For the last 21 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 22^nd annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead and the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Dylan Coghlan, Jake Guentzel, Calvin De Haan, Maxime Lajoie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Brett Pesce, Jesse Puljujarvi, Brady Skjei, Teuvo Teravainen

Incoming –  William Carrier, Tyson Jost, Jack Roslovic, Riley Stillman, Sean Walker

Impact Of Changes – We've all seen the headlines surrounding this Carolina team, but take deep breaths, Carolina fans, and repeat…the Canes…are going…to be fine. Here's why. They lose signing Jake Guentzel to the Lightning, but if we're being honest here, that was a player that was bound to be a rental. Brady Skjei winds up in Nashville, but on a contract with a pretty steep AAV. And Teuvo Teravainen goes back to Chicago, but he's a player who was off and on the man advantage and wasn't really a staple in the top six for large chunks of this season. Carolina still has a good blueline and if healthy, a good enough top six to still be very competitive in the Eastern Conference.

This is also a club that was the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup four months ago and could have taken out the Rangers in a series that could have gone either way. The one impact that we're not taking into account that could have hurt this club because of the timing, was Kuznetsov's decision to go play in the KHL. A later decision for him, meant that Carolina might not have been as involved in signing someone up the middle for a third-line center, and although Kuznetsov doesn't move the needle like he once did, this is still a player that at the end of the day is 32 years old that could have potentially helped this club.

Ready For Full Time – Let's discount Pyotr Kochetkov here as he has had long runs with the NHL club during parts of the past two seasons, and also going to discredit Ty Smith here as well because he's a player that's already played over 120 NHL games. There's a good chance that Smith plays on the Carolina blueline at times this season, but he's not necessarily a prospect that will drive much interest in fantasy.

Carolina does have optimism at the defensive position though, and that is 22-year-old prospect Alexander Nikishin, who could be making his NHL debut later this season. Nikishin (6-3, 196 lbs), has been playing in the KHL and has led the league in points by a defensemen the last two seasons. There's reason to believe when the season ends with SKA St. Petersburg, he will ultimately join the Hurricanes because his contract expires then.  

As far as forward prospects go, one name to keep an eye on will be Bradly Nadeau, who finished with 37 games played at the University of Maine while putting up a 19-27-46 season. This may be a player to target in dynasty leagues, as there is a possibility that he makes the NHL club out of training camp, and it helps that he can play both left and right wings. Nadeau was the 30^th overall pick in 2023 and there's reason to believe that even if he doesn't make the Hurricanes out of camp that he still arrives in the NHL at some point during the regular season.

Fantasy Outlook – Andrei Svechnikov is the top name here to highlight, circle, star, whatever ya gotta do. If healthy, Svechnikov could easily be a 75-78-point player as in the past two seasons alone he has failed to appear in 65 games, but still finished at an 82 GP Pace of 71 points. This was also a player that was more unlucky than good to start the season coming off an LBI, as his SOG/G were high but had a plethora of pucks missing the net and hitting the iron. Svechnikov is also a great two-way player for fantasy, finishing with over 142 hits and 25 blocks in just 59 GP.

Two players to keep an eye on potentially later in fantasy drafts will be Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis. They might not be the most consistent fantasy players night-to-night, but both looked outstanding these past playoffs. Jarvis in particular is entering his age 22-23 season, and has taken big strides each year. He is a player to have ready in your draft queue.

A name that could be a sleeper here might just be Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Maybe not so much for cap leagues, but just for standard leagues out there. In the first 21 games played last season, Kotkaniemi tallied 15 points. If he can put together a season resembling how he started last year, then he may be a player that you can add off of waivers if he begins to produce offensively as he'll likely go undrafted in any sized league.

On the blueline it's Brent Burns, but given his age (39) he isn't a draft priority. But if you are in need to fill up the defensive position group, then he becomes a great late-round option. Burns will likely quarterback the Carolina first power-play grouping.

For a fantasy grade…the top half of this forward grouping should still be fantasy-relevant, and while the blueline might not jump off the page for fantasy, this will be one of the better teams on defense in the league coming into the season. Goaltending will be what it has been the past couple of seasons, which is reliant on health. Yet there's enough in front of Frederik Andersen and Kochetkov that they could be a good duo this season. Even with the negativity that this club received with their exit against the Rangers and this offseason, good special teams and good goaltending are a recipe for good hockey.

Fantasy Grade – B (last year was a B)