There are still a few RFAs that remain unsigned, but one of them was taken off the board on Thursday: Pierre LeBrun reported that the New Jersey Devils and Luke Hughes reached a decision with Hughes signing a seven-year deal carrying a $9-million average annual value. According to PuckPedia, that ties Hughes with Cale Makar for the 11th-highest cap hit among defencemen in the league. Hughes has 93 points in 155 career games for the Devils.
This makes him virtually un-draftable in cap league formats. He doesn’t have a top PP role (he may take it from Dougie Hamilton at some point, but that’s far from certain), and he has 118 blocks and 44 hits in those 155 career games. A 40- to 50-point defenceman with no peripherals and a secondary PP role just is not worth the 11th-highest cap hit. If he can wrangle Hamilton’s PPQB spot from him, then we can have the conversation, but until that happens, he has very poor value in cap leagues.
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The Edmonton Oilers finally added another goaltender to the fold by trading for Utah’s Connor Ingram. The Mammoth retained $800 000 of the $1.95-million cap hit and receive future considerations in return.
This both shores up the goaltending, and it muddles things. This is obviously a change-of-scenery trade for Ingram whose numbers fell precipitously in 2024-25 with an .882 save percentage in 22 starts. The mitigating factor here is that Ingram took a leave of absence for a family issue in mid-November of 2024, missing two months. Things didn’t get much better when he returned and he entered the Player Assistance Program after the season. He revealed that his mother had been sick with breast cancer, and that she passed away in early December. He admitted it was something he never was able to move past, and to me, that seems completely reasonable. This is the best hockey league in the world with the top fraction of a percent of elite players on the ice. If a goaltender has his mind elsewhere because of a devastating family issue, that there was a significant negative effect in on-ice performance makes a lot of sense. We can only hope that he is in a good place now.
That down year in 2024-25 shouldn’t mask what had been a great start to Ingram’s career. In his first two seasons with the former Arizona Coyotes – 74 starts and 77 appearances – he had a higher save percentage than names like Sergei Bobrovsky, Jordan Binnington, and Sam Montembeault. When looking at Evolving Hockey‘s Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) measure – which accounts for shot quality faced – and adjusted the total to shots faced, Ingram required 91.6 shots for every GSAx. That ranked 8th among 37 goalies with at least 60 games played, and nestled between two starters from playoff teams:
That is just 74 starts, and not enough to make a firm determination one way or another, but it’s certainly a very good start, and reflects several good AHL seasons. There was promise here before what happened in 2024-25.
If Ingram can regain the highs he showed from 2022-2024, not only is he an NHL starter, but he’s a top-half-of-the-league starter. We know the struggles that Edmonton’s goaltending has shown, particularly in the playoffs, over the years. Ingram won’t be the starter for Edmonton’s first game next week, but he could very well be one of the most valuable fantasy goalies in the second half of the regular season.
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It is under a week until the NHL regular season starts, and the final fantasy draft weekend is just ahead. For anyone that wants to get their head around all draftable players, head over to the Dobber Shop to grab a copy of the 2025-26 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide! It has team-by-team articles, sleepers, over-valued options, a schedule breakdown, and a whole lot more. It also has a full draft list with projections for each player. It has been updated throughout the preseason to reflect news like Aleksander Barkov‘s injury and Zach Hyman‘s November return.
I want to highlight the preseason writing I’ve done to get ready for drafts. There are a lot of preview articles:
ADP changes for key players like Macklin Celebrini, Seth Jones, and Jake Guentzel
Players I’ve avoided drafting so far like Ivan Demidov, Kevin Fiala, and Erik Karlsson
Arbitrage drafting centres, arbitrage drafting wingers, and arbitrage drafting defencemen
Late-round values on names like Mason McTavish, Sam Rinzel, Jet Greaves, and more
Looking at season-long projections for one player from each team. Here is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
Finding this year’s Darcy Kuemper
Finding this year’s Dylan Holloway
Finding this year’s Zach Werenski
That should give people a good idea of my thoughts on season-long fantasy hockey this season, at least as it pertains to the top-250 players. Today, I want to take these Ramblings to go through deeper options. These are players going outside the top-250 selections that I am high on, and think are worth taking a chance.
We are using my personal projections which are for goals, assists, power-play points, shots, hits and blocks. ADP data is from Fantrax. Remember that ADP data will vary wildly between sites and league settings, so keep that in the back of your mind. Data for projections is from All Three Zones, Evolving Hockey, and Frozen Tools.
Frank Nazar (Chicago Blackhawks – C)
ADP: 269.8, Centre #65
Here is my projection for Nazar this season:
Despite Chicago’s lack of firepower up front, Nazar’s fantastic shortened AHL season plays a factor here, as does his penalty differential: On a per-minute basis, comparable forwards to Nazar by penalty differential and shot attempts last season were Nico Hischier, Elias Pettersson, and Tim Stutzle. To do that at his age gives him the appearance of a special player. Being nearly assured of a top PP role for the season helps push his projection over 50 points, and there are good block and shot totals, too. He won’t truly ascend in the fantasy game until Chicago proves they’re not a bottom-10 offensive team, but I think Nazar really turns heads this season playing second fiddle to Connor Bedard, and he’s a fringe top-50 centre for me in multi-cat fantasy formats.
Filip Chytil (Vancouver Canucks – C)
ADP: 289, Centre #78
If Vancouver wants to push back towards the postseason again, they need healthy, productive years from Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko. If they want to be a truly dangerous team, they need Chytil to establish himself as a second-line centre. He has his own health concerns, but his 82-game projection is as a 60-point player:
Underpinning this is having a full season with Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, and Marcus Pettersson on the blue line, and a solid-if-unspectacular winger group with Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and Evander Kane. If Chytil doesn’t get regular top PP minutes, his projection falls closer to 50 points, but the last three years have seen him produce even-strength goals per 60 minutes at a mid-tier first-line rate and primary assists at a top-end second-line rate. If he’s healthy and skating 17 minutes a game with meaningful power-play time, then he’s much better than the 78th fantasy centre (he’s in the top-50 for me).
Zach Benson (Buffalo Sabres – LW)
ADP: 289.9, Left Wing #87
One thing I very much believe to be true is that, generally speaking, hockey fans and analysts struggle with properly evaluating players on bad teams. If Benson had spent the last two seasons playing for Washington or St. Louis (two teams that passed on him in the 2023 draft), I think the conversation around him would be as one of the budding two-way star wingers in the league. Instead, he got drafted by Buffalo, and here we are.
Anyway, here is my Benson projection:
At first blush, it’s nothing outlandish with 20 goals, 27 assists, under 150 shots, and under 100 total hits+blocks on the board. It would be easily his best season, but not special overall. But look at that power-play point total. The presumption is he’s basically stuck on Buffalo’s PP2 all year, and it’s not worth much. But if anything should happen that he gets top PP time, his projection jumps over 60 points in 82 games with roughly 2.0 shots per game. It is a bit of a longer shot, but I think Benson is on the cusp of establishing himself as a genuine star, and he’s been attached to Tage Thompson at 5-on-5 all preseason long. He is just missing that one final power-play piece to truly take the leap in fantasy value, and as the 87th left winger off the board, it’s a gamble worth taking. Always bet on talent.
Ville Koivunen (Pittsburgh Penguins – LW)
ADP: 290, Left Wing #89
Last month, I wrote about rookies to watch in training camp (the article can be viewed here), and Koivunen was among them. For that reason, I won’t go long here and just show his projection:
That isn’t a special projection by any means, but this is about upside and timing. As for upside, Koivunen’s 56 points as a 20-year-old in the Finnish league is the most for a player his age this century (per Elite Prospects). He followed that up by leading Pittsburgh’s AHL team in points with 56 in 63 games as a rookie, far exceeding Rutger McGroarty‘s 39-point total. He then had 7 points in 8 games to finish the NHL season.
As for timing, consider Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. It seems very plausible one, or both, are traded at any point, and push Koivunen to the top line over the final 6-8 weeks of the season (fantasy playoffs). He has produced well at every level, looks to have a second-line role out of camp, and could have a top-line role down the stretch. I am a believer.
Jani Nyman (Seattle Kraken – LW)
ADP: 293.9, Left Wing #209
Nyman is going so late in drafts that he barely registers as a pick. His ADP says 293.9, but anyone after 290 is basically clumped together in the ‘Does Not Matter’ bucket. Also, notice his rank among left wingers. There are only 128 actual left wingers in the league (32×4) but including fantasy players listed as C/LW or LW/RW, we have this ranking.
I wrote about Nyman last week, so I will just offer his projection here:
Again, this is predicated on 82 games played, but that’s a 20-goal season with nearly two shots and one hit per game. The Kraken look like they have a genuine diamond in the rough here, and while they have a bunch of solid players, they have no superstars that are auto-blocking Nyman’s potential top-9 role. For someone that is realistically going well outside the top-400 fantasy picks, I am intrigued.
Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis Blues – RW)
ADP: 261.6, Right Wing #67
In that article I wrote about rookies to watch in training camp, Snuggerud was on the list. So, like Nyman, we won’t go long here and just offer his projection:
It isn’t anything out-of-left-field – the Dobber Fantasy Guide has him for 20 goals and 24 assists in 77 games – but this is also about upside. Snuggerud has been lining up all training camp next to Robert Thomas both at 5-on-5 and on the power play. How many wingers outside the top-250 picks are in line to start the season with a top-line/top PP role next to one of the best playmakers in the league? Maybe Snuggerud is demoted by November, and his fantasy value is ruined. Then again, maybe not.
Zach Bolduc (Montreal Canadiens – LW/RW)
ADP: 280.6, Right Wing #73
What is working against Bolduc is Montreal’s depth on the wings: Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Patrick Laine, and Brendan Gallagher all look set for top-9 roles. They are toying with moving Alex Newhook to the wing, and they still have Josh Anderson. At the absolute most optimistic, Bolduc is the 4th winger on the depth chart, and it’s not hard to envision him as the 7th or 8th option.
But we’ve already seen Montreal completely swap around their depth lines in the preseason – nothing is assured after the top trio. If Bolduc is as good as he showed in St. Louis last year, he’s going to force the hand of the coaching staff, and play is way into a middle-6 role. That is what’s driving this projection:
That is a 20/20 season with over 150 shots and 130 hits. In short, it’s pretty good multi-cat value. He is my 55th right winger, and that makes him a good draft value. Like Benson, we are betting on talent.
Philip Broberg (St. Louis Blues – Defence)
ADP: 270.5, Defence #67
Sometimes, players are better in real life than fantasy. It could be that Broberg is on that trajectory as the Blues seem very reluctant to use him on the power play at all (it looks like Cam Fowler, Justin Faulk, and Logan Mailloux are all ahead of him on the depth chart). Having a secondary PP role is one thing, but not having any PP role at all is very bad for fantasy value.
That lack of PP role is what makes Broberg’s projection fascinating:
That is a 35-point season with one (1) power-play point. I have him getting one of those points while short-handed, so that makes 33 points at even strength. For reference, only 24 defencemen last year reached 30 even-strength points. That should give everyone an idea of the upside here if he can get any reasonable power-play time. I am resigned to the fact that the Blues just don’t want him running the power play, but what if they change their minds? I am pleading with the Blues: just give him a chance. P-L-E-A-S-E.
K’Andre Miller (Carolina Hurricanes – Defence)
ADP: 276.1, Defence #71
Over the last three years, Miller has averaged 8.4 goals, 26.7 assists, and 263.6 hits+blocks every 82 games. That means he’s averaged 35-point, 263-hit+block seasons with almost no power-play production (about two PP points every 82 games). Even without a meaningful PP role in Carolina, my projection has him passing 35 points and pushing 250 hits+blocks once again:
Overall, this projection makes Miller the 55th defenceman on my board in multi-cat formats and he is being drafted just outside the top-70 defencemen. He can reach the 40-point plateau once again and do so while putting up huge peripheral numbers. It is a wonder he’s going as late as he is.