Dobber launched his fantasy hockey website DobberHockey back in 2005 and has been Puck Daddy's resident fantasy hockey 'expert' since 2009.

We all have our hunches. And of course, we let them influence our selections at the draft table. But that's a good thing provided your hunch isn't something silly like believing Braden Holtby and Pekka Rinne became elite fantasy goalies on their own - Barry Trotz as coach was just coincidence. And you don't want to move a player up or down 10 rounds because of a hunch either. Hunches are just for tweaking your list as the draft happens.

If you want to review a few of my hunches, which were better than yours (just ignore the dumb ones), here is what I had in this column last year.

And now for this year's batch…

Anton Khudobin will create a goalie controversy

At some point in the season Frederik Andersen will miss a couple of weeks with an injury and for one reason or another the Ducks won't turn to John Gibson (maybe he'll be hurt too). So Khudobin will get consecutive starts and - wouldn't you know it - he flourishes behind a great team and a strong system. By the time Andersen gets back Khudobin will have won eight of nine. From that point forward, anytime Andersen stumbles a little there will be clamoring to start Khudobin. Last year I said something similar here about Khudobin and Cam Ward…but hey - that's the Hurricanes, this is the Ducks. Khudobin is a talented goaltender and maybe that doesn't show behind a 2014-15 Carolina team, it will sure as hell show behind a powerful Anaheim Ducks squad.

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Brett Connolly will surprise

An easy thing to say the day after he scores two goals, but I had this on my list prior to Wednesday's contest against the Rangers. Connolly is a good, talented player who is ready to take the next step. He just had the misfortune of being on a Tampa Bay team with several other similar-aged and very skilled players (also known as the Triplets). So with other players clearly deserving more ice time and PP time than he, Connolly was left playing in a depth role. Then, when he arrived to join his new team the Bruins, he promptly broke his finger in the first practice. Without bad luck, he'd have no luck at all. Despite how long the 23-year-old has been around, this is actually going to be just his third full NHL season. The Bruins need an offensive catalyst, given David Krejci's wonky hips and Matt Beleskey's wonky everything, so why not Connolly?

Marco Dano falls short

I like Dano. I think he's a talented kid with potential. But I've had two of my three drafts now and I'm in awe as to how highly he is thought of by my fellow poolies. They seem to think he'll replace Brandon Saad in the top six and will somehow upgrade the production. In three years, Saad managed between 47 and 52 points. That's the best-case scenario for Dano, who has always been more of a two-way guy than a scoring-line guy. With coach Joel Quenneville mixing and matching his lines, you're going to see Andrew Shaw, Bryan Bickell, Artemy Panarin, Teuvo Teräväinen and Dano in there at different times. I'll take the "under" if the over/under is 39.5.

Nathan MacKinnon rebounds nicely

After a pretty kick-ass rookie season, I had MacKinnon penciled in as the next big thing. Perhaps even top 80 points as a sophomore? But then the train wreck happened (also known as MacKinnon's 2014-15 NHL season). Since then, poolies have been sustaining ankle and knee injuries in their rush to jump off the wagon. But I'm still on it. I never got off. He's a great player and he'll lead the Avs in scoring this season.

Ryan Johansen turns water into wine

We saw it last season when the young Johansen turned 40-point plugger Nick Foligno into a 73-point star. Today poolies - myself included - are downgrading Foligno because there's no way a player with that skill set can repeat, right? But I just can't shake this feeling that RyJo can do it again with Foligno - and he'll take Brandon Saad to the next level too. Johansen has 125 points in his last 147 games (70-point pace).

Anton Slepyshev makes a splash

He may not even make the team. Or he may get sent down as soon as Jordan Eberle returns. But while most poolies are focused on Nail Yakupov or perhaps Teddy Purcell getting a top six spot during Eberle's absence, I'm watching what they do with Slepyshev. He seems to want it more, and that goes a long way in this league. It's his first year in North America and he's going to rocket up the keeper-league charts with his production in the AHL and NHL this season.

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