Welcome back to Forum Buzz, where I peruse the DobberHockey Forums and weigh in on active, heavily debated, or otherwise relevant recent threads, reminding folks just how great a resource the Forums are. Nearly anything might be covered here, other than trades and signings, which usually get their own separate write-ups on the main site and are also normally covered in the next day’s Ramblings, or questions that are specific to salary cap issues, which is the domain of the weekly Capped column. To access the specific forum thread on which a question is based, click on the “Topic” for that question.

As is now becoming tradition, I'll start the column with a nod to the sadly now dormant "Who am I?" thread in the Forums where someone thought of a real-life hockey player or persona, who can be from the past or present, male or female, in the NHL or not, and they give clues to help people guess who it is. You get to enter one guess per clue, and if you guess correctly you think of the next player, so it just keeps going indefinitely. For your enjoyment, here is a "Who am I?" sample. See how many clues it takes for you to guess who I am.

CLUE #1 – I'm a US born defenseman who played in the NHL in 2025-26

CLUE #2 – I was a first round draft pick

CLUE #3 – Despite being US born, I was raised in Canada and played Canadian juniors

CLUE #4 – Despite being a first round pick, I played four full seasons in Juniors

CLUE #5 – But I went straight from Juniors to the NHL, never playing a single AHL game

CLUE #6 – I definitely peaked early, as my two best seasons in terms of points were my first and second NHL seasons

CLUE #7 – I am a veteran, having played over 1000 career NHL games

CLUE #8 – I have not bounced around much during my career, having played 250+ games for three different teams

CLUE #9 – Not only have I never won a Stanley Cup, but I've never been in a Cup finals, and the number of seasons my team has made the playoffs is less than half my total career seasons

CLUE #10 – It is even more impressive that I did so well early in my career, since I definitely meet the "big guy" criteria usually associated with a 400-game breakout threshold

CLUE #11 – Not only did I play Canadian Juniors, but when it came to international play, I also represented Canada, winning gold at the IIHF Under 18 Tournament, the WJC, and World Cup

CLUE #12 – The teams I played for, in order, have been Buffalo, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Dallas

CLUE #13 – My strong play in my rookie season won me the Calder Trophy

CLUE #14 – My initials are T.M.

Who am I? Hopefully you figured it out. Check the end of the column to confirm, or, if not, to find out who I am. Now onto regularly scheduled Forum Buzz programming. 

Topic #1 – In a 14 Team, Keep 14, Weekly H2H Cats League with a cap of $95.5M and categories of G/A/PPP/SHP/Hits/Blocks/FOW/Wins/GA/Saves, a GM has the following roster:

C: Morgan Geekie, Will Smith, Ryan Hartman, Wyatt Johnston, Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaaitl
W: Ivan Demidov, Jesper Bratt, Matvei Michkov, Jason Robertson, Jimmy Snuggerud, Mikko Rantanen, Victor Arvidsson, Jamie Benn
D: Miro Heiskanen, Denton Mateychuk, Alexander Nikishin, Axel Sandin- Pellikka, Lian Bichsel, Evan Bouchard
G: Jet Greaves, Ukko-Pekka-Luukkonen
Minors: Carter Yakemchuk, Roger McQueen

They are contemplating whether there is a universe where it makes sense to trade Drasaitl, as they fear Edmonton could lose Connor McDavid and become a tire fire like Toronto. Is Draisaitl too good to be traded? Would a return of Connor Bedard plus a very high-end prospect (e.g, Porter Martone) be enough for a player of Draisaitl's caliber?

GMs definitely can – and do – fall victim to making too many trades, where they tinker with their roster so much that the end result is not a net positive. There is also the other side of the coin, where players are deemed too "untouchable" to be traded. Although owning a player like Draisaitl is indeed a privilege, and thus trading him should not be done without first giving it full and careful consideration, I believe he is no longer someone who is untradeable.

Why not? For one, it's called selling high for a reason. The best way to sell high is of course if a player has huge name value but his actual value is already lagging, or at risk of declining. Also, even if a player's value is merely equal to his actual value, it's worth at least contemplating the possibility of trading him, especially when, like Draisaitl, he's on the other side of age 30.

And indeed, Draisaitl will be 31 years old in October, and enters 2026-27 having played 855 career games. He has not failed to produce at a 100-point rate in almost a decade, plus just had a second season in a row with a 122-point scoring rate. Make no mistake – he is truly elite. Of course, it would be difficult to have a fantasy team losing that level of production; but it would arguably be worse to hold him if more could be gained – if not now than soon enough – by trading him.

Also, it is Draisaitl's proven track record of superb play, plus him being on a high-profile team, that will ensure a proper return if he is traded. In other words, if one were to trade Draisaitl, one would be confident that the other GM would value him as at least a 120+ point player. Is there a universe where he suddenly scores 130+? Unlikely given his age and past results. It is more plausible he does the same or worse, plus let's not forget he's missed more games in each of the last two seasons than any other prior season, so injuries might start affecting him more.

On top of all that, there is an increasingly realistic chance Connor McDavid will be gone after the 2027-28 season, or even sooner. If that occurs, the negative effect on Draisaitl could be major, especially on the PP, where Draisaitl has thrived.

Also, by trading him, that is a lot of added cap room. Plus, this team seems like it will be better three plus years from now than it will be in 2026-27. As such, getting younger while also trading Draisaitl is an attractive option, or far more so than if the team was more in win now mode.

Of course, if one does decide to trade a player like Draisaitl, there is a right way to do so, which is to make it clear to all teams he's available, and then let them find a way to propose a deal that cannot be refused. And maybe no such deal materializes, in which case he's kept. I believe we have reached a point in time where, in a league like this and with how the rest of its roster is constituted, trading Draisaitl should be at least contemplated.

Topic #2 – In a 22 Team Dynasty League with categories of G (2.5 pts), A (1.5 pts), Hits/Blocks/SOG (0.1 pts each), Goalie Wins (2 pts), Saves (0.1 pts each), a GM has the following players on its roster.

C: Tim Stutzle, Brayden Point
W: Matthew Tkachuk, Nikita Kucherov, Kyle Connor, Jesper Bratt
D: Evan Bouchard, Moritz Seider, Miro Heiskanen
G: Igor Shesterkin
Bench: Juraj Slafkovsky, Lucas Raymond, Thomas Chabot, Mathew Barzal

They are looking to perhaps buy low on some forwards. With that in mind, how should these forwards be ranked for this league: Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Kirill Kaprizov, Matvei Michkov, Mikko Rantanen, and Cole Caufield?

Right off the bat Michkov is not in the conversation. He did look superb as a rookie, and being in a Rick Tocchet system does not do any forwards any favors; however, he is unproven and might not fully pan out as expected. Sure – if his owner is giving him away, then by all means go ahead and take a chance on him. But if the measuring stick is these other five forwards, he is clearly in last place by a wide margin.

Second to last, I have Tkachuk. When people see hits, they think Thachuk is a must own. But at only 0.1 per hit, that is not enough of a boost to put him in the conversation with these players, who are all 100-point downside guys. Maybe if SOG and PIM were also categories it could be a different story; however, with only hits mattering, and not mattering enough, he's also below all the others.

After that it gets much closer. I have Caufield third from last. I realize his scoring rate has increased every season of his career thus far; however, this past season it rose far more than it had previously, yet without any added TOI overall or on the PP, one top of a SH% of 19.6% when it had been 12.7% going into 2025-26, meaning had he shot at his normal rate he'd have scored 18 fewer goals, in turn lowering his scoring rate to 71, or right where it was in 2024-25. Also, looking at the 77 other instances of a forward scoring 45+ goals – not even 51 like Caufield had in 2025-26 – dating back to 2000-01, only four had fewer than Caufield's 11 PPGs and a mere one had a lower TOI per game. Beyond those factors, just four others didn't average at least 30 seconds more of TOI. In short, his season was too good to be true, or, putting another way, too good to be repeated. I'm banking on him coming back to earth, placing him in fourth.

Third place goes to Rantanen. He's as close to a steady-eddie as there is, as after his production suffered during the tumult of 2023-24, he was back to his roughly 100-point rate this past season. That kind of consistent production is great, but it means his ceiling is a good bit lower than those of either Kaprizov or Matthews.

Of those two, I still have Matthews first. Maybe Kaprizov gets to play with a true top line center and explodes. But until/unless that happens, Matthews, notwithstanding his recent poor play, is still the guy to own in a league where goals are weighted most.

Topic #3 – In a 16 team, weekly H2H league, with 22 on each roster but 14 staring, each team can keep up 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 2D, 1G, and three others at any position, with scoring being G (1 for Fs, 2 for D), A (1), PPG (2), OTG (2), SHG (2), W (3), SOW/OTW (2), SOL/OTL (1), SO (2), a GM is rebuilding and might be able to draft one of Berkly Catton, Ilya Protas, or Andrew Cristall. How should they be ranked?

Catton has seen the most NHL action, but has not met with success. To be fair, he only just turned 20; and playing for Seattle did him no favors given the lack of surrounding talent, not to mention his low TOI in general and on the PP. Nevertheless, his 5×5 team SH% was 8.1% and his IPP was 50.0% overall and 40.0% on the PP. I could look past a low team SH% if his IPPs were better, or vice versa; but this is a double whammy in that not much offense was not happening while he was on the ice, and when it was, he didn't factor into the scoring enough. Often with top prospects who are not put in the top six right away they still have one, or both, of these things going for them. Catton having neither is discouraging. Although of course it would be far too premature to declare him a bust, this was not a great foray into the NHL.

Protas also made his NHL debut this season, albeit in only four games. But he scored at a point per game rate and was put on PP1, tallying a PPPt. His team SH% at 5×5 was 10.0%, which is a fine number. But his IPPs were both being 100%. Still, Washington seemed more than willing to put him right into the top six, and on PP1. Looking at big brother Aliaksei though, he had a great 2023-24, but then took a step back in 2024-25. Aliaksei is a very large frame player though who might only hit his 400-game breakout threshold toward the end of this season; the fact he failed to build on his 2023-24 success should be taken with more of a grain of salt than had it occurred when he was well past game 400 of his career. For what it's worth also, the younger Protas did far better in the AHL, meaning he might be cut more from a scorer's cloth, but he is also just as large as his brother, perhaps meaning a longer wait for a true, sustainable breakout.

Cristall is oldest but has yet to appear in the NHL. He was a top juniors producer, and fared well in his first AHL season. Whereas Protas is a large frame player, Cristall is small in stature. Both, interestingly, are LWs. That is good, in that there is a better chance of one of them panning out, but also bad because it might be difficult to predict which of the two it would better succeed.

Given all this, I'm going with Catton. With him, although he didn't thrive right away, the waters are less muddy, plus the large-framed Protas and diminutive Cristall might need several seasons to hit their peak. Also, I think Seattle's lack of offense is so pronounced that it is likely to result in systemic changes sooner rather than later, with Catton figuring to be a major beneficiary.

Topic #4 – In a dynasty league with G/A/+-/PIM/PPP/SHP/SOG/HTS/BLK as skater categories, who projects to be the better own, Frank Nazar or Gabe Perrault?

Both would be rightfully coveted in dynasty leagues, as they have proven already, at age 21 in the case of Perrault and 22 for Nazar, that they are not only NHL ready but able to occupy a top-six spot and contribute on the PP. Picking one is difficult not only due to both being likely to succeed but lack of a large sample size from which to draw. Let's give it a go.

As far as the categories, neither is great in banger stats, although Nazar is a bit better, plus he shoots the puck more, at least to date. Nazar was on PP1 but did not make the most of it, as he only tied for 120th in PPPts among forwards last season despite taking the ice for the 93rd most PP time. Perrault, on the other hand, made the most of limited PP deployment, as he ranked 252nd in forward PP TOI but his six PPPts tied him for 188th. Yet despite Nazar not thriving, I find it difficult to envision him not staying on PP1. As for Perrault, it will depend on whether New York trades away one – or more – top forward, since if all are healthy then PP1 almost assuredly would consist of J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere.

As for other metrics, Perrault's overall IPP was 62.8%, which is not superb but fine for a first-year player of his age. His OZ% was 51.7%, which is a good news, bad news situation, with it being good in that the team didn't feel it needed to shelter him, but bad in that higher would be better. Still, the team shot 10.0% at 5×5 with him on the ice, which is a solid number in general, and even more so for someone his age in his first season. Also, of his 15 assists, a mere four were secondary. It being that low is a positive not only because it can only go up, but also because it, plus his decent IPP and team SH%, show he has a nose for scoring.

Shifting to Nazar, he was able to score at a 51-point pace despite a 46.7% OZ%. That is a very positive sign, as he too was not someone the Hawks felt they had to shelter, plus being able to score at that rate for a poor team is indicative of a scoring touch. Sure enough, his team SH% at 5×5 was an even higher 10.5%, with an IPP of 70.7%, which is above the 70% number I tend to associate with younger players more likely to become truly elite. The only minor blemish is a 50.0% secondary assist rate, but there it's a case of it not being objectively too high but instead unlikely to get any higher, unlike Perrault, who has ample room to gain more.

It does seem like the metrics favor Nazar, who also has an entrenched spot on PP1. Still, I think it is close enough as to depend on acquisition cost. By that I mean if you are thinking of trading for one, my guess is Perrault can be cheaper enough to be worth getting instead of Nazar, as I do think in the next 3-5 seasons Perrault will produce close enough to what Nazar will that he could be the better one to target if able to be obtained more cheaply. All things otherwise being equal, I'm going with Nazar.

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THE ANSWER TO WHO THE PLAYER IS……….Tyler Myers!

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Questions for Mailbag column needed

Until next season starts I'll be running mailbags as often as I get enough questions. To get yours to me, either private message “rizzeedizzee” via the DobberHockey Forums, or email [email protected] with “Roos Mailbag” as the subject line.