EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe start of the NHL regular season always arrives with a jolt of unfettered optimism. Many teams have Stanley Cup aspirations; those that do not will hopefully give fans something to be optimistic about for the future.The start of fantasy hockey brings the same emotions. Players are projected to do great things, they are ranked based on that projection, and then we select them for our fantasy franchises with the optimism that they'll hit their statistical marks.Until, of course, they don't and we're left making desperation trade proposals to our friends and scouring the waiver wire hoping to find an overlooked diamond in the ice shavings.It doesn't have to be this way. There are players this season who should deliver the goods -- and, in some cases, level up even higher than their draft rankings would indicate. The 10 players discussed here are the ones on whom I plant my rhetorical flag for the 2026-27 NHL season. Some are the best of the best. Others are consistent contributors. A few are selections that will either make me look very smart or very stupid in my drafting prowess.My selections are based on how I believe the players will perform this season and how they'll rack up the points in ESPN Fantasy standard scoring:Skaters: goals = 2 points; assists = 1 point; shots and hits = 0.1 points; blocked shots and special teams points = 0.5 points.Goaltenders: wins = 4 points; OT losses = 1 point; shutouts = 3 points; saves = 0.2 points; goals against = -2 points.Here's the Plant My Flag list for 2026-27. May all your picks turn out to be great ones.More: Sign up for free | Rankings | Projections | League typesMacklin Celebrini, C, San Jose SharksThere are essentially the same seven players at the top of every fantasy rankings list this season. Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid are either first or second overall. Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak are right behind them. Cale Makar is the token nonforward, as the best defenseman on the planet.And then there's the 20-year-old kid from San Jose that has played himself into this rarified company. Celebrini had 115 points, including 45 goals, in his second NHL season to finish fourth in the MVP balloting. He had 33 power-play points. He began to earn Sidney Crosby comparisons, but even Sid the Kid didn't rifle the puck 287 times in 82 games as an NHL sophomore like Celebrini did.I think Celebrini levels up again this season, not only because he'll continue to figure out the pro game but because the Sharks overall should be improved year over year. Most rankings and league drafts that I've seen had Celebrini around fourth overall. By the end of the season, we might be wondering how he wasn't everyone's top choice. He's that good.Matthew Schaefer, D, New York IslandersLook, putting Schaefer on your fantasy team is worth it for the vibes alone. His puppy-dog comportment will liven up your fantasy hockey locker room, and his boundless enthusiasm will reinvigorate the crusty veterans who drag their tired bodies onto the fantasy ice on a random winter Tuesday night to earn you 0.1 points with a hit.But last season's Calder Trophy winner is more than vibes. He's projecting to be an incredibly valuable fantasy point producer, at least in ESPN standard scoring. Schaefer had 59 points in 82 games last season. That was with 18 power-play points, so even a reasonable improvement there could push him to 70 points this season.What I love about Schaefer's offense is his goal scoring from the back end. His 23 goals last season were the most for a rookie defenseman since Brian Leetch scored 23 with the New York Rangers in 1988-89.But the real tantalizing part of his game from a fantasy perspective is his shot blocking. (Again, depending on how your league is scored.) Schaefer had 111 blocked shots last season to lead all rookies. Barring some fundamental change in his game encouraged by coach Peter DeBoer, Schaefer is going to hit that sweet spot of offensive pop and defensive fantasy stats. Now we just need ESPN Fantasy to hand out points for vibes.Filip Forsberg, F, Nashville PredatorsThe 32-year-old Forsberg offers something I value in my fantasy drafting: The known quantity who could level up, depending on how well the young talent around him plays. Forsberg is a model of consistency. He has played 82 games in three straight seasons. He crested over 40 goals in two of those seasons, including a 94-point campaign in 2023-24 that remains his career apex. He has been in double digits in power-play goals in all three seasons. He shoots the puck a bunch, throws the body a ton, with at least 124 hits in each of the past three seasons, and he'll also block a shot or two.Word out of Nashville in the preseason is that Forsberg has been working with 21-year-old winger Matthew Wood, who had an impressive rookie season with 17 goals in 71 games despite skating just 12:19 per game. They worked well together in limited time as linemates last season, enough to pique my interest about Forsberg increasing his point total (75) from 2025-26. But even if he's just the Forsberg we've seen over the past three seasons, that's still an incredibly valuable fantasy player.Brady Tkachuk, LW, Florida PanthersThe two best lines of the preseason for the Panthers:The line coach Paul Maurice had when asked if Brady and Matthew Tkachuk might flank center Sam Bennett on what would be the NHL's most bludgeoning trio: "I don't want to give everybody what they want with the two Tkachuk brothers together with Sam Bennett in the middle. They'll be in jail before the puck drops." Great stuff.The line that Brady Tkachuk, acquired by Florida from the Ottawa Senators in the summer, will likely start this season on. He's expected to have Aleksander Barkov in the middle, who missed all last season with a right knee injury; and Sam Reinhart on his wing, a player two years removed from a 57-goal season.Brady Tkachuk was a consistent offensive force in the regular season during his eight seasons in Ottawa. While limited to 60 games last season, he put up the best points per 60 minutes mark (3.5) of his career.I am a little concerned about how his numbers will look as he goes from the fulcrum of the Ottawa offense to a cog in the Panthers' machine. Will he keep his elephantine shots on goal averages, playing on a line with Reinhart or (potentially and perhaps inevitably) his brother Matthew? That's a mystery.What can't be denied is Brady's motivation to stifle his critics (especially up north), make up for his disappearing act offensively in last postseason and make a strong impression with his new team. There's no room at the Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale for an underachiever.John Carlson, D, Tampa Bay LightningCarlson turns 37 next January, so this is conceivably the last time I'll ever plant my flag on this particular defenseman. If that's the case, what a last fantasy hockey hurrah it'll be for Carlson, as the quarterback of the Tampa Bay power play.He's essentially the replacement for Darren Raddysh, who had 10 goals and 16 helpers on the man advantage in a breakout season that led to him getting eight years and $68 million from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Raddysh put up those numbers on a power play that ranked in the middle of the pack, thanks in large part to a slew of man games lost to key offensive players like Brayden Point (63 games played).Carlson split time between the Washington Capitals and the Anaheim Ducks, who acquired him at the trade deadline. He had 60 points in 71 games, his best offensive season since 2021-22, but earned only 14 points on the power play, which is what happens when you're QB1 for the 23rd (Anaheim) and 25th (Washington, inexplicably) teams in the league on the man advantage, respectively.What really intrigues me about Carlson on the Lightning power play is that he's a quarterback in name only. The power play runs through Nikita Kucherov, or the "maestro" as GM Julien BriseBois called him. A right-shot defenseman like Carlson is ideal for that kind of setup, as Kucherov distributes the puck from the right wing.I don't know if Carlson is getting to 10 power-play goals like Raddysh last season -- his career high is seven -- but I do think we'll see a substantial power-play stat impact to go along with his consistent 5-on-5 output.Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas StarsShould a player that has scored 110 goals over the past three seasons combined -- including 45 tallies in 2025-26 -- have an average draft position of around 20th and be ranked 26th on the ESPN fantasy list? He should probably be higher, but my fellow Wyatt Johnston fans don't mind seeing this absolute sure thing slip down the draft board.If the question is why a guy who scores goals and sees copious amounts of ice time with Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson might not rank inside the top 20, the answer might be how Johnston hit that career high of 45 goals last season. He jumped from 11 goals to 27 goals on a power play that ranked second in the NHL. Maybe some fantasy users are skeptical he could do that again, or that the power play will be as effective.First, it's important to note that the power play leveled up thanks to coach Neil Graham, the former Texas Stars bench boss who was put in charge of that unit in Dallas. His incredible preparation and prescouting allowed the Stars to exploit opposing penalty kills, and I imagine that'll continue this season. Second, all the players who made that power play sing are back as well.Johnston, 23, saw a slight dip in his even-strength production last season and still posted 18 goals and 26 assists. He's a player with levels yet reached. I just wish he shot the puck a little more often.ESPN Fantasy Hockey is the fun, free way to get inside the game. Draft your players, set your lineups and earn points when the pros do. Sign up today!Jet Greaves, G, Columbus Blue JacketsThe NHL's goaltenders are split up into two groups for fantasy hockey: The every-night starters and the tandems. The latter requires a bit more attention to ensure you're starting the guy who is actually playing that night. The former is more "set it and forget it." The problem is that the NHL has trended toward tandems for the better part of this decade. Only 12 goalies last season earned at least 65% of the crease time on their teams.One of those goalies was the 25-year-old Greaves, who had a breakout season with 26 wins in 55 games and a .908 save percentage. That earned him a tidy three-year, $15 million contract extension from the Blue Jackets.Columbus is a tricky team to figure out in the East. They went 21-11-5 under Rick Bowness after he took over as head coach and barely missed the playoffs. This offseason saw the team nearly trade its Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Zach Werenski before he blocked it with his trade protection. Things are a little weird.Greaves, however, is a stabilizing force in goal and a player who should see his starts increase over last season. That's especially true now that goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who appeared in 30 games last season, failed his physical this week and remains out indefinitely after shoulder surgery. The team brought in 39-year-old Cam Talbot as insurance.Greaves was ninth in goals saved above expected last season (16.5), playing behind a defense that allowed the 11th-most shots per game (28.8). ESPN has him ranked 22nd among all goalies, and I've seen him ranked around 18th in other leagues. I think he's an underrated fantasy option, and one who is going to build on last season's success.Brandt Clarke, D, Los Angeles KingsThe Kings rewarded Clarke with a seven-year deal and a $7.4 million cap hit last summer, and there's every chance that deal is going to look like a bargain in short order. Clarke, 23, is positioned to have a breakout season for Los Angeles. His points jumped from 33 to 40 last season, as his ice time jumped from 16:17 to 19:48. He was given the reins to the Kings' top power play. He has great playmaking ability and loves jumping into the action in the offensive zone. A 10-point jump in production isn't out of the question.But what makes Clarke a tantalizing fantasy option in ESPN leagues aren't the goals he's creating, but the ones he's preventing. He led all defensemen last season with 6.83 blocked shots per 60 minutes. No one pairs this kind of offensive upside with shot-blocking ability among defensemen. Remember: blocked shots (0.5) are worth more points than actual shots (0.1) in ESPN head-to-head leagues' standard scoring.All Clarke needs is for new head coach Peter Laviolette to give him the ice time former coach Jim Hiller wasn't giving him.Made it this far? Create your own league with your own rules and play against your friends today.Dylan Holloway, F, St. Louis BluesWhat's not to love here?Holloway, aka "The one that got away" for Edmonton fans, has blossomed into a top-line scoring winger for the Blues. His goals and points per 60 minutes were consistent over the past two seasons, although his 2025-26 campaign was limited to 59 games due to a right ankle injury. He's a banging forechecker with 294 hits in his past 136 games, with 91 blocked shots in that span.He enters this season as a member of one of the NHL's best trios with captain Robert Thomas centering Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud, who was fifth in the Calder Trophy voting last season. They produced a ridiculous 5.7 goals per 60 minutes together in 2025-26, with an even more ridiculous 80% share of goals at even strength.One area of concern, outside of Holloway's ability to stay in the lineup: He saw his power-play time increase last season, but his numbers didn't increase with it. He has clear 30-goal, 70-point potential but probably needs to bump those stats up to get there.Sergei Murashov, G, Pittsburgh PenguinsFinally, every fantasy draft should include a "big maybe" with a ceiling higher than St. Patrick's Cathedral.When the Penguins let Stuart Skinner skate away as a free agent and didn't seek another veteran stopgap in goal, it was clearly Murashov's time to stop percolating in the AHL and make the jump to the senior circuit. The anticipation in Pittsburgh has been building for him, after dominant stints in the KHL and with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.The Penguins handed Arturs Silovs a one-year contract extension to allow Murashov to ease in as part of a tandem. But as ESPN's Rachel Kryshak noted: "There is a legitimate chance that Murashov is the 1A starting goaltender for the Penguins at some point this season, and if that's the case, not only is he a top prospect, but he's also probably in the Calder conversation."All that said, he's 22 years old. There aren't many goalies that young who play as many games as Murashov will need to play to make a rookie of the year push.Pensburgh noted that only two goalies last season who played at least 25 games were under the age of 24: Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild and Yaroslav Askarov of the Sharks. Talk about a range of possibilities: "The Wall" was sixth for the Calder with a .915 save percentage, while Askarov had an .883 save percentage and a minus-18.9 goals saved above expected.But that's the beauty of fantasy hockey. If Murashov takes over the crease and dominates, you were brilliant enough to draft him where you did. If he doesn't ... well, it's time to plant your flag again on the waiver wire.Download the ESPN Fantasy app and have every player right at your fingertips. Available on the App Store and Google Play.
