Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
Are you ready for a Fantasy Hockey Playoff Pool preview? Do you need a primer for drafting your playoff pool roster?
Well, I have some good news for you!
Welcome to the first annual (maybe) MarmosDad NHL Playoff Preview!
I’ll go through some notes on how to strategize when making your picks for the playoff pool, then do a rundown of each playoff team, with names to look out for during your drafts.
Let’s get to it!
League format
When it comes to drafting a playoff pool, the league format matters.
How many teams are you competing against? What is the roster size? Is it a straight draft, an auction draft, or a “pick players from these boxes” kind of playoff pool?
Doing a quick calculation of how many players will be selected gives you an idea of how deep a dive into the player pool you’ll need to plan out. Are you going to need to target those bottom-six forwards that get zero minutes with the man advantage? (More on those later).
If you’re in a playoff pool where you pick a player from a series of boxes, league size isn’t important, but one of our other sections certainly is.
Scoring system
Is your league’s scoring system an old-school straight points league that awards a winner based solely on goals plus assists, or are there multiple categories in play? Are goals and assists weighted equally? Do you get bonus points for special teams performance?
Every playoff pool that I’ve been in has been based on straight points accumulation. Goals and assists. Equally weighted. I prefer these types (and I’m not even sure if a head-to-head format would work for a playoff pool).
“Know your scoring system” is from the Fantasy Sports 101 course, and the same goes for a playoff hockey pool. Make sure you aren’t drafting playmakers if your league is rewarding goal scorers with more points.
Goaltenders
Are you drafting goalies? Will you be counting wins or expanded stats? Are you responsible for drafting a “team” goaltender where you’ll accumulate points no matter which netminder is in the crease?
This is an obvious tip, but choose your goaltenders early if they’re going to be a big part of your playoff scoring system. And make sure you’re picking a guy that you think will start for more than one round.
Things to remember …
- Best is best…but not if they’re not playing.
Double-check the injury news before your draft and adjust your lists accordingly. I’ve been in more than one draft where a manager uses the season scoring team sheets and picks a guy who’s been injured for a few weeks at the end of the season just because he had a high point total on the sheet.
2. Try to pick your Conference finalists FIRST, then work backwards from there.
Volume is the biggest target when choosing playoff performers. The majority of your playoff pool roster should be filled with players from the 4 teams you think will be left after the first two rounds.
3. Minimize choosing players from multiple teams, but especially from teams that face off in the first round.
Drafting the top scorers from each team might be a good strategy in theory, but loading up on players from the same opening round matchups means at least one group won’t play more than 7 games. I like to predict who I think will make it out of the first round and draft from those teams first.* (more on that below).
4. Don’t forget the injury returnees or young players with increased time/role/minutes.
Troy Terry only had 56 points this year. Josh Norris? Why would I want a guy with 33 points? Thomas Chabot? That guy doesn’t even have 40 points!
All of these don’t sound too impressive until you take a closer look and realize they’re players who missed a considerable chunk of time but are back in time to get some serious minutes heading into Round 1. Don’t get fooled by low point totals from guys who have fewer games played. If they’re healthy now, bump them up your list. That goes double for the guys who will reclaim a spot on a scoring line or find themselves back on power-play duty.
5. PowerPlay skaters are always a good target.
Again, here’s where your scoring system comes into play. If your league has bonus points for PP points, this is even more important to pay attention to, but at the very least, you want players who will be on the ice. If they’re on the ice with the man advantage? That’s even better. Load up on these guys early and often.
6. Have a “cut-off” point where you are willing to risk choosing players from teams that were forgotten or have superstars left on the board for far too long.
This is where that *asterisk* from #3 comes into play. Ideally, choosing the top 4 defensemen and top 9 forwards from your conference final picks is the way to go. But, when those guys are all gone, do you really want to load up on players who will get fewer than 10 minutes a game or guys who may be a healthy scratch for half of their team’s games?
Sometimes picking a top skater from a team that everyone thinks is doomed to be swept in the first round is a better option than picking that 14th forward from your Stanley Cup Champion. In other words, 8 points in 4 games works out better than 2 points in 14 games. Because Math!
OK, so that’s all well and good, but which names can we circle on our lists for our fantasy playoff drafts?
I thought you’d never ask!
I broke each group up by conference, but didn’t add matchups just because some were not finalized as of last night’s edits. The BOLD names have a short write-up in each team section, too.
Injured players are noted with an asterisk, but only if they aren’t listed as day-to-day.
Each team is broken into three sections…
- Must roster – Stars or players that will likely be among the team leaders in points.
- Worth the gamble – if it’s a team you like and/or think could be around for a while.
- Under-the-radar? Names that could pay off and/or be overlooked by regular fans or playoff pool ‘noobs’ because of injuries or a change in playing time.
EASTERN CONFERENCE (listed by points)
Carolina Hurricanes
Must Roster – Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, Nikolaj Ehlers, Shane Gostisbehere
Worth the gamble – Alexander Nikishin, Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake
Under the radar? – Taylor Hall, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal
Taylor Hall is a good under-the-radar pick here if only because of the experience factor combined with his ability to score goals. Sure, he’s not an MVP candidate anymore, but he’s worth picking up if your opponents have picked the Canes clean before you get a chance to select anyone from Carolina.
Buffalo Sabres
I feel the need to put this here before we proceed with the Warriors of Western New York.
Ok. This looks much better. Sorry, Whit.
Must Roster – Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Alex Tuch, Josh Doan, Josh Norris
Worth the gamble – Ryan McLeod, Jason Zucker, Bowen Byram
Under the radar? – Zach Benson, Owen Power
Josh Norris’s 33 points in 43 games are not making any casuals bust out the highlighters for their playoff pool cheat sheets, but he’s healthy and back to producing. It should go without saying that choosing skaters who finished the season on a hot streak should be a priority as well, and Norris has 8 points in his last 7 games.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Must Roster – Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, Darren Raddysh, Brayden Point
Worth the gamble – *NOT Victor Hedman (long-term IR), Oliver Bjorkstrand, Anthony Cirelli
Under the radar? – Corey Perry, JJ Moser, Gage Goncalves
We can take what I wrote for Josh Norris in the Sabres’ section and apply it to Brayden Point here. He missed a bunch of time with an injury, but is back in the top-6 and on the PP now.
Montreal Canadiens
Must Roster – Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov
Worth the gamble – Noah Dobson, Zachary Bolduc, Oliver Kapanen
Under the radar? – Alexandre Texier (careful!), Kirby Dach
Noah Dobson being anything but a ‘must roster’ likely seems silly to some folks, but with the sheer firepower up front, there isn’t enough space on PP1 for both Dobson and Hutson. He’s here because he averages just over a minute less ice time than Hutson does, even without that coveted PP1 time.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Must Roster – Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust
Worth the gamble – Anthony Mantha, Rickard Rakell, Thomas Nosek
Under the radar? – Kris Letang, Egor Chinakhov, Justin Brazeau
Pittsburgh sat a bunch of regulars this week, including Sid, to give their main skaters some rest before the playoffs. Crosby missed a bunch of time with that knee injury, but still finished with 74 points in 68 games. He’s one of a few NHL forwards with a ‘next-level’ gear when the competition kicks it up a notch, and I wouldn’t bet against him proving he still has some left in the tank.
Boston Bruins
Must Roster – David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy,
Worth the gamble – Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittlestadt
Under the radar? – Viktor Arvidsson, James Hagens
Wait, what? James Hagens? Isn’t he playing in the minors? Well, he was playing at Boston College, but the Bs signed him to a three-year entry-level contract last week, and he’s skated in a few NHL games to finish the season. Boston has him skating on the third line with Frasder Minten and Marat Khustnutdinov, and he hasn’t looked out of place. There’s a risk of the dreaded ‘healthy scratch’, but a team like this doesn’t sign a kid to a deal and burn a year of his eligibility to sit him in the playoffs. The Bruins did this with another American kid once, and Charlie McAvoy turned out just fine. EDIT: Hagens will have just 3 games played in the NHL when the playoffs start, and because of his age (19), it shouldn’t burn that first year of his deal anyway.
Ottawa Senators
Must Roster – Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson,
Worth the gamble – Drake Batherson, Dylan Cozens, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto
Under the radar? – Thomas Chabot, Warren Foegele
I was all ready to write up Brady Tkachuk and his ‘lost eyesight’ story from last week, but I couldn’t pass up the obvious here. Foegele isn’t a great add unless you think the Sens are bound for the conference final. But if you’re drafting live with people, how can you pass up announcing this when you draft him?
Philadelphia Flyers
Must Roster – none
Worth the gamble – Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, Owen Tippett, Matvei Michkov
Under the radar? – Tyson Foerster, Travis Sanheim
Foerster is skating on Line 1 and getting PP1 time on the left wing. That alone should be enough to pick him…If you think the Flyers are going anywhere. If you’re wondering what I think, look at the “Must Roster” section above.
WESTERN CONFERENCE (listed by points)
Colorado Avalanche
Must Roster – Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Cale Makar,
Worth the gamble – Brock Nelson, Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, Devon Toews, Victor Olofsson, Brent Burns
Under the radar? – Gabriel Landeskog
True story alert! My eldest is in middle school and was watching hockey with me a couple of weeks ago. He asked, “Dad, who’s Colorado’s captain? Is it MacKinnon or Makar?” I replied, “Nope”, and kind of laughed. I’m sure you can guess what came next. I’ll give you a hint. It involved a “Who? I haven’t even heard of that guy!”
Landeskog has missed so much time over the last 4 years that it’s not all that surprising when a kid doesn’t know that he’s Colorado’s captain. He’s healthy now, though, and has the potential to be a slick steal of a pick, especially if the President’s Trophy winners can make it to the Conference finals…or beyond.
Dallas Stars
Must Roster – Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen
Worth the gamble – Matt Duchene, Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, Thomas Harley
Under the radar? – Sam Steel
Every Tuesday night was Wyatt Johnston night for me, as it seemed like I was writing this kid up after he put up a bunch of points centering that top line in Dallas. There are a bunch of names I’d target in this group in a playoff pool, but Johnston is at the top of the list. I think he shows all of the casuals in Round 1 that his regular-season numbers were no fluke.
Minnesota Wild
Must Roster – Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes,
Worth the gamble – Mats Zuccarello, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Faber, Marcus Johansson,
Under the radar? – Vladimir Tarasenko, Marcus Foligno
We know the big names here, but the under-the-radar guys are two players who should continue to log minutes because of their veteran experience and could be a sneaky source of points. I wouldn’t hesitate to add either of these guys to my squad in the later rounds of a deep playoff draft.
Vegas Golden Knights
Must Roster – Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner (no, really), Shea Theodore
Worth the gamble – Pavel Dorofeyev, Ivan Barbashev, Thomas Hertl, Brett Howden
Under the radar? – Rasmus Andersson, Reilly Smith
I almost went with Shea Theodore here, but really, either of the defensemen could be the right call because I can’t see an NHL team running 5 forwards on PP1 in the playoffs. Regular season? Sure. But all it’ll take will be a team scoring a couple of shorties on those guys for a coach to make sure either Theodore or Andersson is manning the blue line on every man-advantage from then on out.
Edmonton Oilers
Must Roster – Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl*, Evan Bouchard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins,
Worth the gamble – Zach Hyman*, Jack Roslovic, Darnell Nurse (TOI)
Under the radar? – Matt Savoie, Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen,
* – due back “some time in the opening round of the playoffs.”
Either of the first two under-the-radar kids is worth a look, but even more so if they’re on a line with one of the two superstars. If Draisaitl isn’t back in time to start Round 1, I’d push RNH ahead of Bouchard in that list, too.
Utah Mammoth
Ok, if you missed it a couple of weeks ago, this is worth a re-share.
The Zamboni game will never be the same after The Zammoth debut tonight 🔥🦣 pic.twitter.com/ovvnD94oYs
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 7, 2026
I still think they should have called it the Mamboni.
Must Roster – Clayton Keller
Worth the gamble – Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, Mikhail Sergachev, JJ Peterka, Lawson Crouse
Under the radar? – Logan Cooley, MacKenzie Weegar, NOT Barrett Hayton (out week-to-week)
It’s a cherry-pick to take the top scorer, but this goes back to what I said about drawing that line where you want to stop drafting skaters on the teams you think will go on a deep playoff run and take the stars from teams that might get bounced earlier. Picks like this turn into gold really fast if an underdog can knock off a favorite early, too.
Anaheim Ducks
Must Roster – Cutter Gauthier
Worth the gamble – Troy Terry, Beckett Sennecke, Jackson LaCombe
Under the radar? – Leo Carlsson, John Carlson, Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund, Mason McTavish
Leo Carlsson? Remember that guy? If there’s one Duck who has proven he can get very hot in a short period of time, it’s Carlsson. Honorable mention goes to John Carlson, who scored his first career hat trick last week after 17 years of work. Wow. Hey, like I said, when in doubt, go with the hot hand.
Los Angeles Kings
Must Roster – Artemi Panarin (check your list as he may be listed with just his LAK points – 26 pts in 24 GP).
Worth the gamble – Adrian Kempe. Quinton Byfield, Drew Doughty, Alex Laferriere, Anze Kopitar
Under the radar? – Scott Laughton, Andrei Kuzmenko (“could” be back for Game 1)
Both of the under-the-radar guys could surprise with a handful of goals IF they’re dressed for the entire first round. Unfortunately, that IF is a big one, and there are no guarantees either one does much, even if they get some ice time and/or are healthy.
That’s all for this week! I’ll be back next Wednesday with playoff news and updates ahead of Round 2. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you ASAP. If you want to join the Razzball Bracket Challenge, you can do that here.
Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!
