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!
We're down to the last two weeks (well, 1.5ish weeks) of the regular season, meaning we're down to the nitty gritty of the NHL season. Doing a long weekend recap isn't going to provide as much value to everyone as a look at this week's schedule and how it affects our roster decisions. For that reason, I'm going to highlight the spots where you can gain an edge, specifically in head to head leagues, but also some advantageous spots for roto leagues as well. Let's get to it!
I've long been a fan of Bobby McMann, but the early returns for Seattle blew my expectations out of the water. McMann scored two goals and an assist with four shots in his Kraken debut on Saturday against Vancouver, and followed it up with a goal and an assist with four shots against Florida on Sunday. He played over 18 minutes in both games slotting right onto the first line and second power play unit. With Seattle in the thick of a playoff race, I see no reason to expect McMann's workload to decrease. That means a 20-25% boost in playing time compared to what he was getting in Toronto. Over the last three seasons, McMann is in the top 50 in the league in even strength goals per 60 minutes. Given that, I think he should be held in all formats for the time being. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
It’s your favorite Hockey Dad back for a special edition during our Olympic hockey break!
I told Viz that I was up for putting together a bit of a trade deadline piece for each conference while the NHL was on its hiatus, and he was up for it, so here we are.
Today, I’ll go over all that there is to consider for the Eastern Conference Trade Deadline rumor mill. Next week, we’ll head West to do the same thing for our Pacific pals.
Are there teams that have cap space to add to their roster?
Which teams have holes to fill due to injuries or ineffectiveness?
Who could use a boost to the power play, penalty kill, or defense corps? Which clubs are looking to add depth players, a top 6 scoring threat, or a bottom 6 grinder to eat up some minutes?
I broke the Eastern Conference into three groups:
The first Winter Classic between the Sabres and Penguins in 2008 will always be the top outdoor game for me. Everything about the game was perfection. Sunday's Stadium Series game in Tampa moved to #2 on my list. After Hagel scored 11 seconds into the game, Boston scored five in a row before Tampa mounted a huge comeback, winning 6-5 in a shootout. There was even a goalie fight! Boston's problem was that they couldn't stay out of the penalty box, and that's a death sentence against Tampa. Unsurprisingly, it started with Nikita Kucherov, who had a goal and three assists with eight shots in the victory. It might sound blasphemous, but Kucherov has a real chance to be the best European forward ever. He'll certainly be in the discussion. He's currently the #3 overall forward for fantasy behind MacKinnon and McDavid. I had him ranked 4th going into the season in a tier with Draisaitl, who is currently 4th overall. Very chalky season at the top besides the Celebrini big breakout. Anyways, Kucherov is a top 5 player until further notice. He's showing no signs of slowing down at 32. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
For almost two whole months now, the Sabres have been taking the league by storm, having the best record in that time frame. On Thursday, the Sabres have their third five game win streak since December (if you count their ten game win streak as two five game streaks), beating the Kings 4-1. Alex Tuch led the charge for the team, scoring a hat trick on seven shots. Tuch moved back onto the top line with Thompson recently, and he's been delivering. In his last ten games, Tuch has eight goals, and even without PP1 time, Tuch is a clear hold in all formats. I'm fascinated to see what happens with Tuch come the trade deadline, and not just because I'm a Sabres fan. I assume the team will keep him even if he doesn't have an extension signed, and there's no doubt that the Brinks Truck is getting backed up for Tuch one way or another. I'd be hesitant to give him the eight figure salary he wants, assuming it's long term, but it's also hard for the Sabres to just walk away. Either way, things continue to look up in Buffalo for the first time in a decade. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
It hasn't been a good year for Columbus, but they seem to have solved their goaltending issue going forward. Jet Greaves stole the show on Thursday night, shutting out the juggernaut Stars in the 1-0 win, making 28 saves. After that performance, Greaves is the #11 goalie for the season. One of my ten bold predictions from the preseason was that Greaves would finish as a top 12 goalie. There's no guarantee it holds, and some of my predictions were truly awful (I'll take a look at them during the break), but this one has a good chance of hitting. Hopefully you all drafted Greaves as your third goalie and you're reaping the benefits. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
It was a short slate on Tuesday night with just 5 NHL games to recap.
In Toronto, we didn’t even have Auston Matthews or William Nylander to check in on. The announcement on Tuesday afternoon was that both would be “out with a lower body injury.”
Well, that’s certainly not a very Knies gift for Leaf fans this holiday season!
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
With today’s post, we’ve officially come to the end of our Divisional Previews for the 2025-2026 season!
If you’re looking for the other Divisions, you can click here to check them out.
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
I’m back again this week with another Divisional Preview.
Last week, we checked in on the Atlantic Division. If you missed it, you can open that up here.
This week, we’re headed to the Big City to check out the Metropolitan Division.
Can the Capitals charge their way to another divisional title?
Is Jet Greaves going to leave Elvis Merzlikins “All Shook Up” in the Blue Jackets’ crease?
What the heck are we supposed to call Sid “The Kid” Crosby now that he’s 38 years old?!
I might not answer all of these burning questions today, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be checking out the goods in...
Opening night in Salt Lake City couldn't have gone any better for Utah HC. Dylan Guenther will go down in history after their first goal scorer, and he also sealed the game with an empty netter. Guenther picked up right where he left off last season with those two goals on five shots, playing over 16 minutes. To say I'm all in on Guenther is an understatement. Guenther's ADP was outside of the Top 200 while I had him ranked 96th overall. I'm a huge believer in his talent, and with Logan Cooley (2A, 3 SOG) as his centerman, I think we see fantastic seasons that elevate Utah into the playoffs. Let's take a look at what happened over the last three nights:
If you missed Part One covering the Eastern Conference, you can check that out here. Today, I wrap up the offseason by looking at the major changes in the West. Let's get to it!
ANAHEIM DUCKS
The Ducks are planning on having growth from within. Robby Fabbri could end up being a decent streamer depending on his role, but Cutter Gauthier as a full-time player is the big addition. With how bad the team is, he should get huge minutes and could be a bottom end hold as early as this season. He's a viable late round pick. Also, keep an eye out for a potential Cam Fowler trade.
