Every Sunday, we share 21 Fantasy Rambles from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week’s 'Daily Ramblings'. Writers/Editors: Ian Gooding, Michael Clifford, Alexander MacLean, Brennan Des and Dobber — 1. After looking a bit shaky in Game 2, Casey DeSmith was up to the task in Game 3. The Vancouver backup stopped 30 of 31 shots in leading the Canucks to a 2-1 win in Nashville. DeSmith will need to be an unexpected playoff hero if the Canucks are going to go on any kind of run, as Thatcher Demko seems unlikely to return in this series. Circling back to Demko, th ..read more

Playoff pucks again… Saturday featured four more games as the first round continues. Islanders 3, Hurricanes 2, 2 OT (Hurricanes lead series 3-1) The Islanders staved off elimination on Saturday, avoiding a sweep with a double-overtime goal from Mathew Barzal. The point shot from Robert Bortuzzo appeared to be deflected in by Barzal at 1:24 of the second overtime period. The goal was Barzal's second of the game. THIS SERIES WILL CONTINUE! ? Mathew Barzal (@Barzal_97) scores in @SportChek double overtime to force a Game 5 back in Carolina! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/3eL2fEurcl — NHL (@NHL ..read more

Welcome back to The Journey, where we track the development of prospects as they excel in junior, make the NHL, and push towards stardom. *** Zooming in on players aged 25 and younger, here is the breakdown of Top 100 playoff scorers so far by year drafted: 2022: None 2021: None 2020: Quinton Byfield, Alexis Lafreniere, Seth Jarvis, Anton Lundell, Dylan Holloway 2019: None 2018: Evan Bouchard, Quinn Hughes, Andrei Svechnikov, Jack Drury, Martin Fehervary 2017: Cale Makar, Miro Heiskanen, Martin Necas, Gabe Vilardi, Jason Robertson, Mikey Anderson, Casey Mittelstadt Note: stats mentioned do not ..read more

It's all playoff pucks today. I'll use that term because it was the name of the very first fantasy hockey article that I wrote way back in 2006 for a website that no longer exists. Canucks 2, Predators 1 (Canucks lead series 2-1) Just gotta catch my breath here… okay, I'm good. After looking a bit shaky in Game 2, Casey DeSmith was up to the task in Game 3. The Vancouver backup stopped 30 of 31 shots in leading the Canucks to a 2-1 win in Nashville. DeSmith will need to be an unexpected playoff hero if the Canucks are going to go on any kind of run, as Thatcher Demko seems unlikely to return i ..read more

We won't be covering the NHL playoffs blow by blow in this column, though we will touch on teams a bit as they get knocked out in each round. For this week, and for several upcoming weeks, we will be taking a look back over full season data and find out which players provided the most, and best value at each position. 'Most Valuable' is a tricky term that is going to be completely dependent on the league specific context. For the purposes of this article, we are going to use standard Yahoo point scoring to calculate the total fantasy points for each player. This year the stats include goals, a ..read more

Welcome back to the follow up to last week's article, with this week being about the West and what they bring to the table. We are about 2-3 games into each series, and it is shaping out to be a very entertaining playoff race this season. Let's dig into the West! Dallas Stars (z – 113 pts) Why are they here? The Stars are the top dogs coming out of the West boasting an impressive +64 goal differential , which is 2nd best in the entire league. This Dallas team is built well with incredible offensive depth, with a lot of scoring spread throughout the lineup which is crucial in the playoffs. One ..read more

Chicago has signed defenceman Alex Vlasic to a six-year deal with an AAV of $4.6M per season. I wrote about him yesterday when discussing the Blackhawks so read that for more on him.   In salary cap leagues, this could be fine. It isn't a heavy cap hit and he was just shy of two blocks per game last season. The problem was the 56 hits; if he's a 60- to 70-hit guy with maybe 20-25 points, it is only the blocked shots bringing a lot of value. It isn't a reason to cut him yet but it isn't hard to see this not being a value contract in cap formats. * Just want to say rest in peace to Bob Cole ..read more

It was announced that Carolina defenceman Brett Pesce is likely to miss the first round of the playoffs. Carolina has a 2-0 series lead and has been in command of the game, if not the scoreboard, since the second period of Game 1. Pesce's loss shouldn't change a whole lot about that series, but it will bring Tony DeAngelo back into the lineup. He is still as bad defensively as he's always been, and that could mean a better chance for the Islanders to create offensively against Carolina's blue-line depth. * There was also this update on Florida forward Sam Bennett: Tidbits from Maurice on Ben ..read more

Welcome back to another edition of the Roos Lets Loose monthly mailbag, where I answer your fantasy hockey questions by giving advice that should be useful to all poolies even if they don't own the specific players being discussed. As a reminder, if you want your fantasy hockey question(s) answered in the next mailbag, check out the end of the column, where I explain the ways to get it/them to me as well as the details you should provide when sending. The earlier you send a question the more likely it is to be included in the mailbag, and the deeper dive I can provide with my reply. Question ..read more

The Rangers have been the better team thus far, but the Capitals are hanging around and still haven't lost at home yet. With the makeup of their team, the Capitals really need to get the matchup game right to have a chance at climbing back into the series. Especially if Jack Roslovic is making shots like this: Jack Roslovic with the PERFECT SHOT to put the Rangers back on top ? pic.twitter.com/OgQcfMAwO5 — Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 24, 2024 The top two lines are what is carrying New York right now, with Mika Zibanejad's three points alongside Roslovic leading the way, while Vincent Troch ..read more