Hockey Rambling

Fantasy Hockey Ramblings: Daily Strategic Briefings & Expert Analysis
Welcome to the DobberHockey Ramblings, the industry’s most trusted daily source for fantasy hockey intelligence. For over 20 years—365 days a year—our elite team of analysts has provided the essential “morning read” for competitive managers. This is where the previous 24 hours of NHL action are decoded into actionable strategy.

Led by the Industry’s Premier Experts
The Ramblings are powered by the collective insight of the most respected names in fantasy hockey. Our daily coverage is curated by:

Dobber (Founder): The pioneer of fantasy hockey rankings and long-term dynasty strategy.

Ian Gooding: Lead editor and master of daily news synthesis and roster impact.

Mike Clifford: Specialist in player deployment, shot metrics, and micro-trend analysis.

Alex MacLean: Expert in salary cap navigation and deep-league value optimization.

Puneet Sharma: Prospects expert and long-time fantasy hockey enthusiast adept at capturing player trends.

Your Daily Competitive Edge
We transform raw box scores into a strategic roadmap, ensuring you never miss a shift in the NHL landscape:

The 24-Hour Review: Expert reactions to last night’s games, distinguishing sustainable breakthroughs from one-off flukes.

Deployment Alerts: Real-time analysis of coaching changes, power-play experiments, and line-shuffling.

Market Intelligence: Identifying “Buy-Low” and “Sell-High” opportunities before your league-mates catch on.

The Data Connection: Every Rambling is backed by Frozen Tools metrics, providing the “why” behind every player’s performance.

September 12, 2014

By steve laidlaw|2015-09-01T15:11:58-04:00September 12th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

More on the NHL’s latest rule changes, over/under season point totals and Niederreiter’s new contract… * The big NHL news yesterday was the rule changes that were made official. A quick rundown of the highlights for you: 1. Fines for diving by repeat offenders. Not sure if the player will have [...]

September 11, 2014

By steve laidlaw|2015-09-01T15:11:34-04:00September 11th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Alffie tweaks his back, Boudreau extended, Niederreiter spurns the KHL and more… *** Fantasy Guide (buy here) has been updated. Draft List now has sleepers. Second-year players in the Draft List have their cap hits corrected. UFA/Tryout notes, Malone added to the NYR depth chart/ projections, etc. *** I’d like to start [...]

September 10, 2014

By Dobber|2015-09-01T15:11:32-04:00September 10th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Plenty to say about McBain, Kaberle, MacKinnon's muscle gain and more … *** Saku Koivu has announced his retirement. Koivu's best offensive season was in 2006-07 when he had 75 points, 74 PIM. One could argue that his 2002-03 was better (71 points) because he was a plus-5 versus minus-21 in 06-07. I remember drafting [...]

September 09 2014

By Dobber|2015-09-01T15:11:29-04:00September 9th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Allen vs. Elliott, bargain contracts, Kuemper to the KHL? And more... * There is a new ramblings over at DobberProspects - check it out here Dobber runs down the Eastern Conference Training Camp battles over on Yahoo! Puck Daddy Blog. Check it out *** Buy the Fantasy Guide - here! * One goaltending situation [...]

September 08 2014

By Dobber|2015-09-01T15:11:27-04:00September 8th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Thoughts on Max Domi, Martin Brodeur, Ryan Malone and more … *** Pick up the Fantasy Guide here - last update was Thursday and the next update will probably be Thursday again. But then we get into updates every three days…and then two days. Then daily updates the last dozen days of September and I [...]

September 7, 2014

By Thomas Drance|2015-09-01T15:11:24-04:00September 7th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Thoughts on Babcock and using shot volume and shooting percentage together to find value in fantasy. *** Pick up the Fantasy Guide here - last update was Thursday! * Mike Babcock regrets starting up the whole "is Babcock going to be the most heavily sought after free agent this offseason?" thing [...]

Ramblings – Sept 06 2014

By Dobber|2015-09-01T15:11:19-04:00September 6th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Thoughts on Leino, Brodeur, Ward and more … *** Pick up the Fantasy Guide here - last update was Thursday! * The Boston Bruins are inviting everybody’s favorite fantasy commodity Ville Leino on a tryout. Why not? He’s still only 30 and worst case scenario they can just cut him if they don’t like what [...]

September 5, 2014

By steve laidlaw|2015-09-01T15:12:22-04:00September 5th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Barrie’s new contract, the remaining RFAs and MacKinnon getting even more explosive… Tyson Barrie owners can breathe a sigh of relief as he signed a bridge deal yesterday. His deal is for two years at $2.6 million a year. Actually it breaks down as $2 million for the first year and $3.2 million for [...]

Daily Ramblings – September 4, 2014

By steve laidlaw|2015-09-01T15:10:29-04:00September 4th, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Krejci's new contract, regression for Pavelski and Johansen, and more. Man, oh man. What a crazy busy summer. Not necessarily from a hockey perspective but definitely from a forest fire fighting perspective. I feel like I haven’t written a ramblings in at least a month. I apologize for my absence. Hopefully I’m here to [...]

September 03, 2014

By Dobber|2015-09-01T15:10:24-04:00September 3rd, 2014|Hockey Rambling|

Bowman to MTL puts end to Penner rumor? Rinaldo's hits per minute; Don't blame Joe Thornton; and more …

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Looking to update the Guide by Friday. The last update was late last week. Updates come almost daily when camps open, but for now you're getting the updates weekly. Buy the ninth annual Fantasy Hockey Guide here.

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No shocker here - but the Panthers have signed Aaron Ekblad to an ELC. I very much believe he will be an NHLer this season, possibly the only 2014 draftee who can say that.

Those who are into advanced stats, two new sites have cropped up. Brand new, but let's give them a boost since we're bored on this fine summer day. Progressive Hockey is one. War on Ice is the other.

I wonder if the Dustin Penner tryout in Montreal that was hinted at a few days ago is dead in the water now that Drayson Bowman signed a tryout contract. Bowman is only 25 and he's responsible enough defensively. Yes, his 10 points last season really sucked, but he rarely started his shifts in the offensive zone - just 34.70% offensive zone starts, which is terribly low compared to most players league-wide. How would he do if given decent linemates and average zone starts? He could probably hold his own on the second line and become a 40-point guy. However, the Golden Boy rule is in effect here - a tryout contract probably means minor leagues for him, unless there are two or three key injuries on the wing for the Habs. He definitely needs some bounces.