The Hellebuyck saga has finally come to an end, and while the fit makes a lot of sense, it's a team that was on the outside of the inner circle of discussed teams that swooped in and got him. The Devils acquired Connor Hellebuyck from the Jets on Friday for forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, the rights to forward Alexander Command, New Jersey’s second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and its seventh-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft. The Devils have started off the season extremely well, and the cost wasn't prohibitive, so good for Mehta to swoop in and get the superstar. Hellebuyck should be back in the lineup this week and goes right back to being a top five fantasy goalie. Mercer played on the third line on Sunday, and looks to remain a middling streamer in 12'ers. Bjugstad is a cap dump who is injured, and Daws is just depth for the Jets. Command was the 12th pick in last draft, and projects to be a middle sixer. This trade doesn't affect his value. The biggest impact of this trade comes to Jake Allen and the goalies on teams that didn't acquire Hellebuyck. Allen isn't worth holding anymore outside of deeper leagues, although I'd stream him in almost all matchups. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen remains the Buffalo starter, at least until Lyon returns. It's been a dreadful start for UPL, but I would still hold for now. Karel Vejmelka has been even worse than UPL, but the wins are better, so for now, we hold there too. I wouldn't be surprised if Cossa eventually works his way into a platoon though. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
It’s double duty for your guy, MarmosDad, this week!
After writing just under 4000 words on this past weekend’s NHL action, I’m back again for our Tuesday night roundup!
I managed to squeeze in a quick snooze before the 7:00 games started up, but I guess I didn’t tune in early enough as the Leafs were already down 1-0 when I turned the game on 5 minutes after puck drop.
But don’t worry, fans. The Blue Jackets Fam door was wide open, and the torrential downpour that followed soon after soaked everyone in Leaf showers.
Sure, Columbus got the chickens and pigs in before it got too muddy. But they couldn’t get the Cowan.
It was a very difficult start to open the season for the Ducks, opening at Vegas before hosting the Panthers. Here we are on Sunday night with the Ducks winning both games. They stormed out to a 4-0 lead against Vegas, holding on to win 4-3, before beatong the Panthers 3-2 in overtime. Leading the charge? The man who broke the NHL pay scale this offseason, Leo Carlsson. Carlsson had a goal and an assist against the Golden Knights before dishing three assists against Florida. Last season, Carlsson started the year with 34 points in his first 25 games before injury derailed him. If he can stay healthy and play to his potential, the 21 year old has a chance to reach 100 points. I had him ranked just outside the top 50 overall because we saw that he could be a fringe top 100 guy for an extended period, but I'd bet on him being inside the top 50 come the end of the season. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
We move onto blueliners now, starting with the top 20 defenseman for fantasy hockey. I'd argue this is the best overall group of defensemen since I've been writing for Razzball over a decade ago. This is surely going to be a long post, so let's get to it!
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
It’s your guy, MarmosDad, back for another preseason rundown of aggregate rankings and additional information for 2026-2027 Fantasy Hockey.
Last week I shared that the tentative plan was running an aggregate of rankings from various sources around the internet, and giving some input as to which ones made sense to me or, more likely, which players were going to be underdrafted in your fantasy drafts this year.
Last week, I wrote up The Top 50(ish) Forwards. You can click there to peek at that one if you missed it.
This week, we’re headed to my personal favorite position, and the one where I spent most of my games when I was playing.
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.
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:
"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:
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:
We're very accustomed to Vegas making a big trade every season at this point. Surprisingly, we got their big move on Sunday already. Since they were willing to acquire Rasmus Andersson without a contract extension, the Flames sent him to the desert, acquiring Zach Whitecloud, a first round pick, a second round pick (turns to another first if Vegas wins the Cup), and a prospect that projects to be an AHL'er. It's a good return for Calgary, taking advantage of Andersson bouncing back from a dreadful 24-25 season. For Vegas, the fit is kind of weird to me. It's a team that doesn't even play a forward on their top power play unit, so are they really going to jam Andersson with Theodore on the second unit? Probably to make him happy, at least with their current injuries, but I don't see a lot of gain there. Scoring goals hasn't been a problem, and Andersson has still been bad defensively. He should play with Hanifin which maybe helps a bit? Overall, I think this is a net negative for Andersson's fantasy value, but I'm still holding him for the time being to see how it looks for the next couple weeks. For Calgary, Weegar takes over the top power play unit by default. He's on the fringe. Whitecloud could gain some deep league value. My assumption is he gets a top four role, and with that, some quality hits and blocks. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
I was extremely bullish on Jakob Chychrun last season after his move to Washington, and was a bit above consensus this season. He's now blowing my expectations out of the water. Chychrun scored two more goals on Thursday, helping the Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 4-0. He now has a fantastic 14 goals on the season and has firmly played his way into the Olympic picture. He's the #2 overall defenseman on the season for fantasy purposes, and while I wouldn't rank him there for the rest of the season, Chychrun is crushing across the board. He's a clear #1 in all formats. Let's take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
