Last week was very busy as we saw a handful of significant trades, plus we had free agent frenzy. To catch up on any major move you may have missed, be sure to check out the fantasy hockey analysis in our 'Fantasy Take' section. Those contributions come from all of the Dobber editors, not just myself.

Today, let's go through these changes one last time, focusing on specific trades or signings we've seen this offseason that are of great interest from a fantasy perspective. This is all subject to change, of course, pending further trades/signings or injuries.  

Pavel Dorofeyev (New York Rangers)

My initial skepticism over the Rangers acquiring and extending Dorofeyev was that Dorofeyev was a shooter, not a playmaker, and the Rangers were lacking puck-movers on the blue line to help make up that deficit. However, they added Sean Durzi, who has had a couple of tough years driven by injuries but is typically a very good puck-mover, and Marcus Pettersson, who was a decent puck-mover a few years ago but saw things decline in Vancouver. If those two play to the level they're capable of, the Rangers might now have puck movers across all three defence pairs, and that matters a lot.

The other exciting part is Dorofeyev's potential role. Over his final 25 games last season, Alexis Lafreniere skated nearly 19 minutes per appearance. If Dorofeyev assumes the role that Laf had late in 2025-26, it could add 60-90 seconds per game in ice time. It would go a long way to keeping Dorofeyev as a 30-goal, 60-point forward, and give him genuine 40-goal, 70-point upside. How the Rangers decide to deploy their wingers will tell the story, but the potential is there for Dorofeyev to have a career year.  

Mason Marchment (San Jose Sharks)

Much like the Rangers, the Sharks needed to improve their blue line. We can debate the extent of the improvements, but the additions of Darnell Nurse, Michael Kesslering, and Jacob Trouba gives them a boost compared to what they had last season, and that's important when discussing the Sharks' goal-scoring potential.

Those improvements are one reason why Marchment signing in San Jose is exciting. The other reason is obvious, and that's the potential of skating with Macklin Celebrini both at 5-on-5 and on the power play. Over the last five years, Marchment has managed 2.2 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (per Evolving Hockey), the rate of a mid-tier first-liner. However, his career-high is 53 points due to typically earning secondary PP minutes and modest ice time. To give an idea of Marchment's fantasy upside with a bigger role, here is how his multi-cat fantasy value per 60 minutes in 2024-25 (excluding face-off wins) compared to Mark Scheifele's:

Things declined this past season as Marchment's shot rate declined, but this should inform us as to his fantasy potential with a bigger role and consistent top PP minutes. With more offensive minutes next to Celebrini, Marchment can be a top-50 multi-cat forward in leagues without face-off wins.

J.J. Peterka (Boston Bruins)

Much like Marchment, and all non-superstar forwards, how much fantasy value Peterka has will depend on his power-play role. Being consistently featured on the top PP unit gives him 30-goal, 70-point upside. Without being featured on the top PP unit, well, his only season in Utah gave us a preview of what that looks like.

Again, like Marchment, the prospect of Peterka skating at 5-on-5 and on the power play next to David Pastrnak is an enticing one. We have seen how Pasta's been able to elevate the scoring of players like Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm, and he can do the same for Peterka. Whether the team will trust him to take on a top line/top PP role is the question, but the opportunity is there for the young winger to have the best season of his career.

Blake Coleman (Minnesota Wild)

Over the last three years, the Calgary Flames are 30^th in the league in goal scoring with only San Jose and the Chicago Blackhawks being worse. Despite that, in those three seasons, Coleman averaged 23 goals, 23 assists, 201 shots, 163 hits, 61 blocks, and 58 penalty minutes per 82 games. That is excellent multi-cat coverage, and good overall production despite minimal power-play production.

It is unlikely that Coleman gets any meaningful PP role, but the 2025-26 campaign saw Marcus Johansson have his best offensive season in a decade. He did that while skating over half his 5-on-5 ice time next to Matt Boldy and having Quinn Hughes on the blue line for a little over half the season. Coleman seems primed to slide right into that second-line role once occupied by Johansson while also sharing the ice frequently with Hughes. The Wild may not score at an elite rate at 5-on-5, but they should be around or above league average, and that's a significant improvement over Coleman's former team. There is always the risk of age-related decline – Coleman turns 35 years old in November – but his fantasy outlook is much rosier than it was two weeks ago.

Zachary L'Heureux (Colorado Avalanche)

On the one hand, Colorado has a lot of forward depth and when everyone is healthy, L'Heureux is unlikely to see time on the top two lines. The Avalanche lean on those lines heavily, particularly the Nathan MacKinnon/Martin Necas duo.

On the other hand, L'Heureux is coming off a year where he played just 25 games with the Nashville Predators, and he skated under 14 minutes in more than half of those appearances. He likely won't be a 15-minute forward, but Colorado has tremendous puck-moving depth on the blue line that the Nashville Predators did not. He is also a player that provides a lot of hits and PIMs, and look how his mulit-cat fantasy value last season, on a 60-minute basis, rated next to a young, star centre:

He needs to stay in the lineup, but even if he only gets 11-12 minutes a game, L'Heureux can be a significant contributor in multi-cat formats. That he's going to arguably the best offensive environment for 5-on-5 offence, in conjunction with those hits/PIMs, should raise the eyebrows of fantasy managers.  

Bowen Byram (Chicago Blackhawks)

This one may be less outright excitement than just genuine intrigue. Byram resurrected his career with the Buffalo Sabres and now, with Chicago, has the chance to prove himself as a number-1 defenceman in the league. Not a top-pair guy, but a true number-1. Not to the level of the truly elite, but something like Jakob Chychrun.

Over the last two seasons, Byram has posted 1.27 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, a top-20 rate in the league, in line with a mid-level number-1 defenceman, and that's what Chicago is hoping for. He has a straight path to top power-play minutes, and that's the key here. If we assume that Byram has the same season as last year with the only difference being 20 power-play points instead of seven, his fantasy value would sky-rocket and be in the neighbourhood of a breakout performer from 2025-26:

This shows the fantasy value per game last season of Byram and Jackson LaCombe. If we give Byram 20 PPPs, he jumps from a 0.88 rating to a 3.25 rating, going from roughly 25% the fantasy value of LaCombe to 85% of his value. That alone would make Byram a fringe top-25 defenceman in multi-cat formats, and doesn't include either a possible rise in peripherals with more ice time, or rise in production with the additional PPPs. He can be a top-20 defenceman next year, even without huge shot or hit totals.

Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals)

Hutson isn't an addition to the Caps, but given all their big changes up front, plus a full season without John Carlson, this is a player whose outlook looks very, very good.

The big question is Hutson's role. He split power-play time with Jakob Chychrun late last season, earning over 2 minutes per game. However, he was used as the #6 defenceman at even strength and it kept him to 17:27 per game in TOI. It seems likely that Chychrun, Matt Roy, and Martin Fehervary are ahead of him on the depth chart, so even if Hutson is the #4 defenceman at even strength, he might not get more than 20 minutes a night. However, we saw his brother Lane step into the NHL as a rookie and skate 22:44 per game. If brother Cole can be anywhere in the 21- to 23-minute range, he has genuine top-25 defenceman upside.

The Capitals should be one of the top offensive teams at 5-on-5 next season. If Hutson can get 175 minutes of power-play time, he is a threat for 50 points right out of the gate and push towards 60 points.  

Devon Levi (Edmonton Oilers)

The Oilers look to be carrying three goalies, and that is a headache. However, Tristan Jarry has been shaky each of the last two seasons and Frederik Andersen turns 37 years old in October as various injuries have kept him averaging around 24 starts a season across the last three years. It isn't as if Levi is the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Rangers.

If there is anything that remains true about goaltending, it's the evergreen phrase "Goalies Are Voodoo". Maybe Jarry turns back the clock and is a mid-tier netminder capable of making 50 starts. Maybe Andersen stays healthy and performs like he did in the 2026 playoffs. Or maybe neither of those things come to pass and the Oilers are relying on Levi to make the bulk of the appearances by Christmas. It will be a rocky start with the three-goalie rotation, but as the season wears on, Levi could be a top-20 goalie in the back half.

Joseph Woll (Philadelphia Flyers)

As with any player, Woll needs to stay healthy to have fantasy value. However, assuming he can make 35 starts, give or take a few, behind a Flyers team that was top-5 in the league last season by expected goals against per 60 minutes, then Woll has a lot of fantasy potential. We only need to look at how well Dan Vladar performed to get an idea of what Woll's upside is in his new environment.

According to Evolving Hockey, there are 35 goalies with at least 3000 shots faced across the last three seasons. Of those 35 goalies, Woll ranks 14^th by Goals Saved Above Expected Per 100 Shots Faced. That puts him in the range of names like Lukas Dostal, Dustin Wolf, and Jake Oettinger. As long as the Flyers stay a stout defensive team, Woll can put up the best peripherals of his career. The questions are his health and, if he is healthy, how many starts he'll make. Behind such a good defensive team, he can absolutely be a top-25 fantasy netminder even with just 35-ish starts, he just needs to stay off the injured reserve.