***
Back in June, Dobber released the 13th annual Fantasy Prospect Report. It is the best source of fantasy insight on prospects in the business. Now that we’re well into the pro and junior seasons, I thought I’d use our 20/20 hindsight to point out some of the fantasy opportunities that have now passed you by if you didn’t jump on the information when it came out:
At the top of Dobber’s prospect goalie list: Igor Shesterkin (some guy who is 1st in the AHL with a 0.936 sv% through 17 games)
At the top of Cam Robinson’s prospect goalie list: Ilya Samsomov (some NHL rookie with a 0.918 sv% and has some people suggesting the Capitals should let Holtby walk this summer)
Are goalies voodoo? Yes. But could you have capitalized on skyrocketing fantasy value by jumping on these picks? Also yes.
What about one of the top NHL rookies and PP producers Victor Olofsson? Here are some direct quotes:
“A sneaky, under-the-radar pick who could really pay off quickly in your keeper league.”
“showed some chemistry with Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart”
“Expected Arrival: This fall.”
Back to goalies – what about the Wild’s Kaapo Kahkonen, who is now 4 games into his NHL career and looking solid? This isn’t unexpected for our readers, who saw him in the top-11 on multiple lists and read notes such as:
“he has served notice that he can be legit”, and “NHL Certainty: 70%”
Just to clarify – we don’t predict every young gun to be an instant success. One example: we didn’t advise betting your team on Vitali Kravtsov right away.
“Expected Arrival: Will have cups of coffee / get a look this year, full time in 2020-21.”
I promise I didn’t intend for this to be all hyping up goalies, but it turns out that a little bit of scouting into who’s lined up for success goes a long ways. Pavel Francouz, who has successfully claimed a backup role in Colorado with a 0.932 sv%, was Dobber’s #6 prospect goalie, labeled with NHL Starter upside, 80% NHL certainty and an arrival date of this season.
“Hey Hayden, everyone knew Morgan Frost is dynamite, but what about Joel Farabee who has stepped up in the Flyers system and looks strong?”
“Expected Arrival: Will have cups of coffee / get a look this year, full time in 2020-21.”
***
With the WJC approaching fast, make sure check out our page that has all teams and players organized in one place:
https://dobberprospects.com/2020-wjc/
Looking for sneakier value that won’t be on display in the tournament, check out Cam Robinson’s All-Snubbed Team:
https://dobberprospects.com/introducing-the-wjc-all-snubbed-team/
***
FIRST NHL GOALS TIME!
Big man Yakov Trenin goes for a screen and ends up deflecting in his first:
Similar goal for Zack MacEwan, who’s body and stick are in the right place:
Even 4th-line NHLers like Carter Verhaughe can snipe pucks better than 99.99% of the population:
Speaking of nice shots – what a beautiful finish from Rasmus Asplund, who started the play off with the forecheck that caused a turnover:
***
Thank you for reading, and happy holidays!
Hayden Soboleski
@soboleskih