Just a reminder that the NHL Trade Deadline is on Friday and we will have you covered here at Dobber Hockey when those trades break. We will have the instant fantasy hockey analysis in the ‘Fantasy Take’ column on the big swaps to make sure fantasy managers have the information they need to make the best decisions they can.

For a bit of Deadline reading, last Friday’s Ramblings had some fantasy trade targets managers should consider, both among forwards and defencemen, including names like Beckett Sennecke, Jordan Kyrou, Simon Holmstrom, and Brandt Clarke.

*

Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson was back at practice with his teammates on Monday, albeit in a non-contact jersey, reported Sammi Silber. Carlson hasn’t played since the NHL returned from its Olympic break, but that he’s practicing, even in a non-contact jersey, is a good sign.

*

Jiri Kulich will undergo some testing to try and ramp up his fitness training:

Ruff said Kulich is getting testing he thinks tomorrow that will decide of Kulich can rejoin the team or just increase his workouts.

— Paul Hamilton (@pham1717) March 2, 2026

Kulich last played on November 1st due to a blood clot, and any return to game action is still a ways away, but that’s he’s seemingly progressing is a good sign.

*

Mark Stone has been designated as day-to-day:

#VGK coach Bruce Cassidy said Mark Stone is day to day after his upper-body injury Sunday in Pittsburgh. We’ll find out tomorrow if he plays vs. #Sabres

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) March 2, 2026

Stone left the game on Sunday at the end of the first period. That it is a day-to-day designation is a good sign for now.

*

The Chicago Blackhawks traded defenceman Connor Murphy to Edmonton for a second-round pick. Murphy can be a fine defensive defenceman who has solid block/hit totals if he gets enough minutes, but his biggest impact might be Jake Walman losing ice time. It isn’t hard to envision a second pair of Murphy and Darnell Nurse with Walman on the third pair with someone like Ty Emberson or Spencer Stastney. We have to wait and see how this shakes out in their first few games, but Walman fantasy owners should have a bit of concern here.

*

In Detroit’s 4-2 win Monday afternoon against Nashville, goaltender John Gibson took a shot off the shoulder and left the game after the first period. There is no official diagnosis by Helene St. James tweeted that the coaches felt it might have been just a stinger. If that’s the case, he should be fine, but keep an eye for updates.

Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist in the win, bringing him up to 60 points and he’s one assist away from a 30-30 season.

*

Zach Werenski (illness) did not play in Columbus’ game on Monday night in New York.

Columbus won that game 5-4 in overtime after the Rangers came all the way back from 4-0 to 4-4 in the third period. Kirill Marchenko had a pair of goals, including the OT winner, while assisting on a goal from Adam Fantilli.

Gabe Perreault scored twice for the Rangers in the loss as Igor Shesterkin gave up five goals on 28 shots.

Elvis Merzlikins was in net for Columbus, so it’ll be Jet Greaves on Tuesday at home to Nashville.

*

Dan Vladar stopped 29 of 31 shots in Philadelphia’s 3-2 shootout win over Toronto on Monday night. That pushes him to a .908 save percentage and makes him the first Philadelphia goalie in six years to have a .900 save percentage (or better) with at least 35 starts.

Rasmus Ristolainen, in what may end up his last game with the Flyers, posted five shots, two blocks, two PIMs, and two hits in the win.

Nick Seeler was injured for the Flyers and he left the game late in the first period. We are waiting for an update, but between that injury and Ristolainen’s potential trade, there could be a lot of ice time available for top guys like Jamie Drysdale, Cam York, and Travis Sanheim to hoover up.

*

Colin Blackwell, Matt Duchene, and Jason Robertson all posted a goal and an assist in Dallas’ 6-1 win in Vancouver. Defenceman Lian Bichsel scored twice in his first career two-goal game.

Jake Oettinger stopped 13 of 14 shots for the win.

Evander Kane scored the lone Canucks goal, posting three shots, a block, and a hit.

*

Joey Daccord stopped 35 of 36 shots for his 18th win of the season as Seattle defeated Carolina 2-1. The Kraken netminder is 1 of 10 goalies to make at least 75 started and post at least a .905 save percentage across the last two seasons. Kaapo Kakko scored one of the goal and now has scored in two of the three games since returning from the Olympics.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored the lone Carolina goal. That gives him 8 goals and 11 assists through 21 games in calendar 2026. Goalie Frederik Andersen allowed two goals on 15 shots and his save percentage is down to .874 on the season.

*

Colorado’s top line carried the team to a 4-2 win in Los Angeles on Monday night as Gabriel Landeskog and Martin Necas both posted a goal and two assists while Nathan MacKinnon registered a goal, an assist, and eight shots. Over Landeskog’s last 25 games, he has 21 points, 70 shots, 31 hits, and 14 blocks.

Cale Makar posted an assist, five shots, and three blocks while blue line partner Devon Toews scored just his second goal of the campaign.

With no Drew Doughty in the lineup again, Brandt Clarke skated 23:30 and has now averaged over 23:00 per game across his last three games. Clarke scored and posted two shots, four PIMs, and two blocks.

Anton Forsberg was in net again for the Kings and gave up three goals on 38 shots for the loss.

Artturi Lehkonen was injured in the first period and did not return. All of Ross Colton, Victor Olofsson, and Parker Kelly each had at least a couple of shifts on the second line.

Quinton Byfield did not play on Monday night due to an upper-body injury. Keep an eye out for more updates.

In the first game of the post-Jim Hiller era, the top line was Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, and Artemi Panarin. Given the injuries they have, all three skated over 20 minutes, and Panarin was over 22 minutes.

*

We are six weeks away from the end of the regular season and there are a lot of younger players on playoff (or potential playoff) teams that should factor into their team’s success. Let’s go through the league and look at six forwards, all in their age-26 season or under, who aren’t the focal points of their teams but will have fantasy relevance for those managers chasing a championship.

Player/team data is from Evolving Hockey, schedule data is from Frozen Tools, tracking data is from All Three Zones, and all is current as of March 2nd, 2026. All the data is at 5-on-5 unless otherwise indicated.

The red and blue dotted lines in the following graphs represent the league average in those specific stats among all forwards.

Marat Khusnutdinov (Boston Bruins)

At 1.86 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, Khusnutdinov has produced at a rate commensurate with a second-line forward. It isn’t elite, but it’s good, and he’s often found himself skating on a line with David Pastrnak (though they did make some swaps in their recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers). Skating with Pastrňák certainly helps with production, but Khusnutdinov has been performing well individually, too. Looking at some of the tracking data, here are some comparable names by rate of scoring chance assists (helpers on teammate chances) and percentage of zone entries carried in, and who are responsible for an above-average rate of zone entries overall:

We clearly see the names Jack Hughes and Nikolaj Ehlers, and the overlapped names are Khusnutdinov and Leo Carlsson. Suffice to say that is an excellent list of comparable players for the young Bruins forward to find himself with and speaks to the growth he’s seen this season.

There are some issues for Khusnutdinov’s fantasy value, starting with being highly role dependent because he won’t get top power-play time without some key injuries, and that caps his production upside. If he is moved to the third line – as he was on Saturday – then it will be hard for him to maintain even a 0.5 points/game pace.

Compounding that is a lack of peripherals. His 60-minute shot rate at all strengths is that of a fourth-liner and his rate of hits puts him near the bottom 30% of forwards. Not only would a third-line role keep him away from the team’s top stars, but it lowers his ice time which would mean minimal peripherals. As long as Khusnutdinov is skating with Pasta, he has relevance in deeper formats, but if he’s anywhere else, he’s un-roster-able in anything but the deepest leagues.

Mavrik Bourque (Dallas Stars)

The Dallas Stars’ top, erm, stars will get all the press, but Bourque is having himself an interesting season. His raw production totals, and his 60-minute rates, are nothing special, but there is some efficiency under the hood worth highlighting. When looking at his shot attempts per expected goal, and shot attempts per shot on goal, he compares well to other top-6 forwards across the league:

What is key for Bourque is the injury to Mikko Rantanen. While it’s unlikely to lead Bourque to top power-play time – though that’s still possible – it has already led to monster minutes coming out of the Olympic break: he skated 18:13 and 21:45 in the two games Dallas played last week. Those are his two highest TOI games of the season and led to nine shots on goal. Even without top power-play time, the Stars will lean heavily on their top two lines until Rantanen returns, and Bourque’s shot efficiency in a much bigger role bodes well for his production down the stretch. He also has 30 hits in 19 games in calendar 2026, so there’s banger value here.

Jack Quinn (Buffalo Sabres)

The issue facing Quinn is the depth of Buffalo’s forward group, particularly on the wing. Alex Tuch is the top guy, Josh Doan is having a breakout season, Peyton Krebs has found a home on the top line, Jason Zucker is a reliable veteran, and Zach Benson has upside though he’s having a down year. With all that said, Quinn has been excellent this season as there are two comparable wingers by rate of chance assists and primary points (goals and first assists) while also having an above-average rate of zone entries:

There is Travis Konecny, and Quinn’s name is overlapped with Lucas Raymond. Quinn has had one poor season (2024-25), though that may be excused by recovering his game following two serious surgeries. Other than that, there are now three seasons of very good production. He won’t see prime minutes this season without the team suffering a couple key injuries, but Buffalo’s next three weeks sees two games against San Jose, and one game against each of Anaheim, Los Angeles, Toronto, Washington, and Nashville. The problem is that just one of those games is on a day where there are fewer than nine games, so fantasy managers looking for a streamer might not be able to fit him in.

Quinton Byfield (Los Angeles Kings)

Like many Kings skaters, it has been a tough production season for Byfield, but it hasn’t hurt his role: he averaged over 20 minutes/game at all strengths across the last two months and has even been seeing top power-play time alongside Artemi Panarin. His struggle to produce is obvious, but it stands out when we see who he compares to by his rate of chance assists and rate of zone entries among forwards who carry the puck into the zone at an above-average rate:

Byfield’s name is overlapped with Jesper Bratt – which is apt considering Bratt’s own struggles – but we also see Pastrňák and Ehlers. In any season if a player compares to Bratt, Pastrňák, and Ehlers, it is a good sign, and that it’s a player skating 20 minutes a game with top power-play time is significant. It is doubtful that Los Angeles’ offence meaningfully improves, but the underlying data is there to support a surge for Byfield’s point rate. The Kings also have the easiest remaining schedule by opponent points percentage, so the rest-of-season outlook for Byfield is brighter than the first three-quarters of the season. We just have to see how things go with a new coach behind the bench.

Jackson Blake (Carolina Hurricanes)

If there’s something that the Hurricanes are generally not known for, it’s shooting efficiency. Blake has been an exception this year as he’s not only been able to put up a high rate of individual expected goals, but doing so without a sky-high rate of shot attempts while skating a top-6 role:

The names that compare to Blake are Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, and John Tavares. What has been an issue for Blake is just 47% of his shot attempts end up on target. If he can boost his rate of shot attempts, or just land more shots on goal, his goal-scoring should get better. The good news is Carolina’s remaining opponents are giving up the seventh-most goals against per game, so the schedule is lined up for Blake to start scoring more than he has to this point.

Philipp Kurashev (San Jose Sharks)

Anyone who has read my writing over the last few years knows that I have not been a fan of Kurashev’s, but we have to give credit where credit is due: he’s been a very good playmaker for the Sharks when he’s been healthy. Below are the comparable players to Kurashev by rate of chance assists, his primary assists/60 minutes at 5-on-5, and overall chance contributions (assists plus individual chances):

That list with Kurashev includes Artemi Panarin, Kyle Connor, Will Smith, and Connor McDavid. With Smith, Kiefer Sherwood, William Eklund, and Tyler Toffoli on the roster, there is a lot of competition for winger roles, but we have seen Kurashev skate in the top-6 at times this season. San Jose has one of the best remaining fantasy schedules in terms of opponents and games played, so if he’s ever moved back to the top-6 group, he will have streaming value.