Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
Apparently, all we needed to do to wake up the sleeping Panther kitties was to reunite the Tkachuk brothers in the Sunshine state (even if one was only visiting) and to tell Linus Ullmark that he was back with the 2020 Buffalo Sabres.
Our favorite Swedish goalie, whose name rhymes with a giggle-worthy body part, had one of the roughest starts of his career in Florida on Tuesday night.
Florida struck with pointed claws just 63 seconds into the game, and Mr. Ullmark was yanked after allowing 5 goals on just 16 shots. Oh, Linus.
It was a kick in the stomach for a surging Sens squad, who found themselves out of a wild-card spot by just two points when they started the day. By the end of the night, Ullmark and the rest of his Senators brethren were on the wrong side of a 6-3 loss to the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs.
Ilya Sorokin
Granlund Gets Ducks Towards Glory
March 27, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 9 Commentsby: Viz
The Anaheim Ducks have taken a big step forward this season. Lucky for them, they're geographically located in the right place. In the Eastern Conference, they'd be on the outside looking in for the playoffs. In the West, specifically the Pacific Division, they're close to a lock. The Ducks won their fourth straight game on Thursday, with Mikael Granlund scoring all three goals in a 3-2 OT win. Granlund now has seven goals in his last four games and continues to get big minutes. We've reached the point of the season where most of the fringe are streamers because we need to make a push in the fantasy playoffs, but with Anaheim having four games next week, Granlund is making a real case to be held while he's on fire. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
A Knies Night For A Hockey Game
March 25, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 2 Commentsby: MarmosDad
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
Matthew Knies (2 G, +1, 2 PIM, 4 SOG, 2 H) is one of the only bright spots shining on the sinking ship that is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season. His second-period shorthanded goal was a thing of beauty. Knies intercepted a weak Bruins pass, pushed aside Mason Lohrei, who looked a lot less powerful than his 6’5” frame would suggest, like an empty paper plate, and threw a nifty head fake on Jeremy Swayman before roofing a nice lickety-split wrister over the netminder’s glove.
As much as this was a nice opportunity for the Bruins to pad their lead over Columbus, Montreal, and Detroit in the extremely tight playoff race, this tiny snapshot in time was an equally important reminder for Leaf fans that the team needs to do a lot of other “retooling or rebuilding” that DOES NOT involve trading their 23-year-old sniper.
Thanks to Gary Bettman, the favorite to win the Pacific Division bracket isn't even a team in the Pacific Division. Sure, this is a hot take, but give me the Utah Mammoth over any other team in the Pacific to make the final four assuming Utah is the first wild card team. On Sunday, the Mammoth beat the Kings in overtime, with Lawson Crouse leading the way with two goals, an assist, five shots, three hits, and two blocks in almost 18 minutes of ice time. Crouse has been on the first line for an extended period now and continues to deliver. In hits leagues, I would hold him almost everywhere. In non-hits leagues, he's an elite streamer. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
The time is ticking away, and according to my chronological calendrical system (AKA the NHL schedule), we’ve got FIVE more Tuesday night round-ups before the playoffs begin!
The Wild Filip The Net For Gustavsson’s Shutout
March 10, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED |by: MarmosDad
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
I can say that I’m glad I didn’t take a sick day last Friday to watch the “excitement-challenged” trade deadline unfold the way that it did. I suppose for something to unfold, it would have needed to be packaged up neatly to begin with.
All that means is the asking prices were far too high on the “sellers” pieces, and the buyers were not willing to pay them.
Nicolas Roy for a conditional first-round pick? No thanks.
Corey Perry for a second-rounder? Wow.
Is there ANY Perry worth that kind of premium?
First Period Hat Trick, Quite The Boldy Statement
February 5, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 7 Commentsby: Viz
"Boldy is the type of player that I love to have on my team. Boldy’s extremely safe across the board with plenty of upside." And that's me quoting me from my preseason rankings copying what Grey does! Nothing like a career high in goals for Boldy before the Olympic break. Boldy was outstanding on Wednesday, scoring a hat trick in the first period against the Predators, later adding an assist in the victory. While the shots are slightly down, Boldy is still over three per game, and already has 32+30 in 54 games. That's a borderline top 10 forward. I had Boldy in my top 25 overall going into the season, slightly ahead of his ADP. Granted, when it's this early in drafts, slightly ahead put him on a bunch of my teams. He should only continue to get better going forward and has the chance to be reach superstardom during the Olympics. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Don’t Just Stand There, Bussi Move
February 3, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED |by: MarmosDad
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
With just 7 games on tap, it was a shorter schedule than usual for our final Tuesday night before the Olympic break.
But that didn’t stop a certain Carolina Hurricanes goalie from saying "neato," checking his libido, and heading to the rink in a new tuxedo.
Brandon Bussi - 22 saves on 25 shots and the 4-3 win vs OTT - did his best 1989 pop-rap impression and Busted a serious Move at home against the Ottawa Senators.
Hopefully, you listened to Viz and me when we said to add Bussi anywhere and everywhere you could, when it looked like he was playing himself into extra time in the Canes’ crease.
Sabres Saying “Tuch Yeah!”
January 29, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 4 Commentsby: Viz
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:
Tage Against The Machine
January 15, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 3 Commentsby: Viz
As a Buffalo fan, I experienced plenty of pain in my sports fandom. For the first time this millennium, the Sabres and Bills are doing well at the same time, and while it might only last a few more days (I feel good about the Bills Saturday though!), I'm certainly going to enjoy it while it lasts. I'm a hockey fan first, having gone to games 3, 4, 5 (in Philly), and 6 the last time that the Sabres were in the playoffs. I was in college and wasn't even able to buy a beer at the games! Here we are, almost fifteen years later, and the Sabres are finally looking like a real time. Their best forward led the charge the last two days. Tage Thompson dished two assists and added two shots in the 5-2 win over the Flyers on Wednesday. He followed it up with one of the games of the season on Thursday, scoring a hat trick with two assists in the 5-3 win over the Canadiens. Tage is up to 25 goals and 24 assists in 46 games with a 3.5 shots per game pace. He's now tied for fifth in the league in goals, and second in even strength goals behind MacKinnon. This is after leading the league in even strength goals last season. Now, if only the Sabres power play can ever sustasin some success, and Tage could push for a Rocket Richard. As is, we're looking at a premier goal scorer and a top 20 fantasy forward, which makes him a top 25 player. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
This Is The Sway, Man
January 13, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 7 Commentsby: MarmosDad
It was another 10-game schedule on tap for Tuesday night’s NHL action!
And no one had a better night than the Boston Bruins’ netminder, Jeremy Swayman - 24 saves on 24 shots and the 3-0 shutout vs Detroit.
Swayman’s GAA (2.38) and save percentage (.919) over his last 5 games are as solid as it comes, and were good enough to give him a 4-1 record since New Year’s Eve.
With an 18-11-1-1 season line, Swayman is sitting third overall in wins (behind Karel Vejmelka, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Andrei Vasilevskiy). The shutout was his first of the year, but second in two games for the B’s.
Winter Chills Don’t Make Buffalo Say “Brrrr”s.
January 6, 2026 | 2025-26 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, FEATURED | 11 Commentsby: MarmosDad
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
What did the Buffalo say to his boy before dropping him off at college?
I don’t know for sure. I mean, I’m not a creeper or an obsessive stalker of bison, but I do know one thing.
Despite the frosty January nights in Western New York, there’s one group of hockey players that is about as hot as the surface of the sun and is certainly not saying, “Brrr.”
The Columbus Blue Jackets spoiled Buffalo’s win streak on Saturday (5-1 CLM), but the Sabres were BACK Tuesday night at home vs Vancouver.
Early on, I had things written up looking like we'd get a blowout from Buffalo, but the Canucks made it interesting with a late push and three straight unanswered goals after the 10-minute mark of the third period.
In the end, it was the Sabres’ 11th win in their last 12 games, and a leapfrog over the Panthers into the top four spots of the Atlantic division.
Was that the only exciting bit from last night’s schedule?
