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 people have been asking me about Jason Robertson, and why he’s below expectations this year. I’ve been high on him as a 90-point player with 110-point potential for years now, and some of these notes I’ve been getting have been politely suggesting that I was wrong. But I don’t see it that way. He had 79 points in 74 games in his second year, and 109 points in his third year. He ‘fell’ last year to 80 points, and now (at time of writing) we’re 20 games in and he only has 12 points. Listen. We see 90-point players fall off by 20 or 30 points for a couple of years all the time, and then they bounce back to 90 again. To get 109 points like he did, and then repeat it over and over again – that’s Nikita Kucherov territory. That’s elite player territory.

Robertson is not struggling because of any depth chart or linemates. He’s THE guy in Dallas. Period. He could play with you on one wing and me at center and he’ll still get his points. Robertson missed training camp (cyst removed from his foot). To me, that automatically buys 20 games of leeway, as that essentially becomes his training camp. Factor in the injury and playing through some discomfort (or pain) early on, and his production is easily explainable. I don’t know how his foot is feeling right now, as I’m not him. I can’t say for sure whether he will get back to his old self in a few games, or if this season will just be a write-off. But if it is, and he ends up with a measly 50 points (his current pace), then he is a massive buy-low opportunity in keeper leagues because I am confident he gets back up over a point-per-game next year, after a full summer of recovery. (nov27)

2. My Team Canada goalies are Logan Thompson (starter), with Cam Talbot as the backup. The No.3 is between Samuel Montembeault, who is getting better the closer he approaches 30, and Jordan Binnington. I’m not a fan of Binnington, and even less so after his performance at last year’s World’s, so I’ll go with Montembeault as the No. 3. Thompson has been the best goalie of the four, with Talbot next. But Talbot tends to get ice cold at times, so I’d be more comfortable with him as the backup. He brings a great veteran presence, too. You can compare all four of these goalies, along with a fifth goalie in Adin Hill, at a quick glance here.

Mackenzie Blackwood blah blah blah. Yeah, yeah, I know. But I wouldn’t touch Blackwood for this with a 10-foot pole. Not even a blip on my radar. Zero trust in him. He needs to put together some consistency first. (nov27)

3. The Top CHL USA Top Prospects game (CHL vs. USNTDP) in London was Tuesday. Wednesday it was in Oshawa. I didn’t get to see the Tuesday game, but CHL won it 6-1 and Matthew Schaefer was apparently a beast, solidifying his chances of going first overall with a goal and an assist. DobberProspects recently released their 2025 Draft Rankings and you can check it out here. (nov27)

4. It’s good to be back, if only for a one-off for now. It’s just great to dip my toes in the fantasy hockey waters again, beyond just keeping up with my three keeper leagues and Dobbernomics.  (- Dobber)

I figure some of you may want an update on my health – and hey, maybe some of you don’t know anything about it. So I’ll provide a quick summary.

In 2017 I was diagnosed with MDS which spiraled quickly into AML (leukemia). I had a stem-cell transplant from an unrelated donor and, although I’m glossing over the messy details, I beat it and was cancer-free for six years. Last year in October I was told that the AML had returned and I would need another stem-cell transplant from an unrelated donor. AML stifles your immune system… (nov27)

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5. The knives are out on the Rangers. (Comparing them to the NFL Giants and Jets? Nasty!) Along with being out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury, Chris Kreider is rumored to be on the trade block. Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller have also been mentioned in recent trade rumors. No Rangers skaters are in the middle of deep slumps at the moment, but a bunch of players reside on the Frozen Tools cold list. Those include Trouba, Miller (0 PTS in 5 GP), and Kreider (1 PT since November 12). This might be nothing more than a usual slump that teams go through every season, but maybe something else is brewing. Something we’re not used to seeing from Igor Shesterkin: four consecutive losses. Three of those four losses have been quality starts for Shesterkin, while he has faced over 40 shots in two of those games. (nov30)

6. Jake Walman might be the most surprising defenseman in all of fantasy this season. Walman now has 19 points in 22 games, including seven points in his last five games. Walman has taken the opportunity of top even-strength and top power-play minutes and run with it. Just four points from his career best, Walman has a track record that suggests he will cool down at some point. The baby Sharks are just having fun with zero expectations, and he’s along for the ride.

With eight goals and 14 points in 15 games, Macklin Celebrini is right back in the mix for the Calder Trophy after missing time with a lower-body injury. (nov30)

7. Philipp Grubauer has just one win in eight games and as many really bad starts as quality starts (3 of each). The Seattle net now belongs to Joey Daccord, who is playing well enough to warrant consideration for Canada at the Four Nations… if he wants to play for Canada. Meanwhile, I wonder if Grubauer gets bought out this offseason. (nov30)

8. In six games this season, Marc-Andre Fleury has yet to be tagged with a regulation loss (5-0-1). On Friday, he made 20 saves in a 3-2 win over Chicago. He isn’t starting very frequently, but he is one of the better goalies to stream with the Wild playing as well as they have this season. (nov30)

9. Kirill Marchenko in particular is hot with seven points over his last four games. In spite of what was perceived to be a weak offense entering the season, both he and Zach Werenski are currently sitting above the point-per-game mark. At time of writing, Marchenko was still available in about two-thirds of Yahoo leagues. (nov30)

10. In their first game with new (old) coach Jim Montgomery behind the bench, the St. Louis Blues went into Madison Square Garden and beat the New York Rangers 5-2. Zack Bolduc scored his first goal of the season in the second period and then scored his second goal of the season in the third period. It is the first two-goal game of his NHL career. He finished the game with seven shots, a block, and four PIMs. (nov26)

Last Sunday, the Blues fired head coach Drew Bannister and replaced him with Montgomery – who the Bruins had fired five days ago. Read Ian’s take on the fantasy implications of this move here.  

11. David Pastrnak has a lot of ground to make up if he is to challenge for the Rocket Richard Trophy. Pastrnak has now been held without a goal in seven games. Pasta leads the league with 100 SOG, so eventually the goals have to start going in again. However, it appears that he hasn’t benefited from the coaching change thus far.

Meanwhile, things have turned around for Jeremy Swayman since Joe Sacco took over from Jim Montgomery. Swayman now has three consecutive quality starts, allowing a combined four goals over that span. Before the coaching change, Swayman had a 3.47 GAA and .884 SV%. So if there’s anything to pull, it’s that the Bruins have been better defensively, but the scoring hasn’t improved. The Bruins now have a combined seven goals over their last six home games. The Beantown faithful can’t be happy about that. (nov30)

12. The Canucks’ injury situation might be getting worse before it gets better. According to multiple reports, Filip Hronek is expected to be out for a while after being injured late in Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Hronek is valuable to the Canucks as Quinn Hughes‘s partner on the top pair and a mainstay on the second power-play unit. The Canucks’ depth on defense drops considerably after that, which could affect the numbers of Kevin Lankinen, Arturs Silovs, and Thatcher Demko (once he is ready to return). (nov29)

13. Thanksgiving/Thursday didn’t feature any NHL games, likely to accommodate the NFL schedule. That gave us an opportunity to pull names that have appeared in the Frozen Tools popular profiles recently. Here are a few (stats at time of writing): (nov29)

Kent Johnson

Like Cuylle, Johnson has a lot of red on his Advanced Stats (30.8 SH%, 5.0 PTS/60, 66.7 5v5 SH%. He won’t continue to score at over a point per game. However, Johnson has more scoring upside and he’s being given top-6 minutes and first-unit power-play time on a Blue Jackets team that has no reason to push him down the lineup. Moreover, Johnson has points in all seven games he has played this season, with a total of 10 points overall. He’s just 14% rostered in Yahoo, which might be due to his overall stats being lower because of the games missed. That percentage could pick up soon, though. (nov29)

Dmitri Voronkov

Another name from the Blue Jackets, who have piled up 20 goals over the past four games. Voronkov had a late start to the season, as he missed all of October because of an upper-body injury. After a slow start (1 PT in 6 GP), he has been heating up recently with seven points over his last six games. In addition to that, Voronkov has been receiving cuts on the top power play. If Johnson isn’t available, then Voronkov (4% Yahoo/29% Fantrax) is also a solid option with the Jackets playing four games next week. He also has his share of red (21.7 SH%, 11.5 5v5 SH%, 2.7 PTS/60, 66.7 Sec Asst%), but he is getting the opportunity. For those reasons, I recently added Voronkov in one of my leagues. (nov29)

14. Juraj Slafkovsky

With a goal and an assist on Wednesday, Slafkovsky broke a five-game point drought and a 14-game goal drought. Yet in just 19 games, Slafkovsky has just two goals. He was forced to miss a few games because of a shoulder injury, so that may have been affecting him. His recent icetime has been a concern, as he has played just 11:29 and 13:04 over his last two games. Slafkovsky has also been moved off the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and onto a secondary scoring line with Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak. Despite all that, Slafkovsky is on a better scoring pace than he was last season. Hold for now in case he is moved back onto the top line, but he might be the player you bench on busy nights. (nov29)

Olen Zellweger

In a rebuilding state with a lot of young players, the Ducks are the kind of team in which top-line and power-play icetime could be in flux from season to season. Last season Pavel Mintyukov was on the top power play, then veteran Cam Fowler took over. This season Zellweger has received his turn. Four of his 10 points have been with the man advantage, so it looks like he could stay there for now. Yet the Ducks have other options to turn to if he can’t get it done on the power play. Zellweger has been finding his way onto the scoresheet in general recently with six points over his last six games. (nov29)

15. Dylan Guenther

Guenther is now rostered in over half of Yahoo leagues, and he won’t likely be dropped anytime soon since he is scoring at nearly a point per game (20 PTS in 22 GP). Guenther was hot to start the season, and he has been hot recently (6 PTS in last 3 GP). Although a 13.7 5v5 SH% and 1080 PDO are significantly higher than how he has produced in his limited NHL duty, he shouldn’t be hit massively by regression due to consistent shot rates and icetime in all situations. Guenther looks like the real deal. (nov29)

Lane Hutson

With Mike Matheson missing the past two games, Hutson has jumped onto the Canadiens’ top power play. Despite the obvious team struggles all season, the Habs have actually had one of the league’s better power plays. Depending how long Matheson is out, the offensively gifted Hutson could stand to benefit and is worth an immediate pickup (33% Yahoo) where available. Note that his next goal will be his first NHL goal, as all of his career points (14 PTS in 24 GP) have been assists. (nov29)

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16. Some stats at the quarter mark of the season, per the NHL:

• 77.6% of the goals were scored at even strength. This is the highest percentage in 51 years.
• It’s the first time in 30 years (so far) that we have back-to-back seasons of 0.902 SV% or lower.
• Seven players are on pace for a 120-point season
• Hardest shot recorded so far is from Tage Thompson at 104.69 MPH
• Fastest skating speed recorded so far is from Steven Stamkos at 24.20 MPH
• Most 90+ MPH shots this season is from Victor Hedman at 21
• Most miles skated in a single game was from Travis Sanheim at 4.69 miles. (nov27)

17. Nashville made news on Monday, trading Philip Tomasino to Pittsburgh for a fourth-round pick in 2027. Tomasino has had good per-minute production at times for the Predators, and it’s a wonder if he’ll get a top-6 role with the Penguins. Surely, things can’t go worse for Pittsburgh, but that also seems to be the case for Nashville and yet here we are. (nov26)

18. What a season John Tavares is having. As he handed Auston Matthews the captaincy this summer, I think many expected the theme of relinquishing control would extend to the scoresheet as well. Tavares was coming off a 67-point pace, which had been his lowest output in recent seasons. Yet surprisingly, at 34 years of age, he’s rediscovered his youthful prime to post 21 points in 22 games this season. (nov25)

19. It’s been a frustrating season for Kirby Dach, who’s still shaking off cobwebs after missing almost all of last season due to a torn MCL and ACL in his knee. He hasn’t found the scoresheet much this year, but some of that seems fuelled by bad luck as his current shooting percentages are uncharacteristically low. At time of writing, Dach had just one goal despite boasting 5.7 individual expected goals (ixG), adding weight to the bad luck/shaky confidence theory. Although the results thus far haven’t been great, he remains in a prime position to succeed, seeing a prominent role in both the top six and first power-play unit. He acknowledged a need to elevate his play after a particularly poor performance last Saturday against Vegas, so let’s see if he can start to turn things around this week. Dach provides an extra bit of value in leagues that track hits, averaging roughly two per game. However, you may want to stay away if your league tracks plus/minus, as he’s among the league’s worst in that stat, currently sitting at a minus-18. (nov25)

20. Coach Luke Richardson seems to be shuffling Connor Bedard all over the Blackhawks' lineup to find the right combination, and it isn’t working given the team’s lack of scoring depth. Richardson is also reportedly trying to work with Bedard on the defensive aspects of his game, which isn’t helping the offensive totals. I view Bedard as more of a hold than a drop in single-season leagues, as he possesses far more upside than any waiver-wire flavor of the week. (nov24)

21. Playing on Jack Eichel‘s line is turning Ivan Barbashev into a fantasy star this season. A player who has only surpassed 50 points once in his career, Barbashev is now over a point per game (27 PTS in 25 GP). The Eichel-Barbashev-Mark Stone (now injured) trio has been the league's top even-strength line this season, according to Frozen Tools. 

There is still some buyer beware with Barbashev, as he is still a low-volume shooter (under 1.8 SOG/GP) with a high shooting percentage (26.7 SH%). Even if the scoring dips, Barbashev is still averaging about two hits per game, so he should still hold bangers league value. (nov24)

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Be sure to also grab your copy of the 2024 Dobber Fantasy Hockey Prospects Report!

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Have a good week, folks!

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