Ramblings: Dobber Muses about Boston Goaltending, Calgary’s Woes, Stamkos, Panarin, Kurashev and Robertson vs. Cowan<\/p>\n
I think the Bruins are doing as well as can be expected. Even better, in fact. So them being at .500, and that’s considered “good”, well \u2013 safely count them out of the playoffs. The David Pastrnak<\/a> line is flying, with Morgan Geekie<\/a> looking like he’s legit and last year wasn’t just a contract-year bump, and Pavel Zacha<\/a> finally showing his potential. Casey Mittelstadt<\/a> has six points in seven games since he was a healthy scratch. But the team lacks depth scoring and their goaltending has been weak \u2013 and I say this after Jeremy Swayman<\/a> has a fantastic game.<\/p>\n The problem with Swayman is consistency. He has had no “middle” games. They have all been either QS or RBS. Five Quality Starts and three Really Bad Starts in his eight games. Two Steals and one Preventable Loss. Overall, he’s been average. Not $10M AAV average, but average. Maybe a capable backup would help. Joonas Korpisalo<\/a> hasn’t seen the happy side of a 0.894 SV% in three years. Meanwhile, Michael DiPietro<\/a> continues to be lights-out in the AHL. DiPietro is 30-8-4 going back to last year, with a SV% over 0.920 in that span. I get that they’re paying $4M to Korpisalo. But at some point you have to bite the bullet and play the better player.<\/p>\n After going five games without a point, Alexander Nikishin<\/a> has points in two straight. Nikishin is averaging more than three Hits per game, and he got his first real sniff of PP time on Sunday, manning the second unit. His pairing, alongside Sean Walker<\/a>, was easily the most effective pairing even though they were a minus-2. When that pairing was out there, the Hurricanes had 23 chances-for versus 11 against (using Corsi).<\/p>\n Despite playing with Sebastian Aho<\/a> and Seth Jarvis<\/a>, Nikolaj Ehlers<\/a> continues to struggle. They dominate possession, but have been snakebitten so far. They are facing the toughest Quality of Competition on the team. Ehlers’ shot rate is on par with other years, so it’s only a matter of time before they start going in and I consider him a buy-low. He’s going to get his 23-27 goals. Now they’ll just be crammed into the remaining 71 games.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Justin Brazeau<\/a> missed Saturday’s game with a UBI, robbing us of seeing if he (and his line alongside Anthony Mantha<\/a> and Evgeni Malkin<\/a>) can continue their hot streak<\/a>. Brazeau has 12 points in 12 games this year and will make his first appearance on my Top 300 Keeper League Players list, which I will hopefully have up later Sunday.<\/p>\n Brad Lambert<\/a>‘s first career NHL goal:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Jets have a lot riding on Lambert and they’ve been bringing him along carefully because he has such raw skills and an unpredictable career path. There is upside, but the consistency hasn’t been there. They are right to take this slow. Despite the goal, his metrics in the NHL haven’t been great, and still needs a ton more time in the AHL. If you bought into his draft hype and picked him up three years ago, as happened in most deep dynasty leagues, you’re probably stuck holding him for a couple of years yet. And probably hoping for an Adrian Kempe<\/a> kind of ‘surprise’ bump after four or five NHL seasons.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n With Matthew Wood scoring that goal, it pushes him into the Top 15 in scoring for Nashville \u2013 and pushes Steven Stamkos out of the Top 15. And he was mad at Tampa Bay for not stepping up with a good contract offer.<\/p>\n \u2014 Dobber (@DobberHockey) November 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n So what to do with Steven Stamkos<\/a>? He’ll still get his 50 points, or close enough to it. But his production so far is disheartening to say the least. Just two points in 13 games, and over 40 minutes played on the power play with just one point to show for it. He is a consistent shooter, with a career average of 16.5% but still around 15% these last three years. So the fact that he is sitting at just 3.3% is just bad luck. They’re going to go in and he’ll probably get his 25 goals. All the metrics say that a market correction is in store. But is a 50-point player really worth holding onto “just in case”? That would depend on your league.<\/p>\n This new line of Michael Bunting<\/a>, Fedor Svechkov and Matthew Wood showed potential on Sunday, in on two of the goals. Plus the PP goal by Jonathan Marchessault<\/a> was assisted by Wood and Bunting. The 20-year-old Wood now has four points in six games, but be wary \u2013 his possession metrics have been fairly weak so far. His job in the NHL isn’t locked in quite yet.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n The Calgary Flames can’t score to the save their lives, so Ryan Huska has been scratching the kids. First it was Matt Coronato<\/a>, and Saturday it was Zayne Parekh<\/a> and Connor Zary<\/a>. Parekh is understandable, as they are delaying his playing that 10th game. But at some point, the coaches have to look within. They have the fifth-worse power play, and this is a team that is third in the league in PP time per game! Nobody is on pace for 60 points. This team is a dud when it comes to fantasy hockey.<\/p>\n Dustin Wolf<\/a> got the hook, and he’s been really struggling going 2-8-1 to start. He gave up three goals on 11 shots. His SV% is down to 0.881. The team looks like it is in for a tough year all around, so if Wolf is going to have an off year, it may as well be this one. However, if your team is in a rebuild, this year would be a great time to acquire Wolf for what will be a bright future in the long term. Do not doubt his future. Generally, with goalies, if you don’t trust the numbers \u2013 trust the contract. And his huge one hasn’t even started yet.<\/p>\n Mackenzie Weegar<\/a> owners are going through a tough time. His Hits are down by a half per game, his points are down by nearly two-thirds, his SOG are way down, and even his BLKS are nearly half the rate of what they were. The metrics indicate a bounceback, but come on \u2013 he’s on pace for 19 points, so of course he’s going to rebound. But the way this team is going, a “rebound” might not be even 40 points. Coach Ryan Huska just signed a new contract last month and since then his team has done nothing but blow it. If you think the team needs a new coach before they can turn it around, you’ll have to think again. From what I’ve seen so far, if I could redo the Flames in the Fantasy Guide<\/a>, I would roll everyone back by 15%.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Watch out, Philipp Kurashev<\/a> has found his chemistry and it’s with William Eklund<\/a> and Alexander Wennberg<\/a>. Kurashev now has seven points in his last four games and eight overall. Eklund has been in on five of his points, and Wennberg has been in on six. That being said, the metrics point to quite a market correction \u2013 Kurashev has just five goals on just 22 shots, and a 5on5 S% of 20.4%. That’s crazy good luck and he’s had no points at all on the power play. Ride the wave while you can! For me to get on board the Kurashev train, I would need to see some PP production.<\/p>\n Brent Burns<\/a> played 24:11, his most all season. The 40-year-old is playing like he still has another 40-point season in him.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Remember when Sam Steel<\/a> was drafted 30th overall in 2016 and he was a coveted prospect in fantasy hockey? It appears that Glen Gulutzan does. He has had Steel lining up with Mikko Rantanen<\/a> for most of the season, and with Tyler Seguin<\/a> and Mavrik Bourque<\/a> on Saturday. His ice time is way up, he’s winning faceoffs like mad (62.2%) his Hits are way up and he’s blocking shots. With Jamie Benn<\/a> back in about two weeks, Steel will use that time to make his mark and try to secure this kind of deployment and ice time moving forward. Steel had a three-point game Saturday and has five points on the campaign.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n It was Isak Rosen<\/a>‘s turn to be called up by the Sabres and he didn’t disappoint, cashing in with a goals on three shots and adding two Hits and two BLKS. He’s leading Rochester in scoring and has earned this call-up. Noah Ostlund<\/a> had his chance, got a taste, didn’t produce. With Konsta Helenius<\/a> a year or two away, and Ostlund looking like he needs a year yet \u2013 now is the time for Rosen, the oldest of the three, to make his mark. He played with Jack Quinn<\/a> and Jiri Kulich<\/a>, and saw first-unit PP time, so you know the organization sees him as a future top-sixer.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Easton Cowan<\/a> scored his first NHL goal and has picked up three points in his last five games. He played with John Tavares<\/a> and Bobby McMann<\/a>, so he’s still hanging in there in the top six. He has seven SOG in the last two games.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nicholas Robertson<\/a> is playing with Auston Matthews<\/a> and Matthew Knies<\/a> and he now has back-to-back two-point games. That’s certainly how you keep your spot. We still aren’t sure how long William Nylander<\/a> is out for, so Robertson needs to continue taking full advantage because Nylander will shake things up. Both him and Cowan are producing, and it’s genuinely coming down to those two.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Dawson Mercer<\/a> is continuing his surge, now up to 13 points in 12 games. He had followed up a 56-point sophomore season, clearly on the rise, with two pretty poor ones in the mid-30s. So this surge has become quite the rebound. Keep in mind he is still only 24, not even in his prime. He’s clicking with Nico Hischier<\/a> and Timo Meier<\/a>. If you’re in a dynasty league and you acquired Mercer for a song last year \u2013 congratulations, well done. That’s the meaning of “buy low” right there. Now, to preach caution, keep in mind that he’s obviously not going to get 89 points (his current pace). The metrics point to something closer to 60. But that’s still a career high and a very serviceable fantasy player. It doesn’t hurt that his PP time is up, too.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Artemi Panarin<\/a> is killing fantasy teams right now. But as you would expect, his 5on5 S% is sitting at a career low, and his S% is just 5.3% which is about a third of what to expect. Yes, he’s 34, but he’s about as good a buy-low candidate as there is right now.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n I’m back on Wednesday \u2013 and be sure you’re here for DobberHockey’s 20th anniversary. I have a few things planned, including discounts. That’s WEDNESDAY. Twenty years to the day, I registered the URL DobberHockey.com.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n In case you’ve been living under a rock and were unaware \u2013 we have gone full-bore into video quick-hits on Tik Tok and YouTube<\/a>. I have begun counting down each organization’s Top 10 prospects from a fantasy hockey perspective, Friday with Colorado and Saturday with Toronto. I’m going to try to get one up every day. Make sure you like and subscribe!<\/p>\n Here is a recent post I had on my strategy that I use each day for Dobbernomics<\/a>. I may do a few of these, and just show how fun it is, and with very little time commitment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On the team.
In the NHL, Stamkos is tied for 431st.<\/p>\n