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, Puneet Sharma, and Dobber

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1. Is the first round the best round of the playoffs? I think so. Teams seem to be the most hopped up on adrenaline, and these series produce great hockey before teams get banged up and have to skate on fumes later in the playoffs. A tight first-round series can also be a great mental test for the team that eventually claims Lord Stanley’s mug.

Participating in a playoff pool? Purchase Dobber’s Playoff Draft List, available from the Dobber Sports Store.

Check out our writer’s playoff picks posted on Saturday. And by following this link, you can read more about my predictions for each series in one paragraph. (apr18)

2. The Canucks announced on Friday that they have let go of GM Patrik Allvin. After finishing with the league’s worst record and 14 points below the league’s second-worst team after starting the season with playoff hopes, the Canucks simply cannot run it back with the same crew next season. I would think that a new GM would have to be in place in time for the draft, where the Canucks have a top-3 pick. But if not, president Jim Rutherford is already very hands-on with this team. Wait, does that mean Rutherford should have been the one fired instead? I can’t disagree that he should take a ton of the blame here.

Also, I’d be surprised if Adam Foote remains as head coach, particularly with a new GM entering the fold. Foote’s team looked unstructured for much of the season, and he doesn’t exactly have a strong and lengthy track record as a head coach anywhere. I think he was picked because he worked well with Quinn Hughes and the Canucks were still clinging to hope that they could re-sign Hughes at the time.

That all said, a new coach and GM won’t matter unless the philosophy of this organization changes. That starts at the top… the very top, with the owner. After a decade of retools and failed win-now signings and trades, the mindset has to shift toward building sustainable long-term organizational depth – a project that will take longer than 2-3 years. For that to work, the owner needs to get out of the way and let the people he hired do that work. (apr18)

3. Maybe it’s just the last few years, but I’ve noticed more and more with each passing season that I get pretty down on my projections as November turns into December. And every year things turn around and I start nailing things – players, teams, what have you. This season seemed more extreme than usual. I had been pushing the Sabres for a couple of years – a top 3 offensive team three years ago, with high-upside players starting to come into their own. I had questioned Colorado’s depth, and wondered if they would be a playoff-cusp team. I thought people were nuts to consider drafting Nathan MacKinnon over Connor McDavid. Those were some of the bigger calls. Sure enough, the Sabres were near the bottom of the NHL, Colorado had lost only one game, and MacKinnon was HAMMERING McDavid.

Then December hit, and things turned around. Buffalo became the top team in the NHL, all the Buffalo players started rolling, McDavid caught MacKinnon, and Colorado calmed down. What I didn’t count on was the impact of Gabriel Landeskog. I didn’t think, after so much time off, that he would be a leading guy in the top six. Or that he would even play 50 games. But he’s gonna play 60, and gives the Avs the depth they need. When he’s out of the lineup, sure enough, the team is barely making the playoffs. With him – this team is unbeatable.

This is pretty telling. Colorado:

– with Gabriel Landeskog in the lineup: 44-7-8
– without Landeskog in the lineup: 9-9-3 (apr15)

4. According to Jameson Olive, at Florida’s exit interviews, General Manager Bill Zito said both Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell may play in the World Championships in a few weeks. Fantasy managers with concerns about lingering injury issues should feel a bit better about that. (apr19)

5. In St. Louis, Robert Thomas finished the season with 12 goals and 27 points over his final 20 games as he recovered very well after a poor start to the season… Defenceman Philip Broberg had 18 points in his final 27 games, which works out to a 55-point pace over 82 games… Joel Hofer posted a .921 save percentage and 22 wins in 33 starts. Among the 30 goalies with at least 30 starts in that span, he led in save percentage and goals against average, finishing tied for sixth in wins. (apr19)

6. Vets still have it:

Steven Stamkos had a big bounce-back year with 42 goals and 66 points in 82 games.

Filip Forsberg scored 40 times for the second time in his career. It was his third straight season with at least 30 goals, 70 points, 3.0 shots per game, and 1.5 hits per game. (apr19)

William Nylander finished the year with 30 goals and 79 points in 65 games. That is his highest point-per-game rate of his career (1.22). (apr16)

Jack Eichel hit the 90-point mark for the second season in a row and second time in his career. He also did that in 74 games while shooting a four-year low 10.4%. If he plays the full season and shoots 12%, he might have reached 100 points. (apr16)

7. In San Jose, Macklin Celebrini became the second teenager in NHL history to manage 40 goals and 70 assists in a single season. The other was Wayne Gretzky in 1979-80… Meanwhile, Will Smith finished with 59 points in 69 games, a 70-point pace over a full season.

The Sharks wind up with 86 points, a 34-point increase from last year. The future is very bright. (apr19)

8. Zach Hyman returned to Edmonton’s lineup on Thursday, but it was Matt Savoie that stole the headlines with a hat trick on six shots. He had nine goals, 10 assists, and 59 shots in 24 games after the Olympic break. Being able to contribute offensively gives this Oilers team another important scoring depth dimension.

Connor McDavid winds up the league leader with points (138) and assists (90) while Evan Bouchard led all defencemen in points (95) by a wide margin (Zach Werenski next-closest at 81). (apr19)

9. Vancouver officially ends the season with a -100 goal differential. They have quite an offseason ahead of them. (apr19)

10. Scott Wedgewood ended his best season of his career with a 22-save shutout of the Seattle Kraken on Thursday as Colorado won 2-0. His .921 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average led the league among all goalies with at least 40 starts this season.

On February 1^st, Seattle was 26-19-9. They went 8-18-2 over their next 28 games. (apr19)

11. In the final Battle of Ontario for the 2025-26 campaign, the Senators topped the Leafs 3-1. It ends a miserable season for Toronto and puts a cap on a great second-half run for Ottawa. Dylan Cozens had one goal on four shots with three hits, finishing the season with 28 goals, 31 assists, 204 shots, 215 hits, and 29 power-play points. Just a tremendous multi-cat season in his first full year with the Sens. (apr16)

12. In Chicago, it was a nice multi-cat season for Louis Crevier: seven goals, 18 assists, 13 shots, 95 blocks, and 124 hits in 78 games. He also saw a big ice-time jump down the stretch, going from 16:19 per game up until the Olympic break to 18:58 after. The injury to Artyom Levshunov and the trade of Connor Murphy are part of the reason, but notable nonetheless.

Spencer Knight ended with 19 wins on the year. His first full year in Chicago totaled 55 starts – by far a career-high – with a .902 save percentage. That is not a bad save rate considering how poor the Blackhawks were defensively. (apr16)

13. In one of my dynasty leagues, I have built around Buffalo the last three years, waiting for my hunch to pay off. After that start, I decided on a quick “retool”, to borrow the term from the Canucks. I traded Tage Thompson for Jack Hughes in a bigger package, just backing off my hunch a little. Thankfully, I didn’t keep shedding Sabres, because right after that things took off. Here is how things look:

• Peyton Krebs has 31 points in his last 50 games, turning into a likely 55-point player, and I think he can get to 65 as Thompson really likes playing with him. The caveat being that one of the up-and-coming kids don’t take his spot (probably the more likely scenario).
• Jack Quinn has topped 50, and next year is his BT.
• Josh Doan didn’t replace JJ Peterka‘s offense, but he came pretty damn close. There is no reason why he doesn’t exceed 60 next season. Nobody thought his father, Shane, would become a top six scorer in the NHL and he certainly did that.
• Zach Benson has 41 points and next year is his BT.
• Rasmus Dahlin has 46 points in his last 41 games, putting him pretty close to that Quinn Hughes/Cale Makar stratosphere if he can keep that rate going for a full year.
• Mattias Samuelsson, if he can stay healthy, has proven to be an amazing fit as Dahlin’s partner and has become very fantasy relevant.
• Bowen Byram is another 40-point defenseman, although the lone drawback there is that Owen Power regresses to a 30-point player playing with him.
• They have three goalies above the league average SV%, plus Devon Levi has played 50 AHL games as they work him into a potential NHL starter.
• Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich, Radim Mrtka

So this is the bright future for Buffalo, and for my dynasty team: I still managed to hold onto Quinn, Benson, Helenius, Ostlund, Levi, Power and Mrtka.

And Jack Hughes isn’t too shabby either, even if I did give up Buffalo’s top forward for him. He’s been the top scorer in the NHL over the last month (29 points in 15 games, Nick Suzuki is second with 25 in 16 as of early Tuesday). (apr15)

14. Tuesday’s headliner was of course Alex Ovechkin, the Great 8. It was the final game of his career, though I suspect he’ll come back for one more year. But just in case he doesn’t, his assist on the game winning goal in the third period will stand as his final NHL point. He ends the season with 32 goals, 64 points at the age of 40.

Those newer to fantasy hockey or having just played for the last seven or eight years don’t know what he brought to our fake game. There was a long run there where he was good for 350 SOG, 200+ Hits, 50 goals and 90 points and you could lock it in! He once had 528 shots (2008-09). Those were the days of goalies wearing giant oversized pads, otherwise he honestly would have had a real shot at Gretzky’s record (92 goals) instead of the 56 he ended up scoring. He had 65 goals in his third NHL season, never again clearing 60. He had four 100-point seasons, nine 50-goal seasons, 14 40-goal seasons including when he was 39 years old and had missed 17 games. He was a stud, and in those early years was the best roto player to own by far.

He turned depth checker Chris Clark into a 54-point player, and vaulted Nicklas Backstrom from star to superstar. Backstrom assisted on 279 of Ovechkin’s goals. Other key teammates for Ovy include Mike Green (a staple on the back end in those early years), Brooks Laich, Dylan Strome, John Carlson, Tom Wilson and many others.

If his NHL career has truly ended, he finishes with 1573-929-758-1687 numbers, plus 857 PIM and 3876 Hits.

If Ovechkin retires, that opens up a ton of opportunities for their young forwards. Think of Ovechkin’s zone starts. He was heavily sheltered with over 80% of his zone starts in the offensive zone, as well as over 90% of all available power play time. That’s tons of key ES and PP opportunity for the likes of Ryan Leonard, Connor McMichael and the Protas brothers.

Cole Hutson’s cameo rookie-preview season ends after 14 games. He posted an impressive 10 points. Defense is an issue, but he’s new. He'll learn. He was primarily paired with Matt Roy and will most definitely be the PP QB next year. (apr15)

15. On the other side of that Tuesday Caps-Jackets game, Columbus also finished their season. Kudos to Zach Werenski for his second consecutive healthy season. He’s not off the Band-Aid Boy list just yet, but we can probably take him off the Certified designation.

Biggest disappointment goes to Kent Johnson, who played his way into the doghouse of TWO coaches. I believe the Charlie Coyle signing contributed to this. That’s a major domino. When KJ struggled early, Coyle filled the void. And yes, Coyle did a great job, and made it so that it was tough for KJ to get the opportunity he needed to climb out of the hole he dug himself. Coyle was acquired to anchor the third line and see some secondary PP time. At 34, instead he ended up with the second most points of his career with 58. His PP time went from one minute in the first quarter to one-and-a-half in the second, to 2:23 in the third to 3:13 in the fourth quarter! He’s supposed to be a third liner and Johnson was supposed to be second line! But KJ dropped the ball. This season was Johnson’s BT (Breakout Threshold). It certainly didn’t work out that way. Just two PPPts the entire season despite over 120 minutes on the power play.

What to do with Johnson in your dynasty? He’s too good to drop, in terms of upside. His odds of still reaching it aren’t any worse than a good prospect (he’s still only 23). But if you can get a couple of decent picks for him, I’d probably cut my losses.

Hitting his BT about two months ago was Adam Fantilli. And right on schedule, he stepped up. Since January 24, Fantilli had 29 points in 32 games with 70 Hits. Keep that in mind going into next year. (apr15)

16. The Bruins finished their season Wednesday and they’ll play in the playoffs. David Pastrnak picked up an assist to get him to 100 points – the fourth straight season.

Morgan Geekie was the surprise of the campaign for me when it comes to this team. I thought he could match last year, hit 30 goals again and top out at 60 points. But 39 goals and 69 points? Amazing. And he nearly matched last year’s 21.9% shot percentage, at 21.5%. I find big players get rolling later in their careers, which is why we have the BT set for all players 6-3 and bigger at 400 games (Geekie at 414 now). He saw most of his shifts alongside David Pastrnak and there is no reason to believe that won’t be the case next year so I think he at least matches what he did this season.

Pavel Zacha, who is well past his BT even as a big man (6-4), broke out with 30 goals and 65 points. He really found his groove down the stretch with Viktor Arvidsson, posting 24 points in his last 20 games (Arvidsson had 22 in 20). I think they can build on this magic, but the problem is Arvidsson A) is a UFA this summer and B) is a Certified Band-Aid Boy. So if the Bruins do sign him, the caveat for a big year for both he and Zacha will depend on if he can play 70 games – something Arvidsson has only done once in the last eight years. (apr15)

17. The Devils are also done for the season – but they’re not in the playoffs, so this is it for them. It was clear this team lived and died by Jack Hughes. No Hughesy, no winsy. The bright side for Hughes is that he didn’t get injured all season long – on the ice. The first time we can say that in three years. So if he can do that again, plus avoid any kitchen mishaps, we could be in for something special next season. Since January 1, Hughes had 55 points in 39 games, seventh in the league. Since the Olympic break he is first in the NHL with 41 points in 25 games (though Kucherov and McDavid could pass him in their last games).

Biggest disappointment for the Devils has to be Luke Hughes. There are several candidates for this title, but at least when Jack returned a lot of them turned things around. But Luke managed just 35 points and was raked through the coals for his defense.

Dougie Hamilton was one of the ones to turn it around, posting nine points in his first 38 games before taking off for 29 points in 39 contests. The Devils need to do something with this situation – between Hamilton, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, they need to settle on a true PP QB and just ride him. Hamilton’s PPTOI was cut drastically this season due to the other two cannibalizing. Were it not for that, would he have had the slow start? Would he have 55 points instead of 38? (apr15)

18. The Anaheim Ducks are one of my surprise teams (the other big one for me is Pittsburgh, and by coincidence – they’re next!). I thought they were one more year away, but Leo Carlsson broke out, Beckett Sennecke made the team and flourished (did not see that coming), and I thought Chris Kreider‘s 50-point days were behind him. They kind of were, as he finished with exactly 50. But still, it was a nice surprise.

Every November I get asked about a few players who start super-slow and this year players like Jackson Lacombe and Andrei Svechnikov led the charge. Lacombe had eight points in 21 games to start, but 49 in 60 after that. He’s destined for 65+ once the roster around him hit their prime.

Cutter Gauthier reached the 40-goal mark and a whopping 278 shots. He cooled off after a blazing start, but still ended up leading the team in points with 68 in his sophomore season. Lacombe actually led the Ducks in scoring since January 1 with 34 points (Sennecke/Gauthier second with 30).

John Carlson averaged 3:32 of PP time after joining the Ducks and had 12 points in 15 games. Lacombe’s PP time was 2:48 in that span. (apr15)

19. The Pittsburgh Penguins ended their regular season with a playoff berth. Sidney Crosby gets another kick at the can. What I like about this team is it’s size. Evgeni Malkin (6-5), Justin Brazeau (6-6), Anthony Mantha (6-5), Elmer Soderblom (6-8). Who else can offer that? The key, well there are a few keys, but for me the main one is Mantha. This is the star we all knew he could be, but for over a decade he was constantly hurt. Anthony Mantha playing 81 games? I would have lost $1000 betting against that happening. But signing him, keeping him healthy, to me was everything.

Ben Kindel gave them a very good player to anchor the third line straight out of the draft. Egor Chinakhov, another guy who would have lost me money by staying healthy as soon as he got to Pittsburgh, also reached that level that we all saw in him when he was drafted. He’s showing that he’s a legitimate 70-point player. I’m not buying that he’ll stay healthy (I’m not buying that Mantha will, either), but if he does – I think he’ll be a very valuable fantasy asset. He won’t be cheap in your dynasty league, and the risk is obvious. But I think there’s something there if you can get him without paying too much. He has 24 points in his last 25 games. (apr15)

20. Jonathan Quick said he’s played his last game in the NHL following his start in Florida on Monday. He will finish his career with 410 regular season wins, 49 more playoff wins, two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe trophy, and a one-way ticket to the Hall of Fame. That he is retiring in the same year as Anze Kopitar only feels right. (apr14)

21. My Ramblings over the last couple of weeks have been playoff previews of teams as they’ve qualified for the postseason:

• First Ramblings: Carolina, Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota
• Second Ramblings: Tampa Bay, Montreal, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh
• Third Ramblings: Ottawa and Boston
• Fourth Ramblings: Vegas, Edmonton, and Anaheim

Today, we’ll finish the playoff preview by reviewing Philadelphia, Utah, and Los Angeles. Data is from Natural Stat Trick or Evolving Hockey, and is current as of Thursday, April 16^th. Both Utah and Los Angeles played Thursday night, so some things may have changed.

For much more fantasy playoff goodness, head to the Dobber Shop and grab a copy of Dobber’s 2026 Interactive Playoff Draft List!

Philadelphia Flyers

Few teams in the NHL are heading into the postseason with the hot streak the Flyers have. Over the last 25 games of the season, they went 18-6-1, good for a .740 pts%, which was second in the league behind only Buffalo. They did it through team defence as their rate of shots against per minute (5^th) and goals against per minute (2^nd) were among the league’s best. What is important there is it’s an across-the-board effort because not even one of their regular defencemen was on the ice for at least 25 shots against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 over their last 25 games. They were 1 of 4 teams to have six defencemen skate at least 200 minutes with under 25 shots against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 in that 25-game span:

The Achilles’ heel remains the penalty kill, as they had the sixth-highest goals against rate at 4-on-5 in that 25-game span, but the team defence was otherwise great.

The Flyers can prevent goals, but scoring goals is another matter. They scored at least four goals just 28 times this season. The only other playoff team with under 30 games scoring at least four goals is Los Angeles (per Hockey Reference). Generally, the Flyers have needed good team defence and goaltending because they haven’t been able to rack up the goals.

The question is whether the return of Tyson Foerster, addition of Porter Martone, and late-season hot streak of Matvei Michkov changes that. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Foerster has scored 0.95 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. That is tied for 50^th in the league (minimum of 1500 minutes) and the rate of a mid-level top-line forward. Martone has exploded since arriving in Philadelphia with 4 goals, 6 assists, and 32 shots in 9 games, and Michkov ended the season with 18 points in his final 16 appearances. The Flyers may have struggled to put up a lot of goals this season, but if Foerster can score at a rate of a mid-ter top-line forward, Martone has anywhere close to the impact he’s shown so far, and Michkov produces close to his post-Olympic rate, today’s Flyers roster is not the same as it was a month ago. They have three lines that can score in a season where they sometimes only had one.

Philadelphia could very well get past Pittsburgh in the first round, but it’s fair to wonder how deep they can go because the winner of Carolina/Ottawa waits for them in the second round. Fantasy managers believing in a Flyers run to at least the Conference Final will have their pick of skaters like Martone, Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras, and Owen Tippett. Ease of stacking could make them appealing, but getting at least three rounds out of them will be a tall order. Then again, it was a tall order to get to the playoffs given their standing at the Olympic break, and here they are. (apr19)

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