10 bold fantasy hockey predictions for 2025-26

We’ve almost finished enduring the NHL preseason. The real thing starts next week, so it’s an opportune time to make predictions for the fantasy hockey campaign, especially with so many leagues drafting right around now.

I present 10 bold takes for 2025-26. As I warn you annually: I will not get each of these right. Maybe I only hit on two or three. That’s why they’re bold predictions. If you’re willing to follow me on a few of them, maybe you stumble into a league-winning situation.

My predictions, in random order:

1. Morgan Rielly returns to fantasy relevance in a bounce-back season.

Rielly has visibly declined as a puck-moving defenseman in recent seasons. He averaged his fewest points per game in eight years last season. He doesn’t quite have the same jump anymore as a swashbuckling puck rusher. Per NHL EDGE data, his top skating speed placed him in the 90^th percentile in 2022-23, the 85^th percentile in 2023-24 and the 78^th percentile last season. He’s pretty clearly lost a step. The Toronto Maple Leafs also went with five forwards on their power play last season, nudging Rielly down to PP2 work. But with Mitch Marner gone, Rielly gains his plum spot back on what should remain a potent unit. He has reportedly put in extra work this summer to get his game back on track at age 31. Even if his fantasy peak is gone forever, the PP1 return alone could get him back into the 50-point range and make him a viable No. 2 defenseman in 12-team leagues.

2. Anton Lundell experiences a true breakout as ‘Baby Barkov’ fills in for his injured counterpart.

Sam Bennett is technically the player jumping directly into Aleksander’s spot on the Florida Panthers’ top line following his season-ending knee injury. But that doesn’t mean Bennett will be the top beneficiary of the depth-chart shuffle. Bennett is a great player, the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner, but he’s had excellent linemates throughout his tenure with the Panthers, typically having Matthew Tkachuk stapled to his wing, and has never topped 28 goals or 51 points in an NHL season. I’ll sign off on a slight boost in Bennett’s fantasy value if he’s going to play with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart, but it’s Lundell who stands to see his value explode. It can happen in two ways: (a) because Lundell’s sound two-way game mirrors Barkov’s and thus better suits him to the first-line job in the long term; and (b) because it’s also possible Florida’s “third” line of Lundell between Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand becomes the de facto second line going forward. That trio steamrolled its competition in the 2025 playoffs, outscoring them 13-4 at 5-on-5, with Lundell picking up 18 points in 23 games. That’s a 64-point pace across an 82-game season, and Lundell could very well reach that number in 2025-26.

3. Kirill Kaprizov delivers a monster year and returns top-three fantasy value.

We know Kaprizov is already a mid-first-round fantasy commodity. He has seasons of 108 and 96 points to his name, he had a 50-62-112 pace in the 41 games he played last season, and he’s in his prime at 28 years old. With a record-setting contract extension with the Minnesota Wild reportedly in place and that distraction out of the way, it feels like the stars are aligning for Kaprizov to deliver a career year and challenge for major individual awards. All he has to do is stay healthy and he’ll be a monster. He graded out in the 98^th in percentile in 5-on-5 scoring per 60 minutes last season.

4. John Klingberg blows away his ADP as a dirt-cheap source of 50 points.

The San Jose Sharks were obviously a terrible hockey team last year. But their youth brigade, led by youngsters Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund, showed plenty of promise. Celebrini was one of the league’s best rookies all year long, and Smith found his game later in the year with 30 points in his final 34 games. No. 2 overall pick Michael Misa is pushing to make the team this season and arguably has the highest offensive ceiling of all the young Sharks. This team will still lose a lot of games, but the Sharks’ offense stands to improve. Klingberg is a highly flawed defenseman but can still move the puck and augment the power play. He should see his most ice time in several years, particularly with the man advantage. The plus-minus will be hideous, but Klingberg should be a sneaky-good points compiler this season. Just be prepared to trade him in the second half as he’ll probably get moved to a contender in real life and assume a depth role.

5. Will Cuylle becomes this year’s Matthew Knies as a must-own power forward.

Maybe some New York Ranger fans take offense at my implying Cuylle hasn’t broken out yet. He very much did last season, delivering 20 goals, 45 points and, to immortalize himself in banger leagues, 301 hits. But that version of Cuylle wasn’t a full-time top six forward. With Chris Kreider traded, 2025-26 Cuylle opens the season as New York’s second-line left winger. He posted his impressive totals last season playing only 15:05 a night. What if he plays 17 minutes this season? We could see a 25-30-55 campaign with 350 hits.

6. Washington becomes Bustville, USA as half a dozen career years regress to the mean.

It’s truly unbelievable just how many Capitals had career years last season: Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Jakob Chychrun, Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Pierre-Luc Dubois and more. So many of those campaigns were fuelled by unusually great team puck-luck; the Caps led the NHL in 5-on-5 shooting percentage. They graded out as merely good, not great, at generating scoring chances and high-danger chances. It thus feels like a lot of their go-to players could regress. A prime example is Aliaksei Protas, who scored 30 goals on a ridiculous 21.1 percent of his shots and doesn’t even play on the power play. The Caps had some special juju last year, maybe because of the Alex Ovechkin goals chase, and I find myself fading pretty much all of them in drafts.

7. Seth Jarvis explodes into point-per-game production and produces a top-40 fantasy campaign.

Jarvis was already a respected young player with strong two-way skills and a safe floor of 30 goals and 60 points with 100 hits, give or take. But he finished last season with 23 goals and 46 points in his final 45 games, settling in as Carolina’s first-line right winger. He maintains that job entering the season, playing on a supped-up trio with Sebastian Aho and new UFA addition Nikolaj Ehlers. Jarvis is still just 23. I predict he delivers his first 40-goal, 80-point year and returns the most fantasy value of any Hurricanes player this season. The shoulder injury is something to monitor, but he told me earlier this month he feels fantastic and the rehab went great.

8. Luke Hughes levels up into a top-tier fantasy defenseman with a 60-point season.

As each day passes without the RFA Hughes having a contract for 2025-26, this prediction becomes, ahem, bolder, but I’m keeping the faith. The New Jersey Devils already began phasing out Dougie Hamilton’s ice time last season, and the door is open for Hughes to become a full-time contributor on their top power play, something his brother Jack wants to happen. Luke is still just 21, owns multiple 40-point campaigns and should become a borderline D1 in fantasy this season, pushing for 60 points. Now, Luke, would you please just sign so I don’t look stupid?

9. The real-life hype exceeds the fantasy production for rookie defensemen Matthew Schaefer, Zeev Buium and Zayne Parekh.

To be clear: the prediction only applies to this season. I absolutely love the long-term prospects of all three blueliners. But beware the Lane Hutson effect. He tied the NHL rookie defenseman record for assists in a season. He was a late-round flier in redraft leagues who became an instant fantasy force. Schaefer, Buium and Parekh all carry superior prospect pedigree and hype to what surrounded Hutson a year ago. Schaefer could be a perennial Norris Trophy threat, Buium projects as an all-around winner and minute muncher, and Parekh has posted video-game scoring numbers in the OHL. But we can’t forget the likes of Hutson, Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are exceptions to the rule. Even the best defensemen in the league take time to mature – and to become high-end fantasy contributors. Miro Heiskanen had 33 points as a rookie. Ramus Dahlin had 44. And both those seasons were highly impressive by rookie standards. But if anyone expects a Hutson repeat from the trifecta of hyped rookie D-men this season – not to mention Alexander Nikishin – they could be disappointed.

10. Lukas Dostal is the No. 1 steal among fantasy goalies this year.

Dostal’s crease partner John Gibson has been traded. Dostal has the unquestioned starting job with the Anaheim Ducks to himself. He was already quite good last season, his underlying stats in expected goals per 60 suggesting he was bailing out a very bad defensive team. With Joel Quenneville arriving as head coach, Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund joining the forward group and the Ducks ascending as a team with young guns Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish getting better, I expect a much more competitive team this year. So Dostal should have more volume in playing time, more wins playing on a better team and improved rate stats. All those factors combine to give him a sneaky-high ceiling. I’m hoping for a top-15 fantasy season at his position, but even top 10 is within reach.