Beebs Bondy’s 2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Must-Draft Players
Every fantasy hockey draft comes down to a handful of decisions that shape your entire season — and the easiest wins are the players the market simply has wrong. A must-draft player isn’t necessarily a sleeper or a breakout pick. It’s a player whose price has drifted well below his proven value: an established producer sliding rounds past where his track record says he should go, a bounce-back candidate the room is punishing for bad luck, or a foundational piece available at a discount that won’t exist by November. If you leave your draft with several of these players, you’ve already banked an edge before the season starts.
The DFO Fantasy team has identified the players they refuse to leave drafts without in 2026-27. Below, each of our four analysts shares their must-draft targets — and the reasoning behind why the market is wrong about each of them.
What is True ADP: True ADP reflects where a player is actually being selected across all draft rooms — not just the ones that drafted him. A player’s raw ADP only averages the leagues where he was picked, so for someone drafted in just 25% of rooms, True ADP blends his draft position with the reality that he goes unselected everywhere else — telling you when a typical league actually takes him.
All Must-Draft Lists:
Brock Seguin’s Fantasy Hockey Must-Draft Players
Matt Larkin’s Fantasy Hockey Must-Draft Players
Nick Szeman’s Fantasy Hockey Must-Draft Players
Will Smith (SJ — LW/RW) — True ADP: 64.7
Smith could’ve just as easily been mentioned in the breakout article, but I felt he truly deserved a spot on my must-drafts. He seems primed for a huge season alongside best friend Macklin Celebrini and is a player I will certainly target to roster. Smith improved across nearly all stats in his sophomore campaign in 2025-26, putting up 24 goals, 59 points, and 166 SOG across 69 games. At the ripe age of 21, and attached to the hip of one of the league’s biggest superstars, Smith is expected to take his game to another level as San Jose makes their push for playoff relevancy. At such a young age, he has already proven worthy of his current draft ADP, making his floor fairly solid, but his ceiling is the most exciting part. Take him confidently, hoping he continues to ascend into the superstar San Jose pictured when they drafted him 4th overall in 2023. After averaging a modest 18:11 TOI/GP last season, he has room to grow with more meaningful minutes, which should push him closer to the ever-exciting 200+ SOG mark and hopefully even closer to a point-per-game.
Jakub Dobes (MTL — G) — True ADP: 81.5
Dobes finished 2025-26 ranked 9th in Wins (29) despite ranking 27th in games started (42). This led to an impressive 69% win rate, yet the 25-year-old consistently found himself on fantasy waivers due to the revolving door of starters in the Canadiens’ crease. The third-year Dobes finished 2025-26 ranked 9th in wins (29) despite ranking 27th in games started (42). That produced an impressive 69% win rate, yet the 25-year-old consistently found himself on fantasy waivers because of the revolving door of starters in the Canadiens’ crease. The third-year goaltender made it abundantly clear that Montreal’s crease was his for the foreseeable future after stellar performances across 19 playoff appearances last year (.908 SV%). He will be looking to build off that run in his first full season as Montreal’s clear number 1 netminder and should provide fantasy teams with solid numbers across all categories, especially wins. With 11 other goalies going ahead of Dobes in ADP, he makes the perfect fallback option if you find yourself in need of goaltending at the midway point of your draft. Personally, I like the strategy of waiting on goalies, so this makes a perfect point to grab your first option in net. Fantasy goaltenders are usually a product of the team surrounding them, and with Montreal expected to continue to take positive strides forward, Dobes should find himself right in the middle of one of the league’s most exciting teams, which caught a lot of people by surprise after finishing 5th in the NHL in points last season. If I can stack Dobes with fellow Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler on my roster for a low price, I may look to take that approach as well.
Cap Summary
Draft Picks
Mika Zibanejad (NYR — C/RW) — True ADP: 89.3
The Rangers were dreadful in 2025-26, but one shining light stood out in the darkness: 33-year-old veteran star centre Mika Zibanejad. The 15-year veteran led all Rangers skaters in points (by 21), goals (10), SOG, power-play goals and power-play points, while ranking 29th in the NHL in points. He was one of 27 players in the entire NHL to finish the season with 30+ goals, 30+ assists and 200+ SOG, despite being on the 23rd-ranked scoring team. The Swedish star has also gained a reputation over the years for being a hot-and-cold player, a theory he smashed and proved incredibly wrong last season, with his longest pointless stretch coming in at two total games across his entire 82-game season. Zibanejad has always slipped down draft boards for various odd reasons, yet he consistently performs, with a floor proven by finishing the last six of eight seasons with 72+ points and seven of the last nine with 200+ SOG. He is consistently found in the middle of drafts yet produces elite fantasy numbers time and time again. The talent around him may not be as fruitful as last season, but things cannot go worse in the Big Apple, and if any of the young options around Zibanejad click, he will be in for another solid season at a very affordable draft price.
Andrei Svechnikov (CAR — LW/RW) — True ADP: 117.8
It is crazy how a player’s value can swing so dramatically over the course of a fantasy hockey season; Svechnikov found himself on Carolina’s fourth line as a droppable player just a month into 2025-26, only to work his way into the discussion as one of the league’s best options and a must-play for the final two-thirds of the season, finishing with 24 goals, 56 points, and 124 SOG across the final 52 games. The former 2nd overall pick is a sneaky yet effective category stuffer, finishing 55th among all forwards with 148 hits last season while also being one of five players across the entire league to finish with 200+ SOG and 140+ hits. He is falling far too low in drafts for me not to consistently jump all over him, regardless of the league type I’m playing in. If he can remain consistent for an entire 84-game season, he should set himself up for another career season as Carolina looks to defend their Cup title with him as one of their key offensive options. With Seth Jarvis out for the first few weeks, Carolina will be leaning on other superstars to carry the load, priming Svechnikov for a huge campaign out of the gate.
Jimmy Snuggerud (STL — RW) — True ADP: 187.7
On top of St. Louis having a sensational Fantasy Playoff schedule in 2025-26, Snuggerud picked the perfect time for his late-season breakout. The 2022 1st-round pick (23rd overall) was one of free agency’s hottest pickups after closing out the year with 14 goals, 36 points, and 87 SOG in his final 31 games. Extrapolate that across a full 82-game season, and the 22-year-old would be on pace for a 37-goal, 95-point, 230-SOG season, hypothetically ranking him among the top-25 Fantasy players. The heavy-shooting winger helped many fantasy teams win championships and was not only one of the most effective wingers in the later stages of the season but also one of the most intriguing, with upside and signs of future success. With his late ADP, he is easily obtainable and has the ability to completely change fantasy rosters yet again, with a full runway in 2026-27. If fellow linemate Robert Thomas can remain healthy (missed two months last year due to a lower-body injury) and Snuggerud can add to the 16:42 TOI/GP he averaged last year, he should be able to take his game to another level, while having a fantastic floor, as proven by his strong play last year. He impressively ranked 15th in points among players 23 years or younger, making him both a fantastic re-draft selection and an even better keeper option. After picking up 14 power-play points last year, he will be leaned on even more to improve St. Louis’ power play from its 26th rank last season (17.6%).
