Please support us by disabling ad blocker for this site.
The Minnesota Wild are taking care of business for next season before the start of this season. Just days after Kirill Kaprizov signed the largest contract in NHL history (eight years, $136 million), the Wild have locked up goalie Filip Gustavsson to a five-year extension with a $6.8 million cap hit. Gustavsson receives a raise on his current $3.75 million cap hit, which is on its final year. The Wild were able to sign Gustavsson for a lower cap hit than Dustin Wolf ($7.5 million), but more than the likes of Lukas Dostal ($6.5 million), Logan Thompson ($5.85 million), and Mackenzie Blackwood ($5.25 million).
Among goalies with at least 30 games played last season, the goalie known as the Gus Bus finished with the 10th-best goals-against average (2.56 GAA) and 5th-best save percentage (0.914 SV%) in the league, as well as being tied for 6th in wins (31 W). As a result of last season’s numbers, Gustavsson has the 7th-highest ADP among goalies in Yahoo (46.6 ADP). Gustavsson has statistically been up and down in previous seasons, so I wouldn’t draft him any higher than that. But another strong season could get him to the top tier.
With only the unproven Jesper Wallstedt to challenge him for starts, Gustavsson should be a high-volume starter again this season. With so much committed to Gustavsson over the next few years, the Wild can take their time on Wallstedt, although they may have to make a decision if Wallstedt begins to deliver on the first-round pick that the Wild used on him. Think of Yaroslav Askarov being stuck behind Juuse Saros in Nashville.
–
This is the season for players being placed on waivers as teams trim their rosters. Most of the names are fringe players who don’t have significant NHL contracts, but Ryan Graves is the exception to that. The Penguins placed Graves on waivers with four years remaining on a six-year contract at a $4.5 million AAV. Graves is not fantasy-relevant, as he has never reached 30 points in a season. From a real-life perspective, he has struggled mightily during his two seasons in Pittsburgh. He is another example of how long-term contracts signed on July 1 always carry risk.
Harrison Brunicke, who the Penguins drafted in the second round of the 2024 draft, appears to be in line to make the Penguins’ roster as a 19-year-old defenseman. As well, Penguins’ 2025 first-round pick Ben Kindel also remains on Pittsburgh’s roster at this time. Both could receive nine-game trials.
–
Another under-the-radar 2025 first-round pick who still hasn’t been sent back to junior and could be in the NHL on a nine-game trial: Braeden Cootes in Vancouver. Cootes has been auditioning with Evander Kane and Jonathan Lekkerimaki on a scoring line during preseason and fitting right in. He is exactly what the Canucks need in a right-handed center – but the main issue is that he is only 18.
–
Yep, I think we’re ready for the regular season to start. Also, the league’s most heated rivalry might be the battle of Florida. The Panthers and Lightning combined for 312 penalty minutes on Saturday. Circle Saturday November 15 on your calendar to fill the bangers categories in your league.
Scratch that, there are MORE Bolts players in the box than on the bench 🫠 https://t.co/BhXKX3orOR pic.twitter.com/b1ffgblI9Z
This game might never end.
Florida has 8 goals
Tampa has 9 players left, the rest have been ejected pic.twitter.com/WXbvWWJom4
Aaron Ekblad left this game after getting hit into the boards by AHL veteran Scott Sabourin and then getting punched. Surprisingly, Sabourin did not receive a penalty for any of this. Probably because there was already so much else going on this game. Keep an eye on Ekblad’s status heading into opening night. The Panthers already have enough injuries to start the season.
Scott Sabourin RAN OVER Aaron Ekblad and then started throwing punches 😳 pic.twitter.com/TAMXJnozXM
–
This is my last Ramblings before the start of the regular season. It’s always a challenge to fill the offseason with interesting and meaningful content, particularly from the period of time between early July when player signings come to a screeching halt all the way until about… now, although news slowly starts to pick up during training camp, and we at least have drafts and rankings to talk about.
As we have in past seasons, the Dobber writers will team up to provide our season predictions prior to puck drop on Tuesday. Included will be individual award winners, players to rebound and disappoint, division winners, and Stanley Cup finalists.
If you’re an Athletic subscriber, there’s an NHL prediction contest over there that has been created by Sean McIndoe. I may enter it, but today I’ve borrowed their template and modified it for fantasy purposes to make some predictions beyond the Dobber writer predictions. In other words, I’ll leave out which coaches and GMs will be fired or not be fired by next offseason. As well, Olympic predictions really don’t matter, unless you are in some kind of Olympic pool or plan to place some bets there. I might enter the contest later, if I find the time.
Before I start, don’t base your decisions on my advice. More specifically, I am not responsible for your betting decisions!
These are also not as bold as Rick Roos’ upcoming Fearless Forecasts. But I’m sure someone out there will use these against me later. To that, I’ll say that at least I put my picks out there for all to see. 😊
Anyway, here goes.
Eastern Conference playoff teams: Tampa Bay, Toronto, Montreal, Carolina, New Jersey, NY Rangers, Florida, Ottawa (Washington is my pick for fall back to earth team).
Western Conference playoff teams: Dallas, Winnipeg, Colorado, Vegas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Vancouver (the Canucks dig deep to try to keep Quinn Hughes).
Team with the worst record: San Jose. I won’t predict who will win the draft lottery, because that is way too random.
Goalies who will start at least 60 games this season: Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, Jake Oettinger, Filip Gustavsson, and Ilya Sorokin. Five goalies played at least 60 games last season, so I’ll keep the number the same. I wonder about Andrei Vasilevskiy‘s injury status during the preseason. Maybe the Bolts try to get a bit more out of their backup(s) this season.
A non-starting goalie who will be a starter by the end of the season: Jet Greaves
Five rookies who will finish in the top ten of Calder Trophy voting: Ivan Demidov, Michael Misa, Jimmy Snuggerud, Alexander Nikishin, Matthew Schaefer
A Calder Trophy candidate that (almost) no one is talking about: Jani Nyman. Four goals in five preseason games, and he has seen time on a scoring line with Matty Beniers, as well as power-play time.
The ten top scorers in terms of points, in order: Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, David Pastrnak, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews
A 45-goal scorer not named Matthews, Draisaitl, or Pastrnak: Kyle Connor
The five top-scoring defensemen in terms of points, in order: Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Evan Bouchard, Lane Hutson, Rasmus Dahlin
Sub-25% (or thereabouts) rostered player in Yahoo who will be over 75% rostered by the end of the season: Marco Rossi
–
Good luck this season! Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Jesse and Victor return to discuss salary dynasty leagues. After a healthy talk on how to value performance and salary together and calibrate replacement levels, we move on to some of our favorite salary situations. Discussed are Brandon Hagel, Tage Thompson, Logan Cooley, Josh Morrissey, Jake Sanderson, Nick Suzuki, Karel Vejmelka and Matt Boldy. Have […]
Elan looks at the schedule for the upcoming week of NHL action and recommends some players with good schedules that you should consider streaming in to win your head to head matchups.
Jeremy and Shams are here to guide you through the deluge of news that has dropped since Tuesday’s show. This includes a player literally coming out of nowhere to get Line 2/Power Play 1 of their respective team. In the second half they cover several bigger name players in the hot and cold streak section discussing if you should be changing your long term outlook on them.
Elan and Brian tour the NHL standings and talk unstoppable Avs, undroppables in Chicago, forty year olds in Los Angeles, headscratchers in Philadelphia, and create a new rule of physics in Dallas.
We get questions about the basics of dynasty strategy. Victor goes solo this week to summarize some of the most important considerations for succeeding in dynasty hockey. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email [email protected] and ask to join our free discord. Join our Patreon […]