Hi there, it's Ian filling in for Alex, who is receiving some much-needed time off.

Late Monday night, the Sabres signed RFA defenseman Bowen Byram to a two-year extension with a cap hit of $6.25 million. Byram had been rumored to be on the trade block, but in the end GM Kevyn Adams agreed to sign him. The two-year contract signals only a short-term agreement between the Sabres and Byram, who will walk straight to unrestricted free agent status once the contract expires. Of course, Byram could also be traded during the contract, especially if the Sabres continue to struggle and need to continue to build up futures.

I wrote more about Byram earlier here, which included teams that could provide better power-play opportunities than the Sabres. As it stands, Byram will likely be on the second power play again behind Rasmus Dahlin, although he should also gain plenty of minutes on the top pair with Dahlin. Byram averaged 22:42 of icetime in 2024-25, which represented a career high. That counts for something, but Buffalo is still not the ideal place for him fantasy-wise.

On a personal note, I acquired Byram for Jackson LaCombe earlier this year in a keeper salary cap league. If I were to compare the two, LaCombe could be ranked slightly higher in single-season leagues based on point totals last season and power-play roles, but that could easily change for both players. The other team really wanted LaCombe and didn't want to part with Byram, but I held firm with my asking price. I am a big Byram fan from his junior days from the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, so I may regard him more highly than others. This is probably a trade that I'll be thinking about for years.

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The Utah Mammoth have re-signed Michael Carcone to a one-year extension worth $775,000. Carcone registered 19 points in just 53 games for the Hockey Club last season, with games missed due to both injury and being a healthy scratch. The season before, Carcone was the unlikeliest 20-goal scorer in the league, finishing with 21 goals while riding a high 18.9 SH% and averaging just 1.5 SOG/GP. Following the 2024-25 season, Carcone believed that he would be signing elsewhere, but that feeling has obviously changed (KSL Sports). However, he may be in a similar role compared to last season as Utah's 13^th forward.

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Anton Frondell, the third overall pick in the 2025 draft, has agreed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Blackhawks. Frondell is at least a year away from making his NHL debut, as he will be playing for Djurgården of the SHL this coming season. For more on Frondell, check out his Dobber Prospects profile. Or better yet, purchase your copy of the Fantasy Prospects Report.

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The Top 100 Roto Rankings have been updated for July. Take a look if you have a very early draft or you are just curious. I'm also interested in any feedback in case you see something that I don't.

I'll also share some observations on some younger players that are new to the rankings, as well as three players that fell as a result of their team having a disappointing season.

Starting From the Bottom

With apologies to Drake for the heading of this section, we have some new entrants to the Roto Rankings. As we go further down the rankings, the differences between these players gets smaller and smaller. They could be a higher value than what they are showing, but current value has to be accounted for as much as upside because these are single-season rankings.

In his second full season, Logan Cooley established himself as Utah's first-line center while also taking on top power-play duties. Adding JJ Peterka provides the Mammoth with another scoring option potentially on Cooley's even-strength and/or power play line. Either way, 2025-26 could see Cooley hit the 70–80-point range if all goes well.  

Finally free from the John Tortorella experience, Matvei Michkov is ready to make waves. After Tortorella was let go from the Flyers, Michkov scored nine points in the last eight games. To be fair, Michkov had been hot before that with 16 points over his last 12 games of the season. Perhaps he knew the writing was on the wall for Torts, or perhaps Torts' teaching methods had finally gotten through! Michkov had been hot and cold throughout the season with a 6-game point drought before the late-season run and two 7-game point droughts before that. He had also been healthy scratched in November. Rick Tocchet does stress defensive accountability in his system, but he'll also realize how few scoring options the Flyers have at the level of Michkov.

How much more the Blues valued Dylan Holloway over the Oilers is astounding. Holloway averaged over five minutes more per game in his first season with the Blues, with some of that icetime including power-play time. The Oilers may not have had room for an emerging talent like Holloway in their top six because they are simply closer to being a Stanley Cup contender, but usage is not something that should be lost in the offer-sheet drama. Holloway got a bit lucky with some advanced stats (11.1 5-on-5 SH%, 2.9 PTS/60), but he should fit into their top 6 again.

Falling Rangers

It's possible that the Rangers bounce back to some degree under new head coach Mike Sullivan. However, I need to account for declining returns from several Rangers, most notably Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Mika Zibanejad. There are reasons for optimism for all three players, which is why I haven't pushed these players down as much as I could. 

Before I describe these players specifically, let's address the offensive decline as a team. The Rangers scored 3.39 GF/GP in 2023-24, but declined a bit to 3.11 GF/GP in 2024-25. That's not the biggest one-season decline I've ever seen from a team, but several key Rangers fell in offense. Not just the names listed above, but also other notable names like Adam Fox (no change in ranking) and Alexis Lafreniere (not in the top 100). The midseason acquisition of J.T. Miller, who scored at a point-per-game pace for the Rangers, partially offset this dip in offense.

From a pure points standpoint, Panarin's one-season decline of 32 points (from 120 points to 88 points) is fairly significant. However, it is worth mentioning that Panarin is entering a contract year, finally on the last year of his seven-year free agent contract. Panarin is now 33 years of age, but it seems like he still has several years of fantasy relevance remaining. Reaching 100 points seems to be a bridge too far to cross. But with a little less turmoil on the Rangers, Panarin could easily get to 90 points again. Panarin's 120-point season was partially boosted by the fact that he scored 49 goals and averaged 3.7 SOG/GP when he has averaged no more than 3.0 SOG/GP in any other season.

The 2023-24 season also represented a career high for Trocheck in points (77). Trocheck is in the top 100 because of his ability to contribute in other categories, especially with hits. He has reached 170 hits in each of his last four seasons, including a career-high 214 hits in 2024-25. The offense, however, dried up a bit in 2024-25 with an 18-point decline. On top of that, nearly half of Trocheck's assists (16 of 33) were of the secondary variety, which is on the higher end of his career norms. His power-play production was also cut in half from 24 PPP in 2023-24 to 12 PPP in 2024-25. He could bounce back to some degree this coming season, but don't expect a return to the career high.

Zibanejad's point totals have decreased in two consecutive seasons, from 91 points in 2022-23 to 72 points in 2023-24 to just 62 points in 2024-25. In particular, Zibanejad was greatly affected by the Rangers' rough second quarter with just 12 points in 21 games and 27 points in 42 first-half games. However, that also meant Zibanejad had a stronger second half with 35 points in 40 games. Zibanejad being moved to the wing on Miller's line also seemed to benefit his offense, so reversing the declining returns is entirely possible if he remains with Miller. Projecting a full season on the Miller line could result in 70 points for Zibanejad.  

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