Finding out who the leading scorers were last season is very easy and shouldn't require any guidance. But what about filling your other league categories? For that, you can go to Frozen Tools and in the Player Stats category, select More Stats, then find the Multicategory button under Peripheral. There you can sort under the various multicategories, as well as find a combined number for hits/blocks, shots/hits/blocks, and the ultimate bangers total of penalty minutes/hits/blocks.

Let's find you some specialists for the typical multicategory league that counts shots, hits, and blocks, as well as some bangers who rack up the penalty minutes, hits, and blocks. I've omitted top 100 roto players such as Brady Tkachuk, Moritz Seider, Mackenzie Weegar, and Vincent Trocheck from the list, as they'll already be drafted in most leagues. It's worth mentioning that for all four of these players, their multicategory league value exceeds their pure scoring league value.

SHOTS/HITS/BLOCKS

Kiefer Sherwood

Sherwood isn't here because he had a particularly high shot or blocked shot total. However, he was the runaway leader in hits with 462 in 2024-25, setting a league record since the stat was first recorded. Divide that total by the number of games he played, and he averaged nearly six hits per game. Impressive. That stat in itself was enough for Sherwood to be rostered in many leagues, but the fact that he set career highs with 19 goals and 40 points should not be overlooked.

Now what will Sherwood do for an encore? It has to be difficult to put your body through that kind of torture. An injury could diminish that hit total substantially. Sherwood is already 30, but he has only been a full-time NHL player for two seasons. He has only reached 200 hits one other time in his career, which was the season before in Nashville. He is still worth drafting in the later rounds in deeper leagues, although don't bet on him reaching his 2024-25 hit total again.  

Will Cuylle

Cuylle profiled similarly to Sherwood in the fact that his shots/hits/blocks total mainly consisted of hits, finishing tied for third in that category with 301 hits. Cuylle also contributed a similar offensive total, finishing with 20 goals and 45 points in his second full NHL season.

Yet unlike Sherwood, Cuylle is only 23 years old and should have substantially more seasons ahead along with a higher ceiling. For that reason, Cuylle is probably the better option later in fantasy drafts, even though Sherwood should still have a higher hit total. Sherwood will likely spend most of his time in the Canucks' bottom 6, while Cuylle could end up in the Rangers' top 6 with likely second-unit power-play time. Cuylle's most frequent linemates during the fourth quarter were Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, and he delivered with 12 points in 20 games.

Darnell Nurse

Were you planning on gaining strong peripherals from your defense, but you missed out on Seider and do not want Radko Gudas because of his lack of scoring? Nurse might be the player to target. His 484 combined shots, hits, and blocks was in the top 10 of the league, and they've been strong for a number of years. As well, Nurse has been consistent offensively, reaching the 30-point mark for seven consecutive seasons.

The worry with Nurse might be that he is moved down the depth chart and won't have as much icetime to pick up these peripheral stats. However, Nurse is still earning a cap hit of $9.25 million for five more seasons, so he will receive the benefit of the doubt when it comes to a prominent role in the lineup. Remember that a strong real-life defenseman won't always make for an effective fantasy defenseman. The reverse is also true, so analytics shouldn't greatly influence your decision to roster Nurse.  

PENALTY MINUTES/HITS/BLOCKS

Mathieu Olivier

Only Sherwood had more combined penalty minutes, hits, and blocks than Olivier, who only trailed by five (522). Olivier's 139 penalty minutes was much higher than Sherwood's, trailing only Nikita Zadorov in that category in 2024-25. Among forwards, Olivier also finished in the top 10 with 80 blocked shots, which was also significantly higher than Sherwood's total. Then there's the 303 hits, which trailed only Sherwood in that category, although by a wide margin.

Prior to 2024-25, Olivier's career high was 15 points, so he wouldn't have received any substantial consideration in fantasy leagues. However, he smashed that total in 2024-25 with 18 goals and 32 points in a full 82-game season, which is also a feat because he had never played 70 games in a season prior to that. Due to a much higher than normal shooting percentage of 16.4%, expect Olivier's goal total to drop in 2025-26. The fact that he receives no power-play time also makes it extremely difficult for Olivier to reach that goal total again. Add him for bangers categories only, and consider any offense a bonus.

Radko Gudas

Multicategory fantasy leaguers have become quite familiar with Gudas over the past few seasons, as he has consistently provided over 200 hits in non-shortened seasons. Although his hits totals have dropped a little bit in his two seasons in Anaheim, Gudas still finished just one combined PIM/HIT/BLK behind Olivier for third in that category. He also finished in the top 10 in blocked shots in 2024-25, blocking 178 shots – a career high.

Gudas is now 35 years of age, so wear and tear could eventually catch up. He is also on the final year of his contract, so he will still need to prove his is worthy of remaining in an NHL lineup. Offense has also proven to be a challenge for Gudas throughout his career, as he has not reached 20 points since 2018-19. Simply put, he should not be drafted in points leagues – only leagues that count at least two of penalty minutes, hits, or blocked shots.

Nikita Zadorov

Zadorov was just mentioned as the penalty minutes leader last season, amassing a total of 145 PIM. He also reached triple digits in both hits (219) and blocks (107), finishing fourth in combined penalty minutes, hits, and blocked shots (471). All of those numbers were increases over his 2023-24 totals in those categories. Icetime had something to do with that, as his 20:36 TOI was his highest single-season icetime average in his first season of a six-year, $30 million contract with the Bruins.

At 6-6 and 248 lbs., Zadorov is one of the toughest players in hockey, rarely taking the worst of a collision and unafraid to fight anyone. However, a possible reduction in icetime might result in slight decreases in all the bangers categories. Fellow left-shot d-man Hampus Lindholm appeared in only 17 games in 2024-25, and he reportedly has a clean bill of health entering training camp. Zadorov is still worth targeting for those bangers categories, but returning to a sub-20-minute average in icetime could reduce his overall output.

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