20 Fantasy Thoughts: John Tavares' skillset built to age well

Rumours of John Tavares’ decline have been greatly exaggerated. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward saw his numbers drop significantly last season, leading some to ponder whether he’d lost a step. It was a fair question, considering Tavares will turn 35 in September and Father Time is undefeated, but he has rebounded in 2024-25 and his game looks as sharp as ever. Tavares is on pace for 41 goals and more than a point per game, putting together his best season since his debut campaign as a Leaf. 

This bounce back from Tavares comes when the Leafs needed it most. Toronto has had a plethora of injuries this season among its forward group, most notably Auston Matthews, who has missed substantial time with an undisclosed ailment. Tavares has been critical in supplementing the offence and looks to be playing with newfound confidence, helping the Leafs to continue to thrive without their best goal scorer.

Watching Tavares this season in a contract year should give the Leafs some confidence about committing to him for at least another few campaigns. One of the knocks on Tavares has always been his skating. He’s been able to overcome that and still produce big numbers throughout his career. Even if he loses another step or two, Tavares’ game is built to age very well. He’s tremendous in the faceoff circle, great at winning puck battles, savvy around the net and overall a very smart player. All things that shouldn’t really drop off as he ages and allow Tavares to continue producing solid offensive numbers for the foreseeable future. 

If you’re on the fence about keeping Tavares on your fantasy squad for next season, keep in mind the Leafs have a ton of talent for him to play with in the top six and on the power play. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that Tavares re-signs in Toronto, which it sounds like the team and player are both keen on. Given what he’s shown this season, the team around him and Tavares’ commitment to keeping himself in great shape, I’d be more than comfortable hanging onto him moving forward. 

After relinquishing the captaincy and coming off a down season, there was some question as to whether Tavares would even return to the team in 2025-26. Now, even though it’s not a done deal just yet and salary will obviously play a big part in things, it feels like Tavares may be more important than ever to the Leafs and a player they absolutely need to bring back. 

1. Jakob Chychrun already notched goal No. 10 Saturday, giving him his fourth double-digit goal season on the blue line. The Washington Capitals defender is on pace for 27 on the year. Although I don’t think he gets there, 20 goals feels like a real possibility. 

2. Put Jakub Vrana on your watch list. He’s not an add just yet because of his deployment, but he did just have a four-game point streak and goals in three straight, including two on the man advantage. He saw a bump in ice time recently, too. Vrana is still on the third line and only on power play two, so until that changes, he probably isn’t worth adding. 

3. Very quietly, Mikhail Sergachev is putting together a solid season in Utah. Sergachev has 11 points in his past 10 contests and is now on pace for 63 on the season. There was a time when Sergachev supplanted Victor Hedman on the top power play in Tampa for a period. When he was dealt to Utah, there were questions about whether he’d ever have that much value again. To his credit, though, Sergachev has acclimated well to his new squad and taken advantage of an injury to Sean Durzi. There’s no one to challenge Sergachev for power play one time, and he’s averaging almost 26 minutes a night, easily a career best. 

4. If you were thinking about adding Logan Cooley, it may be now or never. The Utah forward has exploded for nine points in his past seven games and is still only about 50 per cent rostered. We’ve mentioned before Cooley’s value is going to get much better long term, but he’s starting to pay real dividends right now. He won’t be available for long. 

5. Somewhat surprisingly, Justus Annunen looks a lot better in Nashville than he did in Colorado. In his first three starts with the Predators, Annunen has allowed only five goals total and had at least a .917 save percentage in every game. The Avs do give up a lot of quality chances, so maybe Annunen is more comfortable in his new home. He still is probably only going to play sparingly behind Juuse Saros, so Annunen remains a spot starter at best. 

6. Pyotr Kochetkov picked up a pair of assists against the New York Rangers last Sunday, giving him as many multi-point games in the past month as Tage Thompson. I’ll always believe goalie points should count in fantasy. 

7. Andrei Svechnikov has been healthy this season but finds himself in a bit of a cold streak. He has just one goal in nine games and his ice time is trending in the wrong direction. The Carolina Hurricanes forward played under 15 minutes this past Monday and was pushed to the bottom six in favour of Jack Roslovic. I wouldn’t panic just yet, as this is likely just a message from head coach Rod Brind’Amour that Svechnikov has to raise his level of play. I’m sure he’ll be back on the top line soon. 

8. After a very slow start, Brad Marchand has really picked it up. He recently posted an 11-game point streak and is now on pace for 67 points on the year. It’s another great example of being patient and trying to hold on if you can. A player of Marchand’s calibre is always going to figure it out and if you drop or trade hastily, you’ll usually regret it. 

9. It’s been a tough year for young players hoping to take a step forward offensively. Quinton Byfield, Matty Beniers and a handful of others have struggled to find their footing and you can add Adam Fantilli’s name to the list. The Columbus Blue Jackets forward has tallied only 15 points this season and has just two goals in 14 games. 
In keeper leagues, it’s a great idea to bet on a few players like this that could have great long-term value, but in one-year leagues, I’d be much more careful. Maybe you could draft one or two in the late rounds but selecting too many rarely pays off. It’s better to be diligent on the waiver wire and try to scoop someone up there once it looks like they’re on the cusp of a breakout campaign. In one-year leagues, I’d lean on safer picks because you can dig yourself a big hole by gambling on potential too often. 

10. On the other hand, Dmitri Voronkov is a must-add right now. Voronkov has five goals and 10 points in his past seven outings. At only 19 per cent rostered, there aren’t many players like Voronkov available at the moment that are producing like he is and getting top line and first power play deployment. 

11. Things are not good in New York. The Rangers made Chris Kreider a healthy scratch Monday amid a big cold stretch. I’m not sure where this is going to go, but Kreider might be a good buy-low candidate because he has proven to be a good goal scorer and I can’t believe he’ll be this quiet forever. A Kreider trade may not cost you much of anything right now. 

12. Jacob Markstrom has been great for the New Jersey Devils lately, but he’s also getting a lot of help from his team. The Devils aren’t allowing many shots and Markstrom recently had two 12-save shutouts in a row. In fact, the most shots New Jersey allowed with Markstrom in goal during a recent seven-start stretch was 20. That’s great for reducing Markstrom’s workload heading into the second half of the season, but it's not always ideal for fantasy. Sometimes you need a bunch of saves and with Markstrom facing so few shots, there’s little room for error. If you give up two goals on 12 shots your save percentage is going to be awful. 

13. Don’t look now, but Keegan Kolesar has picked it up offensively lately with a pair of multi-point games for the Vegas Golden Knights. Much like Vrana, Kolesar’s deployment isn’t ideal, but the difference is he has major value for hits. In multi-cat leagues, he’s definitely worth a pick up for that alone and this recent surge in offence is just a nice bonus. 

14. John Gibson went down with an injury in his final game before the holiday break. You can see why it’s been so difficult for the Anaheim Ducks to trade him as Gibson has struggled to stay in the crease in recent years. Many added Gibson in hopes he would get dealt to a team like the Carolina Hurricanes for example, which would boost his value, but any plans of a trade are likely on pause until he can get back in the crease. Lukas Dostal was playing great but lost a lot of starts when Gibson made his return. Hopefully, Dostal can get back into the groove he had to start the year when he was playing well. 

15. It’s now been five games in a row where Casey Mittelstadt has failed to record a shot on goal. Mittelstadt had a great start to the season offensively, but he’s since gone ice cold and providing nothing but faceoff wins at the moment. Even though he’s still on the second line and getting decent minutes, Mittelstadt is nearly impossible to roster. 

16. After a losing streak that felt like it went on forever, the Buffalo Sabres have now won two straight. More notably, the Sabres have scored 13 goals combined during this small stretch. In fantasy you aren’t concerned so much with winning as far as skaters are concerned, as long as the puck is finding the back of the net. For all their flaws, the Sabres have a lot of offensive talent that can score, so hopefully that at least continues. 

17. After a quiet handful of games, Dylan Holloway has picked it up again. He’s notched three goals and two assists in his past two contests and it feels like he’s cemented a spot in the top six for the St. Louis Blues. Before this surge, Holloway endured a run of six straight games without a point, but overall he’s looked much better under Jim Montgomery. Holloway’s solid shot volume and hit production should also help you get through any cold streaks. 

18. The line of Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault continues to thrive. Marchessault specifically has been great lately, tallying goals in five straight games and points in his last eight. Much like Stamkos, it could be tempting to sell high on Marchessault now that he’s picked it up if you think the Nashville Predators are going to start struggling again, but I think they have something with this line. I’d stand pat and ride the wave. 

19. We get a more typical schedule next week now that the holiday break is in the rearview mirror. Eight teams play four games, including Utah and Nick Schmaltz. I’m always surprised Schmaltz isn’t more rostered, especially in points leagues. He’s currently on pace for 66 points and has now found the scoresheet in six of his past seven games. Schmaltz is also pacing for 190 shots, which would easily be a career high. 

The Hurricanes play four times as well and I wonder if it might be worth circling back on Roslovic. He’s back up on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, and Roslovic has points in four straight games and is coming off a three-point outing. 

Los Angeles and Ottawa only play twice, so look for drops where it makes sense from either of those two squads. David Rittich may be a good candidate, as he’s started just once since Dec. 12, and Darcy Kuemper is healthy again. Rittich is probably better utilized as a streamer at this point. 

20. It’s important to keep an eye out or check with your commissioner for any wrinkles in your league rules during unique weeks like this one when it comes to the schedule. In some leagues, the minimum start requirement was waived, meaning one good goalie start could potentially carry you through in a matchup where goalie appearances were scarce. Every little advantage helps.