After news surfaced that the Oilers had asked Vegas about interviewing Bruce Cassidy (and were declined), Kris Knoblauch was officially let go as Oilers head coach on Thursday. Since the Oilers haven’t hired a new head coach yet, we don’t completely know how Connor McDavid and other Edmonton players will be affected fantasy-wise. However, the clock is ticking on the McDavid era with just two more years left on his contract. McDavid moving on from the Oilers could have enormous fantasy implications.
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The Canucks have ushered in a new era of management, drawing from the team’s most successful era. Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin have been named co-presidents of hockey operations, while Ryan Johnson has been named the new general manager. The new brass will need to make a decision on head coach Adam Foote, who guided the team to a 32nd place finish during the first season. It’s worth mentioning Johnson won a Calder Cup last season with Manny Malhotra as head coach. The Canucks will need a head coach that can focus on guiding young players as they start their rebuild.
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In case you missed it, the Maple Leafs fired Craig Berube earlier in the week, so they may also have their eye on their former assistant coach Malhotra. With a new GM in John Chayka and the Leafs having a disappointing season by every measure, Berube being let go is not surprising at all. The Leafs are in an unusual position, as they could still try to compete if Auston Matthews is on board with sticking around, but they also just won the draft lottery and could also try to build around their new first overall pick. It’s hard to speculate which direction they will go, but there should be no shortage of discussion about it.
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Meanwhile, the plan to load up by acquiring Quinn Hughes didn’t go as hoped for the Minnesota Wild. Even though Hughes is a difference maker, the Wild really need a center, and the injury to Joel Eriksson Ek (broken heel) in the Colorado series really exposed that weakness.
I’m not sure the Wild would have made it past the Colorado Avalanche with this trade, but it would have at least made things more interesting. Think Eriksson Ek and Robert Thomas up the middle, with Filip Gustavsson instead of Jesper Wallstedt in net. Expect Bill Guerin to aggressively pursue this type of deal in the offseason, where they unload a goalie to acquire a top-6 center. Having two potential #1 goalies might be too much of a luxury when a need exists elsewhere.
Wallstedt was the much better goalie during the fourth quarter (1.98 GAA, .929 SV%) than Gustavsson (3.22 GAA, .873 SV%), so he deserved to start with so much at stake for the Wild. However, Minnesota has more invested in Gustavsson with his four-year, $6.8 million cap hit kicking in next season. For that reason, the Wild should have a much easier time trading Wallstedt, who appears to be ready to take over as a starter or a 1A.
Of course, the Wild also have to think about whether Hughes really plans to stay in Minnesota, or if he has his sights set on a reunion with his brothers. Hughes said he is “open to re-signing” with the Wild, and he did appear happier in Minnesota than he was in Vancouver. Still, that is anything but a guarantee. Don’t rule out Hughes re-signing with the Wild until 2030, which is when Jack Hughes‘ contract ends. Then the two of them could potentially pick their destination together.
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The Flyers have signed goalie Aleksei Kolosov to a one-year extension worth $850,000. Kolosov played four games with the Flyers this season and has 21 career NHL games. The 24-year-old Kolosov was decent at the AHL level this season (2.98 GAA, .895 SV%), but he has struggled at the NHL level. Expect him to be the Flyers’ third goalie again next season, as he will likely need more time in the AHL.
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I have updated the Top 100 Roto Rankings for May. Feel free to use and weigh in on for updates to future rankings.
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Continuing to reflect on the past season, I’m going to share three players that I regretted drafting this past season. I’ll provide three more players tomorrow. The first number is where I drafted the player, while the second number is their Yahoo ranking in the league for the season.
Brayden Point (23, 246)
It might be time to discuss the possibility that the 30-year-old Point is a diminishing asset. Point entered the 2025-26 season coming off three consecutive 40+ goal and 80+ point seasons. That was good enough to average a late second-round pick in 12-team Yahoo leagues. Although injuries got in the way and limited Point to 63 games, he still finished the season at a 65-point pace. Point’s 11 power-play points was also his lowest total in that category since his sophomore season of 2017-18.
Point’s goal total was largely to blame for the decline in production. Point was held to just 18 goals while averaging only two shots per game and a reduced 14.1 SH%. Although that shooting percentage may rebound closer to career averages toward 20 percent next season, Point faces additional regression with a high 5-on-5 shooting percentage (15.3%) and PDO (1055). Point said after the season that injuries didn’t slow him down during the playoffs, but his lack of production during the playoffs (7 GP, 1 G, 0 A) makes you wonder if he was battling something.
Point’s 65-point pace over a full season last season is likely his floor. To rebound, he will not only need better luck with his individual shooting percentage, but he will need better power-play production. His 35.5% PPIPP was indicative of a player that was not nearly as involved with the man advantage as he used to be (50-65% over the previous four seasons). Although a bounce-back is possible for a player of his ability, Point won’t likely reach the 90-point mark as he had for two seasons earlier in the decade.
J.T. Miller (34, 239)
Miller was probably worth his ADP of 45 during your fantasy playoffs, as he finished his season with 31 points in 33 games. Would you draft a player who fell below expectations during your regular season but delivered during your fantasy playoffs? For that reason, he could have made my Players I’m Glad I Drafted list (here and here). However, Miller is on this list because his first half was well below expectations with 22 points in 35 games.
The overall body of work for Miller was 53 points in 68 games (0.78 PTS/GP), well below his best seasons in Vancouver. If your league also counts plus/minus (no judgment from me if it does), Miller’s minus-30 was a heavy anchor. The Rangers captain still contributed in several categories, including 19 power-play points, a 61.5% faceoff win rate, and 123 hits.
That all being said, I’m even more concerned about Miller hitting an age-related decline than I am about Point. After all, Miller is now 33, and he plays a power forward type of game. As well, Miller moved from a Canucks team on the decline to… a Rangers team on the decline. He still has top-100 value in multicategory leagues, but a 50-60-point projection might be more realistic for him at this point in his career.
Sergei Bobrovsky (74, 343)
I figured that I was getting Bobrovsky at a discount, since his ADP at Yahoo was 42! Yet when goalie values fall, they can really fall. I should have known better regardless, as Bobrovsky had been coming off three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final. It was only a matter of time before the extended seasons would catch up to him.
None of the 15 goalies that appeared in as many games as Bobrovsky (52) had a lower save percentage (.876 SV%), while Kevin Lankinen and Jordan Binnington were the only goalies to play in at least 40 games and have a lower save percentage. Bobrovsky’s 27 wins was still a decent total, while there were far worse goals-against averages than his 3.07 GAA. However, the save percentage sticks out as a major red flag.
It’s possible that Bobrovsky rebounds somewhat next season with an extended offseason. If he re-signs with the Panthers, there’s a strong chance they could be better (ie. less injured), since goalie numbers are often tied to the team. Because he’s a UFA, I’ll refrain further from speculating further what his fantasy value will be like, aside from suggesting that he may be a Zero G candidate. Speaking of which, maybe I should have focused on adding a Zero G option late in my draft instead of drafting Bobrovsky.
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