a big boost to their blue line. (jan26)

10. In Thursday’s Ramblings, we went through forwards that have had a dual-threat nature to their offense this season. It is recommended that readers go check out the preamble there (and just the whole Ramblings) for more detail on what exactly it is we’re looking for.

In short, we are looking at shot attempts per 60 minutes (iCF/60) at all strengths and scoring chance assists per 60 minutes (SCA/60) at 5-on-5. Data for this will be taken from Natural Stat Trick and AllThreeZones.

The Top-10

We start at the top, and all the names make sense. Yesterday, we had a Danton Heinen Sighting among the top-10 forwards but there’s nothing like that when it comes to defensemen. For example:

When we look at those names, none of them should be much of a surprise. It is funny to see Cale Makar so far out in front of everyone else; that guy is just something very special. That he’s been able to stay healthy as a lot of Avs have had to leave the lineup for one reason or another is a big part of Colorado’s success this season, and fantasy managers surely appreciate it. (jan26)

11. The Next Six

It is an arbitrary cutoff, but the next six defensemen outside the top-10 is where things get interesting. We have a rookie, a Norris Trophy winner (and runner-up), two All-Stars, and two very underrated players. For example:

The returns of Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad, plus Oliver Ekman-Larsson‘s resurgence, has meant a lesser role for Gustav Forsling but he’s certainly made the most of his minutes. He had even been playing more per game at 5-on-5 than Ekblad up until Forsling’s injury, so it does seem as if coach Paul Maurice saw how good Forsling had been as well. He (along with names like Mike Hoffman and Mikey Eyssimont) is why players put on waivers should never be dismissed out of hand. Something fun: if Forsling doesn’t miss too much time, he could have his third straight season with at least 10 goals. (jan26)

12. Border Guys

Right around the first standard deviation mark – around the 26^th player on the list – are five names that are as varied by fantasy hockey relevance as they are by real-life relevance. For example:

At the start of the season, my assumption was Brandt Clarke would be on the Los Angeles roster and Jordan Spence would not. The reality is Spence has been in the lineup all season, outside of when he’s been scratched for Clarke, and the team has done very well with him on the third pair; that is especially true when he doesn’t have to drag Andreas Englund on the ice. Maybe Clarke ends up the better player long term, but Spence has been great in his rookie season. (jan26)

[Follow the link for the complete rundown]

13. Key players missing from any lineup is something that can really derail the season of any team (look at New Jersey, goaltending aside). That had been happening to Colorado as Gabriel Landeskog is out for the season, Sam Girard went into the Player Assistance Program, as did Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen has been out for over two months with his neck injury, and Bowen Byram for the last couple of weeks. Kudos to the Avalanche for keeping it together, honestly. The good news is that both Byram and Lehkonen returned to the lineup on Wednesday night. (jan25)

14. Victor Soderstrom was recalled after the Coyotes lost Troy Stetcher and Matt Dumba to injuries in recent days. He’s likely going to continue to see third pair/second unit power play duties as was the case with his other recalls. He scored nine points (three on the power play) in 30 games last season, and we can likely expect more of the same, as has been the case with his AHL numbers remaining consistent over the last three seasons as well. (jan24)

15. Even before the news of Carter Hart stepping away indefinitely was dropped, and now that we know he is gone for the foreseeable future, Samuel Ersson really does gain a ton of value. Cal Petersen was recalled from the AHL and will back-up Ersson but Petersen has been mediocre in the AHL this year, and was uninspiring in the NHL for two seasons prior to that. There isn’t much risk of him stealing a lot of playing time from Ersson. (jan24)

16. While we’re on the topic of goalies, the Leafs seem to have planned this Ilya Samsonov revival tour rather well. Martin Jones is struggling, and Joseph Woll is back skating. Regardless of how Samsonov plays over the next few games, either Samsonov plays his way back into the starter’s role, or he leaves the door wide open for Woll to step right back in soon after the All-Star break. (jan24)

17. Rick Roos’ monthly mailbag runs next week and he has room to answer plenty more questions. To get yours to him, you can either private message "rizzeedizzee" via the DobberHockey Forums or, instead, send an email to [email protected] with "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line. (jan24)

18. We had an unexpected recall of Olen Zellweger Tuesday, who is someone that could be very fantasy relevant in the second half if he sticks in the NHL – though realistically that may only be as long as Pavel Mintyukov is out of the lineup.

Regardless, it is fun to see Zellweger up at the NHL level, and between his talent and this kind of plum deployment, there’s definitely some short-term value. He recorded a power play assist to notch his first point in his debut. (jan24)

19. Dylan Holloway is lining up like a bottom-six center at the moment, which severely limits his upside this season, and does make one wonder how he’s viewed by the current regime. Especially in the meantime while the team is winning games he is unlikely to see his role drastically change. If he can keep producing with limited ice time though, then it bodes well for his future value, but in one-year leagues he’s not someone I’m holding onto much hope for. (jan24)

20. Edmonton officially announced the Corey Perry signing on Monday. Before we get too excited, the team doesn’t seem too keen on breaking up their top line, and the second line has been great with Warren Foegele next to Leon Draisaitl. At best, Perry will be on the second line without top PP time, and he could be in the bottom-6 without top PP time. Fantasy value will be tough to come by with those roles. (jan23)

21. Patrick Roy won his first game as head coach of the Islanders. He did it on the back of an excellent performance from Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 41 of the 43 shots directed his way. Sorokin has posted a save percentage above .920 in 15 of the 34 games (44%) he’s played this year. He’d accomplished that same feat in 22 of his first 34 games last year (65%). It’s no secret that Sorokin hasn’t been as good as he was last season, but it’ll be interesting to see if having one of the greatest goalies of all time as his head coach inspires better play down the stretch. (jan22)

[Fantasy Take: Roy Back in NHL with Islanders]

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Have a good week, folks!

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