Bubble Keeper Week rolls on here at Dobber Hockey. On Monday, Puneet's Ramblings covered options like Mavrik Bourque, Marco Rossi, Philip Broberg, and Braeden Bowman. In my Ramblings on Tuesday, we had some head-to-head analyses between Jason Robertson vs. Rasmus Dahlin, Jordan Kyrou vs. Logan Stankoven, and Bowen Byram vs. John Carlson (with a little Lucas Raymond thrown in).

Today, we head back to the Dobber Forums to find fantasy managers looking for a bit of help with their final keeper decisions.

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Alex Laferriere vs. Peyton Krebs vs. Bobby Brink vs. Fedor Svechkov

For our first question of the day, we go to Forum user 'lusshouse' whose team was a contender for years but is now on the downswing. They have four to pick from in a points-only format:

As with others who replied in his thread, the slam-dunk is Laferriere. His two seasons of 42 and 44 points are better than any other season from the other three names, he crossed the 200-game threshold midway through the season last year, turns 25 years old in October, and will probably get second-line duties either as the centre or a winger (likely both). The Dobber Fantasy Guide has him projected for the most points and points per game of the four, and my projections say the same.

Svechkov is automatically out. Skating for the Colorado Avalanche means he is on the best team on this list, but barring several key injuries, he'll be nowhere near a top 6 forward. They are in win-now mode, not development mode, so Svechkov might not even stay in the lineup, let alone in a position to meaningfully contribute to fantasy teams.

Where it gets interesting is what to do with Krebs. The Fantasy Guide has him for 44 points in 83 games and the guy to hold onto. Alex Tuch left the Buffalo Sabres, sure, but Jiri Kulich missed 70 games last year and is going to be a top 9 forward. Konsta Helenius had 62 points in 63 AHL games, showing well late in the NHL season and the playoffs, so he should be a top 9 forward, too. Then we add Tage Thompson, Zach Benson, Josh Norris, Josh Doan, Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, and Jack Quinn as locked top 9 forwards. That gives us nine forwards, and doesn't include Noah Ostlund. Without multiple injuries, it just seems hard for me to count Krebs as a locked-in top 9 forward given the Sabres' depth. My projections have him for 30 points.

The Minnesota Wild let Mats Zuccarello walk and didn't really replace him. They brought in Maxim Shabanov, and he likely gets a chance at a top-6 role, but he's far from cemented in that spot. That is where Bobby Brink comes in. Over the last two seasons, he has 1.8 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, which is higher than Krebs' breakout 2025-26 rate of 1.7. Brink also did that playing for a below-average Philadelphia Flyers offence as opposed to Krebs playing for a top-5 Buffalo offence. I have Brink projected for 39 points compared to Krebs' 30.

The Dobber Fantasy Guide would say to keep Krebs, I say to keep Brink. I don't think either has high long-term fantasy value, but if I had to bet on one guy being a 60-point player in the next three years, it's Brink over Krebs.

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Pair of Wings

Our next question comes from Forum user 'itzjules' and is a logjam of wingers from which we have to select two:

The first to eliminate is Collin Graf. I am a fan, but with a healthy Kiefer Sherwood, the signing of Mason Marchment, the drafting of Ivar Stenberg, and the ascension of Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov, there is just too much competition for Macklin Celebrini's wing. Not playing on the top line or top PP unit caps his upside until Michael Misa really starts to hit his stride.

I would also not include Egor Chinakhov. Another player I'm a fan of, but we're relying on him repeating his second half with a 40-year-old Evgeni Malkin. He won't get top PP time with a healthy Pittsburgh Penguins roster, and the addition of Andrei Kuzmenko may have pushed Chinakhov even further down the PP depth chart. Too many warning signs.

This comes down to Sherwood, Josh Doan, and Jack Quinn.

In the Forum replies, Alex MacLean mentioned that physical scorers can fall off quickly, and that is definitely a problem for Sherwood. A few examples:

• Evander Kane's points per game from his age-28 to age-30 season was 0.83, and that has fallen 34% since passing his age-30 season.
• Milan Lucic produced 1.94 points/60 minutes at 5-on-5 in the three years from his age-25 through age-27 season; he never surpassed 1.3 points/60 in any season afterwards.
• Jamie Benn had eight straight seasons of at least 0.8 points per game from the age of 21 through the age of 28 but has just one season of 0.8 points per game in the eight years since.
• Pat Maroon posted 1.84 points per 60 minutes from the age of 25 through the age of 29. He never reached that mark in any season afterwards and saw a decline of 23% in the three years after reaching age-30.

As with Graf, I do worry about Sherwood's ice time. I don't think he falls off to 13 minutes a game or anything, but skating around 15 minutes a night is a lot different than 17. He should still be productive – the Dobber Guide has him for 18 goals and 37 points while I have him for 16 goals and 36 points – but I think we've seen the best from him already, and he might only have another year or two left in the tank.

I would keep Doan and Quinn. Both are guys I've been touting for a couple of years now, and Quinn just needed to move past his Achilles surgery. At the least, one of them should end up on the top PP unit for most of the season, and it may end up being both. My opinion on Quinn is he's one of the most skilled players in the league that doesn't get any coverage, he's 25 years old next month, hit the 200-game plateau last year, and is far enough removed from that Achilles injury for it to not be a concern. He has 30-30 upside in 2026-27, and while I'm a little lower on Doan, he brings more hits, so that helps balance things out. 

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Bryan Rust vs. Marco Rossi

From user ‘MikeDeee’, we get a question with a very interesting pairing to consider, even if three players are listed here:

I am a big fan of Quinn, but even I have to admit there's far too much competition in Buffalo for me to bank on him skating 18+ minutes a night with top PP time. I think he has 60-point potential this season, but I don't see him breaking out for 75 points just due to his role. 

Rust might be one of the more underappreciated fantasy players of the last five years. Since 2021, he has averaged 31 goals, 37 assists, 20 power-play points, 228 shots, 68 hits, and 59 blocks every 82 games. His inability to play full seasons – he has missed at least 10 games in four of those last five seasons and at least 20 games twice – kept him from reaching his full fantasy value, but when he was healthy, he was great.

That said, I am very much out on Rust this year. Whether looking at 5-on-5 tracking data from All Three Zones, the Synthetic Goals player value model from HockeyViz, or the Expected Goals Above Replacement model from Evolving Hockey, Rust's last two years have been a substantial decline from the 2023-24 season; his fantasy value was maintained thanks to a career-best 24 PP points. He gets a lot of minutes to Sidney Crosby and that keeps him afloat. At 34 years old with a lengthy injury history, I have serious concerns that alongside the aging Penguins core, the age-related decline is in full swing, which will affect his ice time and production at any moment.

My bet is on Rossi. He should skate 17-18 minutes a game (at least) with top PP time. He is on a much worse offensive team than Quinn, but volume matters, and I will take 18 minutes with a firm top PP role on a bad team over 16 minutes with a flimsy top PP role on a good team. The Dobber Fantasy Guide has Rossi for more points (61) than Quinn (58), so I would go in that direction.

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Last Man In

We will quickly touch on one final question and it's about a handful of rookie keepers from Forums user 'The Hitchhiker':

For me, this comes down to Anton Frondell, Matvei Michkov, or Jesper Wallstedt.

As mentioned in the post, there is a good argument for keeping Wallstedt. If he is kept, and another rookie goalie is drafted, The Hitchhiker can roster four goalies. That is helpful, but here's the problem: how many 'rookie' goalies A) will have any meaningful fantasy impact in 2026-27, and B) will be available to draft? I imagine Jakub Dobes, Brandon Bussi, Jacob Fowler, and Yaroslav Askarov are going to be kept. Maybe Arturs Silovs? A swing on Devon Levi in a three-goalie tandem? Pickings are slim. Then again, without a goalie kept among the veterans, he may be necessary.

The Dobber Fantasy Guide has Frondell projected for 23 goals and 42 assists with Michkov at 23 goals and 45 assists. The difference is Frondell is projected for 25 more hits, 31 more shots, and 41 more blocks. That is a substantial improvement in the peripherals.

Also, if Michkov is kept, he will pass the 170-game cutoff and be a veteran next year. Let's say he does have a 25-goal, 70-point season. Assuming the current keeper veterans don't see any sort of substantial decline, is Michkov being kept next year over Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Mikko Rantanen, Brady Tkachuk, or Quinn Hughes? Not a chance. Frondell can be kept for at least two more years as a rookie, and if he misses more than 10 games in the next two seasons, he can be kept for three years.

For me it's Wallstedt or Frondell. I can see the argument for Wallstedt, especially because of Filip Gustavsson's post-season hip surgery. If he's not ready to go next month, or starts slow as he works his way back, Wallstedt might be a 50- to 55-start goalie rather than 40-45 starts. I would keep Frondell because I believe he's a genuine superstar in the making and lean skater over goalie when it's a close decision, but I am fine with Wallstedt for all the reasons mentioned.